Job 31:8

Here, at the end of his last speech, Job makes the most solemn and complete declaration of his innocence. He is not denying what he had already admitted about the condition of man, his own included. But he flatly rejects the thought of serious wickedness hidden under a fair appearance, which God could now be at war with, as his friends had supposed. Take his personal purity, and again his conduct as a married man, his behaviour toward his servants, his care for the poor and exposed, his hatred of idolatry and greed, his practice of generous and hospitable ways, and his hatred of hypocrisy. In all these he prays that, if he is lying, he may be put to utter shame. He appeals to the Almighty for an answer, and declares that he is willing to face the closest examination, where no evil can be hidden or tolerated.

Job was so confident that he could say this: if he had stepped out of the way, or his heart had followed his eyes, or his hands were dirty, then let someone else eat what Job sowed. In fact, let the whole harvest be torn up by the roots.

Job had deliberately shut his eyes — the way into the heart — making a "covenant" against even a look at what might stir up passion. In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord had shown that real purity must lie in the heart, and not only in outward self-control (Matt. 5:27-28)… In a time of spiritual laziness, David let his eyes wander, and he fell (2 Sam. 11:2). Job knew that God watched his every step, and he asks God to test him and weigh him in the balance.

The contrast is seen in that same chapter of Deuteronomy. God warns Israel that if they turn aside from His statutes and laws, others will eat the fruit of their land and all their labours (Deut. 28:33). And do not forget that in a sense this can still be true of the children of God. If they ignore His word and live for themselves, God will often step in and deal with them through their circumstances. How many have set out to get on in the world! They have worked hard and long to reach their goal, and then, just as it came in sight, all the fruit of their toil vanished.

He had a completely good conscience, but that is not enough. There is the great principle of self-judgment. There is also the great principle of full submission to God, and of vindicating Him — He is right and wise in everything, not only in what He does, but in what He allows.

This "righteousness" had to do with his outward conduct, because the searching light of God had not yet entered his soul. His friends had charged him 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 as righteousness before God.