It was March 30, 1981. The 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, was shot. Upon being rushed to the hospital, it was discovered that the bullet was lodged in his chest. His lung had collapsed and he was taken into surgery. Being incapacitated, there had to be a transfer of power. With Vice President Bush, that is the first Vice President Bush, away in Texas, the crisis management team gathered in the Situation Room with Secretary of State Alexander Haig presiding. Soon, Deputy Press Secretary Larry Speaks went to the White House Briefing Room to calm the stunned nation. Reporter Leslie Stahl asked, who was running the government? To an alarmed nation, Speaks responded, I cannot answer that question at this time. When Haig heard that, he sent a message to Speaks ordering him to step away from the podium. Haig then stepped up to the podium, made a few comments, and opened for questions. And a reporter asked, who is making decisions for the government right now? Haig responded by referring to the Constitution and then reciting a faulty order of succession, which he placed himself second in line rather than fourth, as he actually was. Haig is remembered for these isolated words. As of now, I am in control. As you can imagine, he added to the confusion of the day for those who knew the Constitution knew that Alexander Haig was not in control. So the question was, who was in control? In our world, it is often wondered who is in control. For example, some wonder if our present president is in control or if he's being controlled. There is confusion. There are protests at our universities where buildings are damaged and private property illegally occupied. And we wonder if the university presidents will take control of their campus. Some have, and others in many respects have handed control over to the protesters. Who's in control? The world looks like it's out of control. As important as those questions are to us, there are more important issues when it comes to control. Who is in control of the universe? Anybody or no one? Is mother nature simply having her way? Did the earth come to order by some kind of chaotic cataclysmic event? Or is the earth created and controlled by intelligent design by an intelligent God? Did mankind evolve from a one-cell organism, as some think, or was man created by God in his image? Steve Lawson asks, is God governing the affairs of men? Or is man controlling his own lot in life with all its attendant events? Or could it be that Satan is the one who reigns? What about fate? Has some blind impersonal force fixed the order of circumstances? Who or what is in charge? These questions and the like can be challenging to our faith. We look around and think things are out of control. We see our own life and think things are a mess. So these questions, who's in control, who's in charge, can challenge our faith. Is it true, as R.C. Sproul used to say, that there is not a random molecule in the universe that God is the sovereign over all, absolutely all? And if so, what about the unpleasant events of our lives? What about the trials and the tribulations? What about the heartbreaking events that so try our soul? This past Friday at a Bible study, I attended another church, a good brother who is older than I, if you can believe anybody's older than me, a good brother who is older than I said that in the last seven years, he has come to believe that God is the sovereign over everything, the absolute sovereign. And he followed that statement by saying how much comfort that truth has brought him, knowing that good or bad, God is over it, and God is in control. It is true, in everything God has his purposes, and his purposes are good. The path may be rough, may be very, very rough, and the church said amen, but it and the end of it is in the hand of God, designed for our best and for his glory. This is a truth we are learning from the account of Job. God is in control. The 1646 Westminster Confession states in the third chapter of God's eternal decree, article one, God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass. Yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or the contingency of second causes taken away but rather established. To that I say the amen. God from all eternity did by his most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely and unchangeably ordain whatever comes to pass. God is over all, he is in all, he is through all. God is in absolute control. Last Lord's Day. In our continued study of Job, we came to read of one Elihu who, burning with anger, had much to say in rebuke to Job and the three friends. Young Elihu believes that he has the wisdom of God concerning Job and his trial. Of course, having no idea about the heavenly conflict between God and the accuser, Elihu, like the previous three, believes Job suffers on account of his sin. As I understand it, the difference between Elihu and the three is that the three believe that Job was under the punitive hand of God for his sin, while Elihu believes that Job suffered under the preventative hand of God, that God was seeking to not punish Job, but to discipline him, and as we know, there's a great difference between punishment and discipline. Again, as I would explain it, the other three believe God is in anger, is punishing Job, while Elihu believes God in loving care is disciplining Job, that is, referencing chapter 33, verse 28, to bring his soul from the pit to enlighten him with the light of life. As we consider chapters 32 and 33, we read as Elihu's anger burned, and he told Job that God had not been silent, but God had been speaking to him through dreams and visions of the night, through his pain and sufferings, and through a messenger mediator. At the close of chapter 33, while Elihu hoped Job would confess his sin, and if he did, Elihu said that he would justify him, intercede for him, Elihu then says to Job, chapter 33, verse 33, if not, if you're not going to repent, if you're not going to come around, if not, listen to me, keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom. Please let us now stand for the reading of the word, For our reading, we will read from chapters 34 and 36. I ask you to lend your full attention now to the reading of God's holy word as found in the book of Job, chapter 34, verse one. Then Elihu continued and said, hear my words, you wise men, and listen to me, you who know, for the ear tests words and the palate tastes food. Let us choose for ourselves what is right. Let us know among ourselves what is good. Now please turn to chapter 36, verse 22. Chapter 36, verse 22. Behold, God is exalted in power, the church said. Amen. Who is a teacher like him? Who has appointed him his way? And who has said, thou hast done wrong? Remember that you should exalt his work of which men have sung. All men have seen it. Man beholds from afar. Behold, God is exalted and we do not know him. The number of his years is unsearchable. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Lord, please do prepare our hearts to hear from your word. And I ask you, Lord, to help this poor preacher to communicate your word well. And Lord, beyond me, that you by your spirit would plant your word deep in the hearts of the people, that these, your people, will receive your word, that it will be hidden deep in their hearts that they might not sin against you. Moreover, Lord, that they will live a pleasing life before you. I pray, Heavenly Father, as we wrestle with this text where Elihu says things that are glorious and says things that are wrong, that we will take what is good. We will leave this place glorifying you. For Lord, you are exalted in your power. Let us see a glimpse of your majesty today. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. And the church said, amen. God bless you, you may be seated. As we previously studied part one of this teaching last Lord's Day, where in chapter 32, Elihu's anger burned, and then in chapter 33 where Elihu maintained that God is not silent, today we come to the second part where we read as he states that God is perfectly just, God is ever caring or not indifferent, and number five, God is exalted in power. Elihu proclaims four great truths. God is not silent, God is perfectly just, God is ever caring, and God is exalted in power. Sadly, Elihu misapplies these truths to Job, as he assumes Job suffers discipline due to sin. At the same time, we can rejoice, for Elihu well magnifies the Lord. Young, angry Elihu is systematically responding to Job's complaints concerning God. As we read last Lord's Day, while Job desired audience with God and complained that God is silent, Elihu stated that in fact God was speaking in a variety of ways. Next, Elihu desires to set Job straight, teaching that though Job feels God has been unjust, that in fact God is perfectly just. Elihu, at chapter 34, begins his second discourse by addressing Job and the three, and perhaps others who might have been observing, and he demands that, as wise men of knowledge, they now listen to him. Then he quotes what he says Job said in chapter, excuse me, not what he said. Then he quotes what Job said in chapter 12, verse 11, that the ears test words as the palate tastes food. He uses Job's words, which by the way, proves that he's been there for quite a while. He uses Job's own words to garner their attention. He calls them to think seriously about what he is going to say so they can choose for themselves what is right, what is true, and what is good. In setting up his argument, Elihu first quotes Job. Elihu says, verses five and six of chapter 34, For Job hath said, I am righteous, but God hath taken away my right. Should I lie concerning my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression. Sean O'Donnell writes, while it is accurate that Job has repeatedly asserted his innocence, questioned God's fairness, and seen God as warring against him, Elihu's representation is not completely fair. Job is actually an innocent sufferer in this case. Now, as we have tried to make clear from the beginning, it is not that Job is sinless. No one is saying that. But in regard to this trial, he is innocent. He is not suffering because of some sin of his, but because he is righteous. And let me say that again. He's not suffering because of some sin of his, but because, in fact, he is righteous and exemplary, godly man. So he's being tested. Remember then, Job is a type who foreshadows the Christ who was to come. Job is the shadow and Jesus the fulfillment and reality. Foreshadowing that Jesus would suffer and die, Job is innocent in this matter. He suffers because he is a righteous man. With Job having declared his innocence in the matter, having not committed the sin that he has been accused of, Elihu then falsely condemns him and says, verses seven through nine, what man is like Job, who drinks up derision like water, who goes in company with the workers of iniquity and walks with wicked men? For he has said, it profits a man nothing when he is pleased with God. When Elihu says, what man is like Job, he is saying that Job is a one-of-a-kind delusional sinner. He's saying that there's not another wicked one as him, that he goes in the company of the workers of wickedness, that he walks, lives, fellowships with wicked men, and he scoffs at God and says that there is no advantage to living for God, to pleasing God. Well, we will say that Job is one of a kind, but in the opposite direction. Job chapter two, verse three. And the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth. A blameless and upright man fearing God, turning away from evil. and he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to ruin him without cause. So Job is not a one-of-a-kind evil man as Elihu accuses, but he is one-of-a-kind in righteousness. Elihu's accusation is wrong. Elihu adds to Job's trial. Yet Elihu goes on to speak great truth concerning God. Isn't this a marvel? A person can say right things and still say wrong things and still say right things about God. We need to remember, folks, that we're not perfect, but we do wanna glorify God, amen? Elihu goes on to speak great truths concerning God. He says in the same chapter, verses 10b through 12, far be it from God to do wickedness, amen, and far from the Almighty to do wrong, For he pays the man according to his work, and he makes him find it according to his ways. Surely God will not act wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice. Well, we would say amen and amen, far be it from God to do wickedness. Far be it from the Almighty to do wrong. God will not act wickedly. The Almighty will not pervert justice. Amen and amen, that is the truth. God is pure and holy. In him there is no sin. Is there any wonder that the heavenly beings around the throne cry out day and night, holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. This is true. And so we say the amen. But Elihu has applied this divine truth against Job. In the first line of verse 10, he says, therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. What he says of God, he applies to what he said of Job. The truth he says of God, he applies to the wrong he has said of Job. He is rebuking Job as he wrongly accuses him of being in deep sin, who is, referencing verse 11, being paid for his sin, according to Elihu. Elihu says that God is making Job to discover the error of his way. Here, Elihu sounds more like the previous three. Problem, God is not making Job to discover the error of his way. We read the first of the book. Elihu rightly exalts God while he wrongly accuses Job. Elohim continues to exalt God by saying that He is by being in nature the sovereign over all, verses 13 through 15. Who gave Him authority over the earth? and who has laid on him the whole world. If he should determine to do so, if he should gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to the dust. Again, amen and amen. Elihu is right in his praiseworthy truth concerning God, but wrong in using his truth to rebuke Job. Elihu speaks great truth of God, but in burning anger, based on false accusations against Job, He speaks in anger rather than in love. Beloved, let us always be of the kind that we speak the truth of God and we speak it in love. The truth of God is not to be a weapon to wound, it's to be the bandage, the salve to heal. Based upon the truth that God is the almighty sovereign who is just, Elihu asked Job two rhetorical questions. Verse 17a, shall one who hates justice rule? The obvious answer is an emphatic no. If God were not just, then he should not rule, but God is just, so he is ruler, he is God. and has asked the sovereign ruler, who calls one king a worthless one and nobles wicked ones, and if he shows no partiality to anyone noble or peasant, rich or poor, with all being the work of his hands, all alike and partially destined to death, how then, Job, will you condemn him? This is what Elohim is asking. How, Job, will you condemn God? He's just. Problem being, Job hasn't condemned God. Amplifying his statements concerning God as a sovereign who sees all and justly repays, Elihu says, verses 21 through 29, for his eyes are upon the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps. There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. For he does not need to consider a man further that he should go before God in judgment. He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry and sets others in their place. Therefore he knows their works and he overthrows them in the night and they are crushed. He strikes them like the wicked in a public place because they turned aside from following him. and have no regard for any of his ways, so that they cause the cry of the poor to come to him, and that he might hear the cry of the afflicted. When he keeps quiet, who then can condemn him? And when he hides his face, who then can behold him? Elihu is pressing upon Job and the others who are there the truth that God is the divine sovereign who acts justly and no one can condemn him of wrongdoing. Elihu rightly stresses that God is perfectly just and again to that we say the amen, amen, and amen. But again, we have this problem. The problem is that Elihu is claiming that Job's trial has come upon him by the justice of God when Job's trial is not a matter of justice, but entirely of the divine ordained will. Elihu. Having Job in mind says this, verses 31 and 32. For has anyone said to God, that is, has anyone, Job, said to God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend anymore. Teach thou me what I do not see. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more. And the answer is no, Job has not sinned in this. He has not declared his friends right. To confess and repent of sin he hasn't committed would be to let go of his integrity, and that would be a sin in itself. Elihu maintains that Job should not condemn God, but rather confess his sin. In an increasingly stern rebuke, Elihu asks Job, really talks down to Job by accusing him of rejecting God's terms and demanding that his terms be met by God. And he tells Job that he must make a choice. He can either repent of his sin or continue to suffer and suffer all the more. Anticipating that Job will not repent, of the sin Elihu and the others have accused him of, Elihu says that wise men of understanding will declare that Job speaks without knowledge. So he's saying, Job, everybody's looking, we're looking for you to repent. If you don't repent, let me tell you what all these men gather here, what wise men will say about you. They will say that you speak without knowledge, Job, that your words are without wisdom. that you answer like wicked men, that you add rebellion to your sin, and that you scornfully clap your hands through silence, wise men, and you multiply your words against God. Job, that's what people are going to say. He's trying to pressure Job into confessing sin that he thinks Job has committed, but Job has not committed. A lot of pressure. As a result, Elihu warns, wise men will determine, Job, that you should be further tried, tried to the limit, suffering worse than you have already. Wow. Elihu maintains that Job deserves what he has suffered, and if he does not repent, he deserves even more. He comes to that conclusion after stating how perfectly just God is. Amen, God is perfectly just, Elihu is not. Now Elihu preaches that God is ever caring, or if you prefer, not indifferent, God is not indifferent, God is ever caring. In contrast to chapter 33 where Elihu stated that God was actively speaking to Job in various ways, here he states reasons for which God is silent. And of course he stresses that if God is silent, it is because Job is unrepentant. Nevertheless, he maintains that God in His silence is not indifferent, but will answer Job fully at the appointed time, the time of God's own choosing. In this 35th chapter, Elihu pounds on Job with the singular accusative personal pronoun you some 14 times, if I count it right. Now you can all count. Please listen to me, count later. This is in your face, Job. He's getting in Job's face. It actually appears to me at this point that Elihu, like the previous three, as he speaks and does not receive from Job what he wants, he becomes all the more aggravated with Job. He's getting frustrated. Accusing Job of injustice before God, Elihu rebukes him, asking, verses two through three, this is chapter 35, do you think this is according to justice? Do you, or when you say, my righteousness is more than God's? For you say, what advantage will it be to you? What profit shall I have more than if I had sinned? Elihu accuses Job of claiming that God doesn't know whether a man is righteous or in sin, and thus that there is no benefit or detriment in either case. Steve Lawson writes, as Job was painfully aware, his godliness resulted in tragedy and trauma. It's true. It wasn't everybody else going through this because of their sin, it was Job going through this because he was a righteous man. He was the example God had chosen. So it's true. God was testing him because he was a righteous man. but it is true only so far. That is, Job's righteousness had temporarily resulted in tragedy and trauma, but as we have the complete story at hand, thanks to God, we know that God is near to pouring out his divine blessings upon Job, and I'm looking forward to getting into the text next week where God begins to address Job. Though the temporary result was devastating, the end result will be glorious and satisfying. Job will be satisfied. This is the way of God. In verses 4-8, Elhiu explains to Job that the way of God is higher than his, and we say the Amen, Isaiah 55.9. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways. Did you get that, church? God's ways are higher than our ways. There's times we don't understand what God is doing, we don't understand why he's acting the way he's acting, we don't understand why he has us where he has us, but God is working. His ways are the higher ways. If we chose some way, it would be lower. God chooses for us the higher. The point is that God is God and He is not moved one way or the other by the sin or the righteousness of man. That is, man does not affect the eternal decree of God. No matter the man, God has His way. Again, Lawson comments, Lawson wins the prize for the most quoted today by far. Lawson comments, by this assertion, Elihu was not teaching that God is indifferent to man's sin or righteousness, rather the point he was making is that God's actions toward man are God-determined, not man-initiated. God is not controlled by man, but man is controlled by God. Roy Zuck comments, God does judge impartially and does not alter his standards by what a man does or does not do. God is his own God. He is his own. He is the sovereign. What he ordains, he will bring to pass. So this is not because God does not care what man does, whether good or bad, but because God so cares that he acts justly in every case. A man's righteousness or wickedness does not change the nature of God. God is God and he is in control. So a part of this rebuke is this, Joe, God owes you nothing special. He will do as he determined. He is not indifferent, but ever caring and ever in control. He is the infinite sovereign creator. You are the under his control finite creature. Elihu continues, verses 12 through 13. There they cry out, but he does not answer because of the pride of the evil men. Surely God will not listen to an empty cry, nor will the Almighty regard it. David, I don't know, explains in verses nine through 16, Elihu offers an argument for why God does not hear Job's cries for help. Pride. Pride keeps a suffering person from turning to God in true humility. Well, James will address that principle of unanswered prayer, James chapter four, verses two and three. