Psalms 19

Psalms 19:1

God’s Angel and His Work

In order to benefit from the chastening, a person has to understand the meaning of the chastening and for this he needs again someone who explains the meaning (Job 33:23). Eliphaz has claimed that no mediator in heaven would ever listen to Job (Job 5:1). But Elihu testifies that there is such a person. With “an angel” it is best to think of “the Angel of the LORD”, the Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus. This is also apparent from the following name Elihu uses, “mediator”. We know the Lord Jesus as the “one mediator … between God and men” (1 Timothy 2:5).

And of whom else can it be said with truth that He is “one out of a thousand”, an expression that indicates that He is truly unique (cf. Ecclesiastes 7:28b)? There is no one like Him Who is familiar with the ways of God and is more qualified than anyone else to make them known.

Christ has come into the world “to remind a man what is right for him”. That is, Christ has made man known with what is the right way for him. That right path is He Himself. This is explained in Job 33:24. Whoever listens to the Angel, the Mediator, and accepts His explanation of the right path, may count on God to be merciful to him. That grace is manifested in the command He gives to deliver the sufferer from his sickness, from not “going down to the pit”. God does not do that just like that. He has a righteous foundation for that redemption, and that is the ransom, or atonement. He cannot give deliverance without atonement.

It sounds like an exclamation of joy from the mouth of God: “I have found a ransom.” It means that He has found a covering for sins, the ransom of the blood of Christ, through which He can redeem. Here we see the work of the Angel. He has come to work reconciliation. He has done so by giving His life, His blood. He shed His blood, which means He died. For “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b). Through this and through nothing else can God show grace to guilty, sinful people and deliver them from death. We are “reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Romans 5:10).

Job 33:23-24 are that special that they are quoted every year during the day of atonement in Jewish prayers.

In Job 33:25-28, Elihu describes the happy consequences of deliverance for those who share in it by God’s grace. After the atonement and the received forgiveness there is also for Job the physical healing, the return of health and prosperity with the vigor of youth (Job 33:25; Job 42:10-17; cf. 2 Kings 5:14). It is a picture of the situation of the realm of peace, where the severely tested faithful remnant will enjoy the blessing of forgiveness, healing, and redemption from destruction (Psalms 103:3-4). God will then have reached His goal with the first creation. We do not yet live in that situation.

In a spiritual sense, we can apply this to the new birth, the new life a person receives at his conversion. This new life also manifests itself. The first in which it becomes visible is prayer, which is fervent prayer (Job 33:26). There is a longing for fellowship with God through prayer. Paul’s first activity after his conversion is prayer (Acts 9:11).

Someone who approaches God with fervent prayer “He will accept”. He takes him into His favor with great joy. He rejoices over anyone who intensely desires to have fellowship with Him. He will be of good will and support such a person in his spiritual development.

The restored believer, who is a weak mortal in himself, has been declared righteous by God in His Son. He stands before God clothed in His righteousness and not in the garment of His own righteousness. Any fame of his own is absent. He who stands before God testifies before men that everything is due only to God’s grace (Job 33:27).

One who is redeemed will confess his sin in an open confession of guilt. It is not a confession made in generalities, but a confession in which sin is mentioned by name. His sin was to pervert what is right, to twist what is right. Sin disrupts everything, makes everything crooked and twisted. That is the devastating work of man without God. But through the work of Christ on the cross, what is crooked becomes straight again (Isaiah 40:4; Isaiah 42:16; Luke 3:5). This will also be seen in the realm of peace, when the Lord Jesus restores all things to the original purpose of God (Acts 3:21).

He who is aware of the grace of God will also praise Him for not dealing with him according to his sins (Psalms 103:10). God has redeemed his soul, saved his life (Job 33:28). He was able to do so because the price of atonement was paid, for which He Himself provided by giving His Son in death. Thus the sinner did not come into the pit, into the darkness of death, but his life sees the light. With these words, Elihu let Job look over death and the grave – which Job had for himself as the only prospect – to life in the light. Job’s present darkness is not the end. Job does not end in darkness, but in light.

Elihu points out to Job that God is patient in His work with a man (Job 33:29). He does “all these”, He makes all kinds of things happen in life, to give a man like Job the true view of life. Thus God is busy “oftentimes with men”. This means that He shows His interference with someone over and over again. In doing so, He uses various methods, such as Elihu mentioned before.

He does this so that a man does not end up in the darkness of the pit, but “that he may be enlightened with the light of life” (Job 33:30). This is a strong reminder of the Lord Jesus, who said: “I am the light of life” (John 8:12). It is therefore profoundly about Him. The God of Whom Elihu speaks is no other God than Jesus Christ, the Son of God Who came in flesh, in Whom the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwelt on earth and still dwells, now that He is in heaven (Colossians 1:19; Colossians 2:9). With Him is the source of life and in His light we see light (Psalms 36:9). In His light, life is lived in joy.

Psalms 19:2

Elihu Wants to Teach Job Wisdom

Again Elihu calls for Job to pay attention to what he has just said, and also to what else he has to say (Job 33:31). Then he will not get stuck in his despair, and will no longer attribute incongruous things to God. Elihu asks Job what he has to say about this (Job 33:32). Job may make his objections heard. It is not Elihu’s intention to win a debate, but to show the reality.

He only wants to help Job to “justify” him. By this he means that he wants to put Job in the right relationship with God, that he wants to persuade Job to trust God and not to accuse Him. He says to Job, as it were: ‘The friends are wrong, Job, but so are you. God is more righteous than you are.’ Here in Elihu we see a picture of Christ yearning to justify a man before God.

Job does not answer (Job 33:33). He has no objections. His silence may be seen as approval of what has been said. Then Elihu continues. He will teach Job wisdom that comes from God, which is to give insight into what God has done and what has caused so much discussion. Job is a wise man, but he can increase in wisdom if he continues to listen to what Elihu has to say (Proverbs 9:9).

Elihu speaks with great confidence in the truth of what he is about to say, without arrogance. He treats Job with the utmost respect and makes sure that he does not hurt his feelings or blame him for injustice.

Psalms 19:3

Elihu Wants to Teach Job Wisdom

Again Elihu calls for Job to pay attention to what he has just said, and also to what else he has to say (Job 33:31). Then he will not get stuck in his despair, and will no longer attribute incongruous things to God. Elihu asks Job what he has to say about this (Job 33:32). Job may make his objections heard. It is not Elihu’s intention to win a debate, but to show the reality.

He only wants to help Job to “justify” him. By this he means that he wants to put Job in the right relationship with God, that he wants to persuade Job to trust God and not to accuse Him. He says to Job, as it were: ‘The friends are wrong, Job, but so are you. God is more righteous than you are.’ Here in Elihu we see a picture of Christ yearning to justify a man before God.

Job does not answer (Job 33:33). He has no objections. His silence may be seen as approval of what has been said. Then Elihu continues. He will teach Job wisdom that comes from God, which is to give insight into what God has done and what has caused so much discussion. Job is a wise man, but he can increase in wisdom if he continues to listen to what Elihu has to say (Proverbs 9:9).

Elihu speaks with great confidence in the truth of what he is about to say, without arrogance. He treats Job with the utmost respect and makes sure that he does not hurt his feelings or blame him for injustice.

Psalms 19:4

Elihu Wants to Teach Job Wisdom

Again Elihu calls for Job to pay attention to what he has just said, and also to what else he has to say (Job 33:31). Then he will not get stuck in his despair, and will no longer attribute incongruous things to God. Elihu asks Job what he has to say about this (Job 33:32). Job may make his objections heard. It is not Elihu’s intention to win a debate, but to show the reality.

He only wants to help Job to “justify” him. By this he means that he wants to put Job in the right relationship with God, that he wants to persuade Job to trust God and not to accuse Him. He says to Job, as it were: ‘The friends are wrong, Job, but so are you. God is more righteous than you are.’ Here in Elihu we see a picture of Christ yearning to justify a man before God.

