4th December 2025

4th December 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Job 32-33) 


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Everyone knows that Job had three comforters but what many tend to forget is that there was at least one other person listening to the debate. His name was Elihu and because of his young age he had to wait his turn to speak (v4). Despite his youth he had found what he had heard to be entirely unsatisfactory and so he burned with anger against Job, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar (v2-3). In Elihu's opinion Job had sought to justify himself and the other comforters had failed to give adequate answers and so it was now Elihu's turn to speak. He had waited patiently for the wisdom of his friends but it had not come (v11-12) and so he felt the pressing need to enter the discussion. His belly felt like a new wineskin which was ready to burst and so young Elihu stood to speak - the wine of his wisdom was about to flow. 


What did the youngster have to say? Elihu had been listening and he accurately described Job's position in this way "I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me. Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me as his enemy, he puts my feet in the stocks  and watches all my paths." (33v9-11). The other comforters were sure that Job had sinned and was stubbornly refusing to admit it. Elihu made no such charge, instead he was angered that Job in trying to justify himself had spoken sinfully against God. This caused Elihu to tell Job "Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. Why do you contend against him, saying, ‘He will answer none of man's words’?" (33v12-13).


That had been one of Job's problems - he was crying out to God but it seemed the Lord was silent. Elihu may have been young but he knew that our God is one who speaks once, twice, three times (33v29). We are of course blessed when the Word of God is opened and read then preached. We should never take for granted the weekly declaration of the Gospel and we must ensure that when the Word is preached we are there to hear it.


Elihu also pointed out the work of God's providence in our lives. Have you ever been unable to sleep because you have been condemned by your conscience? Have you ever experienced a vivid dream that has caused you to wake suddenly? Elihu told Job that while he was waiting for God to speak he missed the call of his own conscience which should have pulled him back to the Lord (v14-18).


Am I saying that our conscience is the voice of God? Am I encouraging you to regard dreams as something tangible and reliable? By no means! The human conscience is not the Holy Spirit and it should never be regarded as God's authoritative voice. Equally, dreams are fleeting, strange and unreliable. So what's going on when we dream or feel the wight of our conscience? The Lord has written His law upon our hearts and when our conscience burns within us it can often be a clear sign that we need to do business with God.


In like manner the Lord can sometimes use illness to call us back to His side. When we know the agony of suffering and find ourselves "rebuked with pain" on our beds (v19), it may well be time to return to Jesus. In Elihu's example suffering took a man to the pit before an angel came to bring restoration (v22-24). Job had not done anything wrong to bring devastation upon him but as he wrestled with suffering he arrived at a place of self-justification where he believed God was silent.


What if in our own lives it isn't so much that God is silent but more that we just aren't listening? The Lord does not wish for His people to be destroyed but instead He desires to light them with the light of life (v30). Brothers and sisters, perhaps this devotion was exactly for you in this very moment. Put away your phone, turn off the internet and stop in silence. Do you hear that? The Lord has been speaking all along. Listen to Him!


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q36 What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification? The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.
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