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, wrong intentions, wrong desires. Addressing what Elihu sees as pride in Job and impatience in Job, Elihu says, verse 14b, the case is before him and you must wait for him. God will answer when he answers. The Lord does not wait on us, but we wait upon the Lord. Isaiah 40 verse 31, yet those who wait upon the Lord will gain new strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. God doesn't wait upon us, we wait upon Him. He's God, He's creator, we're the creature. Elihu closes this discourse with a nasty indictment saying, verses 15 and 16, and now, because he has not visited in his anger, nor has he acknowledged transgression well, so Job opens his mouth emptily, he multiplies words without knowledge. My goodness, Elihu accuses Job of saying that because God has not visited his anger upon Job and has not well addressed his transgression, that Job, not having learned his lesson, speaks a multiplicity of empty foolhardy words. He is saying, Job, you're taking advantage of God's kindness and God's patience. Gleason Archer, who by the way worked As a translator for the 1971 New American Standard Bible, Gleason Archer comments, Job never asserted that God is truly indifferent about the moral behavior of man as Elihu has mistakenly inferred, it's true. Thus while in principle what Elihu says is true, in the context his application to Job is off pace. Next we have God is exalted in power. Elihu's final discourse makes up chapters 36 and 37. Elihu begins this final discourse by claiming divine inspiration, verses one through four. Then Elihu continued and said, wait for me a little, and I will show you that there is yet more to be said in God's behalf. So Elihu's gonna speak for God. "'I will fetch my knowledge from afar, "'and I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker, "'for truly my words are not false. "'One who is perfect in knowledge is with you.'" Now, I'm not sure what to think about Elihu's lofty words. As Elihu says, one who is perfect in knowledge is with you, some take him to be saying that God is with Job, while others take it to mean that Elihu is referring to himself. He has a high view of himself. Nevertheless, though Elihu makes his mistakes in many ways, he glorifies God. There is much to glean from this. In verses five through seven, we find Elihu rightly exalting God by saying that, though God is mighty, he does not despise any. Amen, think about that. Though God is mighty, he does not despise any. And God being mighty is strong in understanding. God uses his strength for the benefit of his people. He's strong in understanding. With a high view of God's supremacy over everything, Elihu boasted, God is mighty, able to order man's circumstances and govern the events of life. Yet at the same time, God does not despise men. He does not abuse his power, but uses it for the highest good of his people. God is not abusive. He's loving. He does not abuse His power. Though He is Lord, He isn't one who is lording over us, but one who is loving us and guiding us and directing us. Elihu says of God, verses six through seven, he does not keep the wicked alive, but gives justice to the afflicted. He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne, he has seated them forever, and they are exalted. What's Elihu saying? God's sovereign. He raises up kings, he takes kings down. He gives life, he takes life away. Then in verses eight through 12, Elihu states God's purpose in suffering. He says that when people suffer for their sin, that that is God's way of getting their attention, declaring their sinfulness to them, that rather than exalting God, they have been magnifying themselves. And he says, verses 11 and 12, if they hear and serve him, they shall end their days in prosperity and their years and pleasures. But if they do not hear, they shall perish by the sword and shall die without knowledge." True. Then having observed that Job is angry with God, he warns Job, speaking of the godless who lay up anger in their heart. In prideful anger, they do not cry for help when God binds them, but being resentful, they die young like those who engage in immoral debauchery, the immoral debauchery of pagan worship. On the other hand, should the soul repent, God will deliver them, and we're thankful for that, amen. Elihu continues to call Job to repent for his sin, for which he believes God is disciplining him. In verse 16, Elihu tells Job that God is using his suffering to entice him, that is, God is using your suffering, Job, to bring you back to himself, to draw you back. And he says that Job will just turn from sin, that God will restore him to the fatness of the blessings he once knew. In verse 17 we have another indictment. Elihu says that Job was suffering the judgment that befalls the wicked being taken hold of by judgment and justice. So Elihu maintains that God is disciplining Job. He warns Job not to let God's heavy hand move him to resentment. He warns Job not to look to riches and strength, the idea being he should trust in God