Job does not answer (Job 33:33). He has no objections. His silence may be seen as approval of what has been said. Then Elihu continues. He will teach Job wisdom that comes from God, which is to give insight into what God has done and what has caused so much discussion. Job is a wise man, but he can increase in wisdom if he continues to listen to what Elihu has to say (Proverbs 9:9).

Elihu speaks with great confidence in the truth of what he is about to say, without arrogance. He treats Job with the utmost respect and makes sure that he does not hurt his feelings or blame him for injustice.

Psalms 19:6

Introduction

The words of Elihu are “with grace”, but also “seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6). He does not address Job as an iniquitous man, but he does point out his wrong statements he made thoughtlessly. In addition, he also addresses the three friends.

The Appeal to Wise Men

Elihu has given Job the opportunity to respond to his words, but Job is silent. Therefore, Elihu continues his answer (Job 34:1). He addresses the “wise men” and those “who know” (Job 34:2). By this Elihu means Job’s friends. By doing so, he says that they must take their place again as wise and knowing people and must stop saying unwise and unreasonable things to Job.

Elihu’s words apply to all wise men in every age. Elihu talks about principles that are always valid and applicable everywhere. He submits his words to them for judgment. That is an indication for us that we have to judge what is being said. The Lord Jesus points out that man has that capacity and is therefore responsible to use it when He says: “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?” (Luke 12:57). Paul also urges to judge what he says: “You judge what I say” (1 Corinthians 10:15).

Elihu involves the wise and knowing men in his judgment of what Job has said. He calls upon them to listen to his words and to hear him and to do so carefully. They should test his words with their ears “as the palate tastes food” (Job 34:3). In this sense, Job has complained that the friends, under the guise of wise words of grey men, have passed on to him words that cannot be eaten (Job 12:11-12). Words and teachings are food for the spirit. Good words are good food and bad words are bad food. Elihu asks Job and the listeners to taste his words.

To know what something tastes like, we must first try it. Tasting something is different from eating it and swallowing it, but it precedes it. Thus the listeners must taste Elihu’s words. They must listen to his words about and to Job, hear them and consider whether they are right, whether they do justice to Job and to God, how they should see God’s actions with Job.

When they have tasted his words, they can make their choice (Job 34:4). This is a choice for “what is right”. Elihu calls for this, both for himself and for the wise. Together with them he wants to “know among ourselves what is good”. Also for us it is important to first taste what is being said with the ear and only then to give our judgment.

Psalms 19:7

Introduction

The words of Elihu are “with grace”, but also “seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6). He does not address Job as an iniquitous man, but he does point out his wrong statements he made thoughtlessly. In addition, he also addresses the three friends.

The Appeal to Wise Men

Elihu has given Job the opportunity to respond to his words, but Job is silent. Therefore, Elihu continues his answer (Job 34:1). He addresses the “wise men” and those “who know” (Job 34:2). By this Elihu means Job’s friends. By doing so, he says that they must take their place again as wise and knowing people and must stop saying unwise and unreasonable things to Job.

Elihu’s words apply to all wise men in every age. Elihu talks about principles that are always valid and applicable everywhere. He submits his words to them for judgment. That is an indication for us that we have to judge what is being said. The Lord Jesus points out that man has that capacity and is therefore responsible to use it when He says: “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?” (Luke 12:57). Paul also urges to judge what he says: “You judge what I say” (1 Corinthians 10:15).

Elihu involves the wise and knowing men in his judgment of what Job has said. He calls upon them to listen to his words and to hear him and to do so carefully. They should test his words with their ears “as the palate tastes food” (Job 34:3). In this sense, Job has complained that the friends, under the guise of wise words of grey men, have passed on to him words that cannot be eaten (Job 12:11-12). Words and teachings are food for the spirit. Good words are good food and bad words are bad food. Elihu asks Job and the listeners to taste his words.

To know what something tastes like, we must first try it. Tasting something is different from eating it and swallowing it, but it precedes it. Thus the listeners must taste Elihu’s words. They must listen to his words about and to Job, hear them and consider whether they are right, whether they do justice to Job and to God, how they should see God’s actions with Job.

When they have tasted his words, they can make their choice (Job 34:4). This is a choice for “what is right”. Elihu calls for this, both for himself and for the wise. Together with them he wants to “know among ourselves what is good”. Also for us it is important to first taste what is being said with the ear and only then to give our judgment.

Psalms 19:8

Introduction

The words of Elihu are “with grace”, but also “seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6). He does not address Job as an iniquitous man, but he does point out his wrong statements he made thoughtlessly. In addition, he also addresses the three friends.

The Appeal to Wise Men

Elihu has given Job the opportunity to respond to his words, but Job is silent. Therefore, Elihu continues his answer (Job 34:1). He addresses the “wise men” and those “who know” (Job 34:2). By this Elihu means Job’s friends. By doing so, he says that they must take their place again as wise and knowing people and must stop saying unwise and unreasonable things to Job.

Elihu’s words apply to all wise men in every age. Elihu talks about principles that are always valid and applicable everywhere. He submits his words to them for judgment. That is an indication for us that we have to judge what is being said. The Lord Jesus points out that man has that capacity and is therefore responsible to use it when He says: “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?” (Luke 12:57). Paul also urges to judge what he says: “You judge what I say” (1 Corinthians 10:15).

Elihu involves the wise and knowing men in his judgment of what Job has said. He calls upon them to listen to his words and to hear him and to do so carefully. They should test his words with their ears “as the palate tastes food” (Job 34:3). In this sense, Job has complained that the friends, under the guise of wise words of grey men, have passed on to him words that cannot be eaten (Job 12:11-12). Words and teachings are food for the spirit. Good words are good food and bad words are bad food. Elihu asks Job and the listeners to taste his words.

To know what something tastes like, we must first try it. Tasting something is different from eating it and swallowing it, but it precedes it. Thus the listeners must taste Elihu’s words. They must listen to his words about and to Job, hear them and consider whether they are right, whether they do justice to Job and to God, how they should see God’s actions with Job.

When they have tasted his words, they can make their choice (Job 34:4). This is a choice for “what is right”. Elihu calls for this, both for himself and for the wise. Together with them he wants to “know among ourselves what is good”. Also for us it is important to first taste what is being said with the ear and only then to give our judgment.

Psalms 19:9

Introduction

The words of Elihu are “with grace”, but also “seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6). He does not address Job as an iniquitous man, but he does point out his wrong statements he made thoughtlessly. In addition, he also addresses the three friends.

The Appeal to Wise Men

Elihu has given Job the opportunity to respond to his words, but Job is silent. Therefore, Elihu continues his answer (Job 34:1). He addresses the “wise men” and those “who know” (Job 34:2). By this Elihu means Job’s friends. By doing so, he says that they must take their place again as wise and knowing people and must stop saying unwise and unreasonable things to Job.

Elihu’s words apply to all wise men in every age. Elihu talks about principles that are always valid and applicable everywhere. He submits his words to them for judgment. That is an indication for us that we have to judge what is being said. The Lord Jesus points out that man has that capacity and is therefore responsible to use it when He says: “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?” (Luke 12:57). Paul also urges to judge what he says: “You judge what I say” (1 Corinthians 10:15).

Elihu involves the wise and knowing men in his judgment of what Job has said. He calls upon them to listen to his words and to hear him and to do so carefully. They should test his words with their ears “as the palate tastes food” (Job 34:3). In this sense, Job has complained that the friends, under the guise of wise words of grey men, have passed on to him words that cannot be eaten (Job 12:11-12). Words and teachings are food for the spirit. Good words are good food and bad words are bad food. Elihu asks Job and the listeners to taste his words.

To know what something tastes like, we must first try it. Tasting something is different from eating it and swallowing it, but it precedes it. Thus the listeners must taste Elihu’s words. They must listen to his words about and to Job, hear them and consider whether they are right, whether they do justice to Job and to God, how they should see God’s actions with Job.

When they have tasted his words, they can make their choice (Job 34:4). This is a choice for “what is right”. Elihu calls for this, both for himself and for the wise. Together with them he wants to “know among ourselves what is good”. Also for us it is important to first taste what is being said with the ear and only then to give our judgment.

Psalms 19:10

Job Has Accused God

Elihu expresses no suspicions, but refers to what Job said (Job 34:5). Job has said that God has wronged him, who knows of himself that he has done nothing wrong, by taking away his right. Job said this literally (Job 12:4; Job 13:18; Job 27:2; 6), but it is also the whole tenor of his defense.

Here the question may arise, what right did Job have? Can he, and can we, assert a right before God, something of which we can say to God that He should not touch? After all, we have no other right before God than the judgment of hell, have we? As creatures, we have no right before the Creator (Romans 9:20), and as sinners we should be silent altogether (Romans 3:19).

Job believes that he is fully within his rights, but that because of what has happened to him, he is seen as a liar (Job 34:6). That is what his friends have always said to him in veiled terms. They have always said that Job, because he suffers so much, must have sinned heavily. Job denies that he has sinned, but his friends do not believe him, so he is a liar to them.

He ended up in that position because of what God has brought upon him. The wound was delivered to him by the Almighty, Job said (Job 6:4; Job 16:13). By this he means the disasters that God has brought upon him. They are disasters that have given him an incurable wound. And that is what God has done, Job judges, “without transgression”. Job thus pronounces that God has wronged him. What matters to Elihu is to make clear to Job that he has gone too far here.

In Job 34:7 Elihu exclaims in amazement at Job that there is no one like him, a man who derides God’s dealings with him and does so with the ease with which someone drinks water. In Job 34:8, Elihu says that Job has gone too far in his utterances about God. He says of Job that he “goes in company with the workers of iniquity” and that he “walks with wicked men”. He does not say that Job commits iniquity or is wicked man, but that he is in their company.

It does not mean that he himself is wicked. Elihu says so because Job has spoken out about God in the same way as those do who commit iniquity and as wicked people do (Job 21:14-15). This is how he unites himself with them in spirit. For Job has said that it is of no use at all if you are “pleased with God” (Job 34:9).

These are words that Job did not say literally, but that resonate in what he said about God (Job 9:22). He has always shown in his life that he feared God. And now look, what is God’s answer to that? He took everything away from him and instead gave him deep, hopeless misery. No, according to Job’s statements, piety and fear of God have no profit (cf. Malachi 3:14). It doesn’t matter if you serve God, worship Him and walk with Him, because God doesn’t take that into account. Just look at his misery.

Psalms 19:11

Job Has Accused God

Elihu expresses no suspicions, but refers to what Job said (Job 34:5). Job has said that God has wronged him, who knows of himself that he has done nothing wrong, by taking away his right. Job said this literally (Job 12:4; Job 13:18; Job 27:2; 6), but it is also the whole tenor of his defense.

Here the question may arise, what right did Job have? Can he, and can we, assert a right before God, something of which we can say to God that He should not touch? After all, we have no other right before God than the judgment of hell, have we? As creatures, we have no right before the Creator (Romans 9:20), and as sinners we should be silent altogether (Romans 3:19).

Job believes that he is fully within his rights, but that because of what has happened to him, he is seen as a liar (Job 34:6). That is what his friends have always said to him in veiled terms. They have always said that Job, because he suffers so much, must have sinned heavily. Job denies that he has sinned, but his friends do not believe him, so he is a liar to them.

He ended up in that position because of what God has brought upon him. The wound was delivered to him by the Almighty, Job said (Job 6:4; Job 16:13). By this he means the disasters that God has brought upon him. They are disasters that have given him an incurable wound. And that is what God has done, Job judges, “without transgression”. Job thus pronounces that God has wronged him. What matters to Elihu is to make clear to Job that he has gone too far here.

