Chapter VI.
The words of Job, which expose human weaknesses, are examined. Just as the holy man did not deny his sin, and what the difference is between sinning and acting impiously; with these words, he tries to excuse himself before God. Finally, it is shown that forgiveness is promised to the one who confesses, and to acknowledge one's own injustices.
But let us return to the series of questions that were proposed to us. He says, 'He has made many contritions to me, he does not allow me to breathe, he has filled me with bitterness; and because he is powerful by virtue, no one can resist his judgment. If I am righteous in heart, my tongue errs... His anger destroys the great and powerful. The wicked suffer in a grave death, but the righteous are mocked. For they are given into the hands of the wicked.' (Job 9:17 et seq.) See each one. The anger of the powerful is heavy on them, the wickedness of the wicked, the weakness of the just. Thus nothing is free from danger. The strength and greatness of a man are deceived by his power, wickedness is afflicted, virtue is mocked. He who has more power, falls; he who has no power, is afflicted. It is a fault of our condition, because our life is lighter than a runner. It passes by and sees nothing. Like the trace of a ship or of a flying eagle searching for food; so passes the life of a man. When we speak, we forget and no remarkable trace of our passing is found, except that it is filled with sadness and groaning. 'I am disturbed,' he says, 'in all my members. May our mediator be present to argue and judge between the two of us.' (Job 9:28, 33).
I will say to the Lord: Why do you judge me like this? Is it good for you that I am unjust; because you have rejected the work of your hands, and you have given attention to the counsel of the wicked? Do you see as a mortal sees, or is your life like that of a man, or are your years like those of a man; because you have sought out my iniquities, and you have investigated my sins? For you know that I have not acted impiously: but who is there who can be delivered from your hands (Job 10:2 et seq.)? Great faith, great authority of conscience, to summon God as a witness of one's own mind. It does not deny what is of nature, but rejects what is impious; it admits what is of weakness. To sin is of nature, for no one is immune from error; to act impiously is not of nature, but of treachery and the poison of a very wicked mind. The righteous do not recognize this, but the absolution of a person lies in God's mercy, not in the power of man.
18. 'Your hands have made me and fashioned me,' he says; 'you turned around and struck me. Remember that you made me from clay, and you will return me to the earth. Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh and fastened me with bones and sinews. You have given me life and mercy; your visitation has preserved my spirit' (Job 10:8 et seq.). What a lamentation of the holy man on account of common frailty! What an authority of argument that God made man with his own hands! The fault is excused by the excuse of weakness, grace is commended by the privilege of eternal operation, and divine protection. Concerning this matter, David also spoke beautifully, saying: What is man, that you are mindful of him; or the son of man, that you visit him? (Psalm 8:5)
19. He says: these things you have in yourself: I know that you can do all things, and nothing is impossible for you. For if I have sinned, you will keep me, but you have not made me clean from iniquity. If I am wicked, woe to me! If I am righteous, I cannot lift myself up. For I am full of confusion, I am searched out like a lion for slaughter (Job 10:13 et seq.). See three things: If I have sinned, he says, you will keep me. And therefore, O man, confess your sin, so that you may obtain forgiveness: Say, he says, your iniquities, so that you may be justified (Isaiah 43:26). Why are you ashamed to admit the things in which you were born? It is a crime of the one who denies, not of the one who admits, to deny that you were born. May you preserve what you have received. Why do you think you have what you have not received? Therefore, let the sinner confess, let the wicked groan, let the righteous not raise himself up and exalt himself, so that he does not lose the fruit of righteousness through arrogance.
And he said beautifully: If I am just, I cannot exalt myself; for I am full of confusion. The just man indeed notices his own frailty more than the unjust man; and the wise man recognizes, while the foolish man does not recognize. Finally, the wise man is remorseful for his own failings, while the foolish man takes pleasure in them: the just man accuses himself, the unjust man defends himself. The just man wants to preempt the accuser by confessing his sin, while the unjust man desires to conceal his sin: the former at the beginning of his speech reveals his error, the latter wraps the sound of accusation in the verbosity of his speech, so as not to reveal his error.