Verse 19. — 'Who is he that will contend with me? Let him come.' 52. No one can be free from the sin of thought. — Holy men so guard themselves in their works, with God as author, that no ground for accusation is found outwardly at all; but inwardly, in their thoughts, they watch over themselves with such caution that, if it could be done, they might always stand irreproachable before the eyes of the inner Judge. But however much they can act so as not to slip outwardly in deed, so much they can by no means act inwardly so as never to slip in thought. For human conscience, by the very fact that it withdraws from the innermost things, is always on slippery ground. Hence it comes to pass that even holy men frequently slip in heart.
Let blessed Job therefore, speaking both in his own voice and in the voice of the elect, say: 'Who is he that will contend with me? Let him come.' For because in his outward acts he has nothing for which he might be reproached, he freely seeks an accuser. But because even the hearts of the righteous sometimes reproach themselves for foolish thought, on this account perhaps it is subjoined: