Does not he see my ways and number all my steps?
Job has reached the last of his long speeches, and he swears he is innocent — starting with a covenant not to let his eyes wander. Verse 4 gives his reason: God watches him and counts every step, though a clean record before people is not the same as being right with God.
God's Watching Eye as Job's Motive
Job appeals to God, who sees what no human witness could. One commentator calls him a devout believer with a clear conscience, then shows why that was still not enough.
William Kelly"Does not He see my ways" — he was a thoroughly pious believing man — "and number all my steps?… Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity." He had a perfectly good conscience, but that is not enough. There is the great principle of self-judgment. There is also the grand principle of full submission to God, and of vindicating Him. He is right and wise in all — not only in what He does, but in what He allows.
Purity That Starts Behind the Eyes
This verse comes right after Job's covenant with his eyes, and it explains that covenant. Because God saw every step, Job guarded his heart and not just his outward conduct. Jesus taught the same standard in the Sermon on the Mount.
Samuel RidoutHe had closed his eyes, the pathway to the heart, by a firm decision — a "covenant" against even a look at what might stir up passion. The Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount had shown that real purity must lie in the heart, and not only in outward self-control (Matt. 5:27-28). Job insists he is pure, and points out that the fear of God moved him — God would certainly punish the wicked for their sin… Job knew that God watched his every step, and he asks God to test him and weigh him in the balance.
The Limit of a Clear Record
Job was right about the charges. Others had called him a hypocrite, and he was not one. But one writer marks the limit of that defence.
F. B. HoleThis "righteousness," as Job 29 will show us, was concerned with his outward conduct, for as yet the searching light of God had not entered his soul. He had been charged with being a deceiver and a hypocrite. He knew he was not this, and he was not going to plead guilty to it for a moment. We too know that he was not, but outward correctness does not in itself count for righteousness in the presence of God.
Where the Appeal Goes Wrong
Inviting God's inspection is right. Turning your own record into your standing before Him is not. One writer shows how Job's closing chapters expose that.
J. N. DarbyJob was upright, but he began to make this his righteousness. That plainly proves he had never really been in the presence of God… In Job 29 we also find that his heart had dwelt on his upright and generous life with satisfaction. He was commending himself and feeding his self-love with it. "When the eye saw me it gave witness to me." God was bringing him to say, "Now my eye sees You and I abhor myself." Job ends his speech with these chapters (Job 29, 30, 31), which express his good opinion of himself. He had told his whole heart out.
Another writer puts the same failure more simply, without denying Job's sincerity:
Samuel RidoutBut we must take note of the self-righteousness which moved Job to speak of himself in this way. He was displaying himself rather than giving glory to God. No doubt at bottom he was a man of genuine piety, but it is no glory to set forth one's own glory.
Living Under the Eye That Counts Every Step
Job's question states a fact, and that fact holds for every person. What changes is whether you live in the awareness of it.
William J. HockingThe fact is that God knows all about me at all times. He knows me whether I am asleep or awake, whether I am aware that His eyes are on me or not. But when I grasp the truth that God knows everything, as the psalmist did, I shall want to walk in that awareness all the time… Then, in all I do and say, I shall have the happy assurance that God Himself is before me and all around me, every step of the way.
Summary
- Seen. God sees Job's ways and numbers every step. Job takes that as plain fact and builds his whole defence on it.
- Restrained. Because he knew God was watching, Job made a covenant with his eyes. The fear of God guarded his heart, not just his conduct.
- Not enough. Job's conscience was clear, but a clear conscience is not righteousness before God.
- Exposed. Job turned his own uprightness into his righteousness. That showed he had never really stood in God's presence; he was commending himself and feeding his self-love.
- Changed. Welcome the eye that counts every step. God was bringing Job to say, "Now my eye sees You and I abhor myself."