Job 31:33-40: a reflection

33if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart, 34because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door— 35oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment! 36Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and I would bind it to me as a crown. 37I would declare to him the number of my steps. I would go near to him like a prince. 38If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; 39if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life, 40let briers grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

As Job finishes defending his integrity, he names one thing he has not done: he has not, like Adam, covered his transgressions, hiding his iniquity in his heart out of fear of what others would think. He has not concealed his sins to protect his reputation; he is willing to have his life examined, to have any charge against him brought into the open. Whatever else may be said, Job has not been a hider of his sins, covering them up out of fear of exposure.

Notice the temptation Job names, and resists: to cover one's sins like Adam, hiding them out of fear of others' opinion. After his sin, Adam hid; and it is a deep human instinct to conceal our faults, to keep them hidden in the heart, to protect our reputation from the contempt exposure would bring. Job claims not to have done this; he has not hidden his iniquity, but is willing to have it brought into the light. His was an integrity that did not conceal.

That points to a choice we all face: to hide our sins or to bring them into the light. The instinct to cover, to conceal our faults out of fear of what others would think, is strong; but sins hidden in the heart fester there, and the hiding is itself a bondage. The way of health is to bring them into the light, honestly, before God and where needed before others. Do not, like Adam, cover your sins and hide them in your heart out of fear of exposure. Bring them into the light before God, who already sees them, and receive the cleansing that honest confession opens. What is hidden festers; what is confessed can be forgiven and healed. Choose Job's way over Adam's: do not conceal your sin, but bring it honestly into the light, where it can be forgiven, rather than hiding it in the heart, where it only festers.

Lord, as Job finished defending his integrity, he named one thing he had not done: he had not, like Adam, covered his transgressions, hiding his iniquity in his heart out of fear of others' contempt; he was willing to have his life brought into the light. Show me the choice he names, which I too face: to hide my sins or to bring them into the light. The instinct to cover, to conceal my faults out of fear of what others would think, is strong; but sins hidden in the heart fester there, and the hiding is itself a bondage. The way of health is to bring them into the light, honestly, before you and where needed before others. Keep me from, like Adam, covering my sins and hiding them in my heart out of fear of exposure. Help me bring them into the light before you, who already see them, and receive the cleansing that honest confession opens. What is hidden festers; what is confessed can be forgiven and healed. Help me choose Job's way over Adam's: not to conceal my sin, but to bring it honestly into the light, where it can be forgiven. Give me the courage not to hide, Lord, but to confess.