Day 35 – Chapter 37

“Now men do not see the light which is bright in the skies; but the wind has passed and cleared them. Out of the north comes golden splendor; around God is awesome majesty. The Almighty—we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power and He will not do violence to justice and abundant righteousness. Therefore men fear Him; He does not regard any who are wise of heart” (37:21-24).

Finally, Elihu finishes his tirade against Job insistent that Job has obviously done someone horribly wrong to warrant the suffering he has been enduring. He continues by pointing to the visible signs of God’s marvelous power noting the manifestations of His power in the natural realm; snow, ice, thunderstorms, and more of the same. Noting that nothing can compare to the awesome power of God he concludes that it is foolish for Job to continue to pretend that he is innocent. God, Elihu says, is behind these natural phenomena. He is the one who causes these things to happen and He is the One who has brought all of this on Job. “Whether for correction, or for His world, or for loving kindness, He causes it to happen” (37:13). As far as Elihu is concerned there is only one thing that Job can and should do: “acknowledge his own weakness and God’s perfection and unsearchableness, and bow down in wonder and adoration before him.”^[1]

Though Elihu is misguided in what he says and the conclusions at which he arrives, Elihu says something that is most true, “Around God is awesome majesty.” If there is anything that we can positively take from what Elihu has to say this is it. No one has known the mind of God. He is perfect and unsearchable in all His ways. Our only response is to bow down before Him and worship Him. I cannot begin to count the number of times I have questioned my circumstances that made no sense to me. I cannot tell you the time numerous times I have felt treated unfairly because I could not see where I had done anything worthy of the kind of treatment I was receiving or the suffering I was experiencing. When the answers did not come or they still made no sense I refused to turn my back on God, but instead worshiped all the more acknowledging that while I did not understand God was still on the throne and still worthy of my praise.

Whatever you are going through, whatever you are facing, whatever obstacle before seems insurmountable remember today that God is sovereign and yet worthy to receive your worship and praise. You may not understand it all right now, but God has you in the palm of His hand and when it is all said and done He will vindicate you. But even if He does not or it seems that it is taking too long He is still worthy to be praised. About this, and this only, was Elihu correct, we should bow before Him and worship. Surely I will, what about you?

Lord Jesus, author and perfecter of our faith, we worship You today for who You are. You know our struggles, our weaknesses, our imperfections, our strengths, joys and sorrows. You know the end of the matter before the beginning, so we trust You today to work in the midst of our circumstances. We don’t know how or when you will bring us through but we worship You nonetheless. So receive our worship today, we pray. Amen.

^[1] Job ( ed. H. D. M. Spence-Jones;, The Pulpit Commentary, London: New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 597.