In Job 34:7 Elihu exclaims in amazement at Job that there is no one like him, a man who derides God’s dealings with him and does so with the ease with which someone drinks water. In Job 34:8, Elihu says that Job has gone too far in his utterances about God. He says of Job that he “goes in company with the workers of iniquity” and that he “walks with wicked men”. He does not say that Job commits iniquity or is wicked man, but that he is in their company.

It does not mean that he himself is wicked. Elihu says so because Job has spoken out about God in the same way as those do who commit iniquity and as wicked people do (Job 21:14-15). This is how he unites himself with them in spirit. For Job has said that it is of no use at all if you are “pleased with God” (Job 34:9).

These are words that Job did not say literally, but that resonate in what he said about God (Job 9:22). He has always shown in his life that he feared God. And now look, what is God’s answer to that? He took everything away from him and instead gave him deep, hopeless misery. No, according to Job’s statements, piety and fear of God have no profit (cf. Malachi 3:14). It doesn’t matter if you serve God, worship Him and walk with Him, because God doesn’t take that into account. Just look at his misery.

Psalms 19:12

Job Has Accused God

Elihu expresses no suspicions, but refers to what Job said (Job 34:5). Job has said that God has wronged him, who knows of himself that he has done nothing wrong, by taking away his right. Job said this literally (Job 12:4; Job 13:18; Job 27:2; 6), but it is also the whole tenor of his defense.

Here the question may arise, what right did Job have? Can he, and can we, assert a right before God, something of which we can say to God that He should not touch? After all, we have no other right before God than the judgment of hell, have we? As creatures, we have no right before the Creator (Romans 9:20), and as sinners we should be silent altogether (Romans 3:19).

Job believes that he is fully within his rights, but that because of what has happened to him, he is seen as a liar (Job 34:6). That is what his friends have always said to him in veiled terms. They have always said that Job, because he suffers so much, must have sinned heavily. Job denies that he has sinned, but his friends do not believe him, so he is a liar to them.

He ended up in that position because of what God has brought upon him. The wound was delivered to him by the Almighty, Job said (Job 6:4; Job 16:13). By this he means the disasters that God has brought upon him. They are disasters that have given him an incurable wound. And that is what God has done, Job judges, “without transgression”. Job thus pronounces that God has wronged him. What matters to Elihu is to make clear to Job that he has gone too far here.

In Job 34:7 Elihu exclaims in amazement at Job that there is no one like him, a man who derides God’s dealings with him and does so with the ease with which someone drinks water. In Job 34:8, Elihu says that Job has gone too far in his utterances about God. He says of Job that he “goes in company with the workers of iniquity” and that he “walks with wicked men”. He does not say that Job commits iniquity or is wicked man, but that he is in their company.

It does not mean that he himself is wicked. Elihu says so because Job has spoken out about God in the same way as those do who commit iniquity and as wicked people do (Job 21:14-15). This is how he unites himself with them in spirit. For Job has said that it is of no use at all if you are “pleased with God” (Job 34:9).

These are words that Job did not say literally, but that resonate in what he said about God (Job 9:22). He has always shown in his life that he feared God. And now look, what is God’s answer to that? He took everything away from him and instead gave him deep, hopeless misery. No, according to Job’s statements, piety and fear of God have no profit (cf. Malachi 3:14). It doesn’t matter if you serve God, worship Him and walk with Him, because God doesn’t take that into account. Just look at his misery.

Psalms 19:13

Job Has Accused God

Elihu expresses no suspicions, but refers to what Job said (Job 34:5). Job has said that God has wronged him, who knows of himself that he has done nothing wrong, by taking away his right. Job said this literally (Job 12:4; Job 13:18; Job 27:2; 6), but it is also the whole tenor of his defense.

Here the question may arise, what right did Job have? Can he, and can we, assert a right before God, something of which we can say to God that He should not touch? After all, we have no other right before God than the judgment of hell, have we? As creatures, we have no right before the Creator (Romans 9:20), and as sinners we should be silent altogether (Romans 3:19).

