“If I have walked with falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit, let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless” Job 31:5-6
There’s not much better than a great courtroom drama where in the end the accused stands and defends himself successfully. He was accused falsely throughout the proceedings yet at the end, He stands and eloquently defends himself with prose that speaks directly into the hearts of the jury box. With a silver-tongue he persuades that he is not guilty, did not do the said wrong, and is therefore innocent of all implied. The jury declares innocent, the credits roll, and all is right with the world. Oh, if it only really worked that way. In this life it seems we start defending ourselves from the age in which we can utter our first words. And within those words we don’t state our inability for perfection, we simply argue that we are right. We don’t argue and defend ourselves using God’s truth and justice as the fulcrum, we instead vehemently defend our actions as right no matter where they weigh on God’s scales of justice.
Chapter 31 sees Job standing in the courtroom of God and He delivers a defense monologue that rivals that of Atticus Finch. In fact, the content very closely mirrors one of the greatest teachings ever, one that we see much later in God’s Word, the sermon on the mount. Within Job’s defense to God and his friends, he is clear in stating his innocence. And in doing so he utilizes a very common tactic. Instead of me simply telling you that I’m innocent, I will instead tell you all of the good things I’ve done and all of the bad things I have not done. Surely my past actions will state my current case, yes? In his defense to God, Job proceeds to say that he has avoided lust (v1-4), pride (v5-8), adultery (v 9-12), social injustice (v13-15), lack of charity (v16-23), the love of money (v24-28), and hating his neighbor (v29-40). Job presents a rock-solid case before God and his peers. Surely all that heard his bullet-proof defense would simply and quickly declare him as innocent and allow him to merrily go on his way, yes? Yet just as some cars can have a nasty blind spot, Job delivers his entire defense in his own personal blind spot as he misses the point God is teaching him...pride. Job is so busy patting himself on the back for the good he has done, he forgets to check the blind spot of pride.
I could probably correctly assume that at some point in your life you have assembled a similar list and defended yourself to God, I know I have. God, I have not done this bad or that bad, but I have done this good and that good. Surely my actions impressed God, right? Not so much. You see, pride fuels us to muster the audacity to defend ourselves to Almighty God. The very fact that we think our good can impress God is a mighty misunderstanding of who God is. You see, when you justify yourself, you are not justifying God. And it is in this fallacious courtroom where many stumble. Instead of pridefully informing God of your innocence and righteousness, the correct posture of the humble Christ-follower should be one of repentance and honesty. To condemn our seemingly righteous acts and cast ourselves upon the grace of Christ. When we do that, we assume the position of not defending ourselves, but allowing Christ to be our defender. In the position of humility, we allow the precious blood of Jesus to defend us in the throneroom of God, something that we can never do. Today, I pray that you have called upon Jesus as you Lord and Savior and that you have allowed His atoning blood to cover all of your sins. In doing so, as you approach the throne of God, He will not see your sin, but the perfect righteous blood of His Son. For you see, if you have Christ as your Savior, there’s no need to defend yourself any longer, your defense has been finished…it was completed upon the cross.
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2
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