Job 31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
In this chapter Job rehearses his integrity and uprightness and all the good deeds he has done. This is his response to the sufferings inflicted by Satan with God’s permission: self-justification. He does not deserve it, for he has been a God-fearing man, giving the example here of keeping the Sixth Commandment about lust. Who can avoid the convicting words of Jesus, “He that lusteth after woman…?”
No matter how good a man Job was, he is still a sinner who desperately needs mercy, grace, and forgiveness. Self-justification implies that since I am in the right then God must be in the wrong. Job 40:8: “Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?” The lesson of the book is that no matter how good I think I am, God is always right and I am always in the wrong. This sinner needs the mercy of God, which is given in Christ. The simple truth is: Praise the Lord, for He alone is good; do not praise yourself, for you are not good.