Verse 11: 'Wherefore I also will not spare my mouth' (Job 7:11). 36. The elect forestall the anger of the Judge by confession. — For he spares his mouth who is ashamed to confess the evil that he has done. To set the mouth to labor is to employ it for the confession of iniquity committed. But the righteous man does not spare his mouth, who, forestalling the anger of the severe Judge, rages against himself with the words of his own confession. Hence the Psalmist says: 'Let us forestall his face in confession' (Ps. 94:2). Hence it is said through Solomon: 'He who hides his crimes shall not be directed aright; but he who confesses and forsakes them shall obtain mercy' (Prov. 28:13). Hence again it is written:
'The righteous man is the accuser of himself at the beginning' (Prov. 18:17). But the mouth is by no means opened for confession except when, by the consideration of the strict Judge, it is straitened through dread of spirit. Whence too it is fittingly subjoined at once: