"Elihu continued speaking:
2 “Let me go on, and I will show you the truth.
For I have not finished defending God!
3 I will present profound arguments
for the righteousness of my Creator.
4 I am telling you nothing but the truth,
for I am a man of great knowledge.
5 “God is mighty, but he does not despise anyone!
He is mighty in both power and understanding.
6 He does not let the wicked live
but gives justice to the afflicted.
7 He never takes his eyes off the innocent,
but he sets them on thrones with kings
and exalts them forever.
8 If they are bound in chains
and caught up in a web of trouble,
9 he shows them the reason.
He shows them their sins of pride.
10 He gets their attention
and commands that they turn from evil."
Wow, Elihu's a little prideful don't you think? Check out verse 4, lol. While he does have some pretty accurate descriptions of our caring and holy God, I think his pride is getting in the way of him effectively consoling Job.
Verses 11-21:
11 “If they listen and obey God,
they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives.
All their years will be pleasant.
12 But if they refuse to listen to him,
they will be killed by the sword
and die from lack of understanding.
13 For the godless are full of resentment.
Even when he punishes them,
they refuse to cry out to him for help.
14 They die when they are young,
after wasting their lives in immoral living.
15 But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer.
For he gets their attention through adversity.
16 “God is leading you away from danger, Job,
to a place free from distress.
He is setting your table with the best food.
17 But you are obsessed with whether the godless will be judged.
Don’t worry, judgment and justice will be upheld.
18 But watch out, or you may be seduced by wealth.
Don’t let yourself be bribed into sin.
19 Could all your wealth
or all your mighty efforts
keep you from distress?
20 Do not long for the cover of night,
for that is when people will be destroyed.
21 Be on guard! Turn back from evil,
for God sent this suffering
to keep you from a life of evil."
There's a lot of food for thought in this section. At the beginning of this section, Elihu sounds like he's a proponent of the 'health and wealth' gospel, meaning that if you are truly in God's perfect will, you will have prosperity and good health. Now while I don't agree with that theology, I do believe that if a person is in the perfect will of God and is so connected to Him through prayer and devotion, that no matter what situations or conditions find their way to him, he will be content and happy because of his relationship with the Almighty. I do also agree with Elihu that there are times when God allows things to happen to you and me in order to get our attention, however I'm not sure if EVERY little thing could fall into that.
Verses 22-33:
Who is a teacher like him?
23 No one can tell him what to do,
or say to him, ‘You have done wrong.’
24 Instead, glorify his mighty works,
singing songs of praise.
25 Everyone has seen these things,
though only from a distance.
26 “Look, God is greater than we can understand.
His years cannot be counted.
27 He draws up the water vapor
and then distills it into rain.
28 The rain pours down from the clouds,
and everyone benefits.
29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds
and the thunder that rolls forth from heaven?
30 See how he spreads the lightning around him
and how it lights up the depths of the sea.
31 By these mighty acts he nourishes the people,
giving them food in abundance.
32 He fills his hands with lightning bolts
and hurls each at its target.
33 The thunder announces his presence;
the storm announces his indignant anger."
What a mighty God we serve! I've recently been working on increasing my prayer life and trying to be more effective in my prayer life, and in the process of doing this, I've begun to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of how mighty our God is. I'm so incredibly thankful for His love and grace. Reading these words brings a mental picture of his might and power, and brings me to my knees in adoration and praise. What about you?
"Father You are mighty and worthy of all of our praise and so much more! I pray God that You would be lifted higher in our lives than everything else! May we remove anything that competes with You for the number one position in our lives and give our all to You! It's in Jesus' name that I pray, amen."
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