I’ve made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze at a virgin? What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
– Job 31:1–2
This is a picture of Job talking about it. His purity and his striving for purity, and the language is so powerful. “I’ve made a covenant with my eyes.” Just think about that. “My eyes and I together have a covenant are committed to something, and that’s something is glorifying God the Almighty on high with what I look at. I’m committed to looking at that which is pure and holy.”
Job 31:1–2 encourages us to only look at that which glorifies God
Just think about that in your life practically today. Are you committed with your eyes only looking at that which is good and right and glorifying to God? And as a result, good for you, which is why this is a really good covenant. This is not a commitment to turn aside from all kinds of things that would be good for you. No. This is a commitment with your eyes to only look at that which is good for you and glorifying to God.
And then think about that with your ears, with anything you expose yourself to today. Are you focused on that which brings most glory to God? That changes what you look at. And you think about all the different things you’ll look at on a screen today. Think about all the things that you will put in front of your eyes today. Make a covenant today to make sure that your eyes look at that which is good for you and glorifying to God, pure and holy. Think about all the things your ears will listen to today and to the extent that you are able. Make sure that what you hear is good for you, and glorifying to God in a way that then obviously affects what we think, or what we desire, or what we say, or how we act.
Job 31:1–2 reminds us we need the power of God to strive for purity.
We need God’s help to make covenants like this with our eyes and our ears on a daily basis. So we pray, God, help us to strive after, to pursue, to desire, and work for purity like this. God, we pray for holy covenants with our eyes and our ears today to look at that which is pleasing to you, which glorifies you with what we are looking at, and the time we are looking at it, and where our thoughts and desires go as a result of looking at various things. Lord, we pray the same with our ears and what we listen to.
God, we pray that what we let into our minds, and our hearts, and our lives would be pleasing to you to the extent possible. And God, when we are confronted with things in this world, temptations to look at things and listen to things that are not good for us and not glorifying to you. Help us, God, to turn from those things. Fill our minds and our hearts with that which is pleasing to you and really good for us.
Prayer for the Sunri People
God, we praise you for your forgiveness of us through Jesus for things we look at with our eyes. Listen with our ears that are not pleasing and glorifying to you. Oh God, help us to turn from those things all day today. God, even as we praise you for your forgiveness, we pray for people who’ve never heard of that forgiveness. Specifically today, for the Sunri people of India and Bangladesh, over a million of them no known followers of Jesus, no access to the good news of your grace, your forgiveness.
Oh God, we pray for the spread of the gospel, the Sunri people of India and Bangladesh. Please cause the gospel to spread to them. We pray even as we praise you for the gospel, which forgives us of our sin and frees us to look at, listen to, and live in ways that are good for us and glorify into you. We pray all this according to your Word in Job 31:1–2. In Jesus name, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