Job believes that he is fully within his rights, but that because of what has happened to him, he is seen as a liar (Job 34:6). That is what his friends have always said to him in veiled terms. They have always said that Job, because he suffers so much, must have sinned heavily. Job denies that he has sinned, but his friends do not believe him, so he is a liar to them.

He ended up in that position because of what God has brought upon him. The wound was delivered to him by the Almighty, Job said (Job 6:4; Job 16:13). By this he means the disasters that God has brought upon him. They are disasters that have given him an incurable wound. And that is what God has done, Job judges, “without transgression”. Job thus pronounces that God has wronged him. What matters to Elihu is to make clear to Job that he has gone too far here.

In Job 34:7 Elihu exclaims in amazement at Job that there is no one like him, a man who derides God’s dealings with him and does so with the ease with which someone drinks water. In Job 34:8, Elihu says that Job has gone too far in his utterances about God. He says of Job that he “goes in company with the workers of iniquity” and that he “walks with wicked men”. He does not say that Job commits iniquity or is wicked man, but that he is in their company.

It does not mean that he himself is wicked. Elihu says so because Job has spoken out about God in the same way as those do who commit iniquity and as wicked people do (Job 21:14-15). This is how he unites himself with them in spirit. For Job has said that it is of no use at all if you are “pleased with God” (Job 34:9).

These are words that Job did not say literally, but that resonate in what he said about God (Job 9:22). He has always shown in his life that he feared God. And now look, what is God’s answer to that? He took everything away from him and instead gave him deep, hopeless misery. No, according to Job’s statements, piety and fear of God have no profit (cf. Malachi 3:14). It doesn’t matter if you serve God, worship Him and walk with Him, because God doesn’t take that into account. Just look at his misery.

Psalms 19:14

Job Has Accused God

Elihu expresses no suspicions, but refers to what Job said (Job 34:5). Job has said that God has wronged him, who knows of himself that he has done nothing wrong, by taking away his right. Job said this literally (Job 12:4; Job 13:18; Job 27:2; 6), but it is also the whole tenor of his defense.

Here the question may arise, what right did Job have? Can he, and can we, assert a right before God, something of which we can say to God that He should not touch? After all, we have no other right before God than the judgment of hell, have we? As creatures, we have no right before the Creator (Romans 9:20), and as sinners we should be silent altogether (Romans 3:19).

Job believes that he is fully within his rights, but that because of what has happened to him, he is seen as a liar (Job 34:6). That is what his friends have always said to him in veiled terms. They have always said that Job, because he suffers so much, must have sinned heavily. Job denies that he has sinned, but his friends do not believe him, so he is a liar to them.

He ended up in that position because of what God has brought upon him. The wound was delivered to him by the Almighty, Job said (Job 6:4; Job 16:13). By this he means the disasters that God has brought upon him. They are disasters that have given him an incurable wound. And that is what God has done, Job judges, “without transgression”. Job thus pronounces that God has wronged him. What matters to Elihu is to make clear to Job that he has gone too far here.

In Job 34:7 Elihu exclaims in amazement at Job that there is no one like him, a man who derides God’s dealings with him and does so with the ease with which someone drinks water. In Job 34:8, Elihu says that Job has gone too far in his utterances about God. He says of Job that he “goes in company with the workers of iniquity” and that he “walks with wicked men”. He does not say that Job commits iniquity or is wicked man, but that he is in their company.

It does not mean that he himself is wicked. Elihu says so because Job has spoken out about God in the same way as those do who commit iniquity and as wicked people do (Job 21:14-15). This is how he unites himself with them in spirit. For Job has said that it is of no use at all if you are “pleased with God” (Job 34:9).

These are words that Job did not say literally, but that resonate in what he said about God (Job 9:22). He has always shown in his life that he feared God. And now look, what is God’s answer to that? He took everything away from him and instead gave him deep, hopeless misery. No, according to Job’s statements, piety and fear of God have no profit (cf. Malachi 3:14). It doesn’t matter if you serve God, worship Him and walk with Him, because God doesn’t take that into account. Just look at his misery.