DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?
Opening Prayer
Transforming Lord, when my life is turbulent, bring creation from chaos, joy from sorrow, love from hate, and hope from despair.
Read JOB 32
Elihu
32 So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. 3 He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.[a] 4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. 5 But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.
6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said:
“I am young in years,
and you are old;
that is why I was fearful,
not daring to tell you what I know.
7 I thought, ‘Age should speak;
advanced years should teach wisdom.’
8 But it is the spirit[b] in a person,
the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.
9 It is not only the old[c] who are wise,
not only the aged who understand what is right.
10 “Therefore I say: Listen to me;
I too will tell you what I know.
11 I waited while you spoke,
I listened to your reasoning;
while you were searching for words,
12 I gave you my full attention.
But not one of you has proved Job wrong;
none of you has answered his arguments.
13 Do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;
let God, not a man, refute him.’
14 But Job has not marshaled his words against me,
and I will not answer him with your arguments.
15 “They are dismayed and have no more to say;
words have failed them.
16 Must I wait, now that they are silent,
now that they stand there with no reply?
17 I too will have my say;
I too will tell what I know.
18 For I am full of words,
and the spirit within me compels me;
19 inside I am like bottled-up wine,
like new wineskins ready to burst.
20 I must speak and find relief;
I must open my lips and reply.
21 I will show no partiality,
nor will I flatter anyone;
22 for if I were skilled in flattery,
my Maker would soon take me away.
Footnotes
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known’ (1 Corinthians 13:12).Job has so far only spoken directly with his three so-called friends. It has not gone well (Introduction). Job also talks to God but neither hears nor sees anything from him.
Chapter 32 suddenly introduces a new character, Elihu, a young man featuring neither before nor after these next 6 chapters (Job 32–37). Many commentators consider him a later addition, an irrelevance – or some kind of foreshadowing of Christ (see for example, 33:23–26), setting out Job’s faults while giving him good advice. Neither Job nor God speaks with him.
Elihu states: ‘It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right. Therefore I say: listen to me; I too will tell you what I know’ (vs 9,10). Is Elihu acting as a sort of bridge between Job’s human complaints and God’s inalienable holiness and sovereign power?
Elihu is capable of seeing the things of God (even if only dimly) and of man. And sometimes the young shake us out of our complacency. Will we listen though when the young (or anyone else) talk sense?
Apply
We may only see and sense God partially at present (e.g., 1 Corinthians 13:12). Who is our ‘bridge’ to help us see God more clearly?
Closing prayer
Lord, I need you to help smooth out the high places of self-importance and the valleys of depression in me. King Jesus, I invite you again today to be my sovereign.
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