alone. Further, Job should not long for the night of sleep or death to relieve his suffering. Again, he should trust in God. And Job must not turn to evil, preferring evil over discipline. But Job should exalt God and His power as God employs His mighty power in teaching us of sin and righteousness. God is to be exalted. And the church says, amen. God is sovereign over all. No one has instructed him or told him how to deal with us. We are under his divine hand and we cannot tell him that he has done wrong with us in dealing with us as he has. He is the potter, we are the clay. Blessed be the name of the Lord. With Elihu concluding that Job, due to his sin, suffers under the mighty hand of God, he tells Job that he should exalt God for his work. Really, this is to say that Job, rather than accusing God, should exalt him for dealing with him as he has. Think of that. In the midst of our trials, in the midst of our pain, in the midst of our suffering, to say thank you, Lord, for dealing with me as you have. For Lord, your ways are higher than my ways. You do not do anything wrong. All your ways are right. Job, rather than accusing God, you should exalt him for dealing with you as he has. And again, this is absolutely true, but sadly, applied with false accusations. Elohim goes on to magnify the Lord. Now here, I'm going to read the lengthy text. and I'm going to do so without comment. Elihu's exaltation of God will speak perfectly for itself, so as we read this text, let us wonder at the magnificence of God, let these exaltations cause us to magnify the Lord. Here are the word of the Lord, reading from chapter 36, 24 through 37, verse 12. This is the word of the Lord, Job 36 verse 24. Remember that you should exalt his work of which men have sung. All men have seen it, man beholds from afar. Behold, God is exalted and we do not know him, the number of his years is unsearchable. For he draws up the drops of water, they distill rain from the mist, which the clouds pour down, they drip upon man abundantly. Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thundering of his pavilion? Behold, he spreads his lightning about him and he covers the depths of the sea. For by these he judges people, he gives food in abundance. He covers his hands with the lightning and commands it to strike the mark. Its noise declares his presence, the cattle also concerning what is coming up. At this also my heart trembles and leaps from its place. Listen closely to the thunder of his voice, and the rumbling that goes out from his mouth. Under the whole heaven he lets it loose, and is lightning to the ends of the earth. After it, a voice roars. He thunders with his majestic voice, and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard. God thunders with his voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend. For to the snow he says, fall on the earth. and to the downpour and the rain be strong. He seals the hand of every man that all men may know his word. Then the beast go into the lair and remains in its den. Out of the south comes the storm and out of the north the cold. From the breath of God ice is made. and the expanse of the waters is frozen. Also with moisture he loads the thick cloud, he disperses the cloud of his lightning, and it changes direction, turning around by his guidance. Did you hear what he just said? When you see the lightning and it turns, God is the one who turned it. God is in control of all things. It changes direction, turning around by his guidance that it may do whatever he commands it on the face of the inhabited earth. Amen, church. Our God is great and worthy to be praised. He is Lord of all, King of kings, the almighty sovereign who is in all, through all, and over all. Our God controls all. And for what reasons does God govern all? As Elihu stated in verse 13, God causes it to happen as He wills for His purposes, whether for correction, for His glory to be displayed in this world, or for the expression of His lovingkindness. God is over all for the sake of His own glory. The question then is, will we worship Him? Again, Elihu exalts the Lord, saying, verses 14 through 21, This is chapter 37. Listen to this, O Job. Stand and consider the wonders of God. Do you know how God establishes them and makes the lightning of his cloud to shine? Do you know about the flares of the thick clouds, the wonders of one perfect in knowledge? You whose garments are hot when the land is still because of the south wind, can you with him spread out the skies strong as a molten mirror? Can you? Can you? God is great and he is mighty. Elihu's last words come to us, verses 23 to 24. Out of the north comes gold and 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. Amen, God is exalted in power. Therefore, men fear him, fear him. So far as that goes, Elihu is preaching to the choir, for Job was a man who feared God. but it must be said over and over. God is great, God is exalted in his power. Men fear God and fear God alone. God is in all, he is through all, and he is over all. He is the sovereign ruler who justly does as it pleases him. He is exalted in his power, therefore fear God. Well finally then, Dov Elihu has had many things wrong concerning Job. He also had many things right concerning the glories of God. By Elihu's final exaltation of God, we are now prepared to read as God comes to Job and speaks for his own glory. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, there is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty. Amen. Here is comfort and assurance. Our God who is exalted in his power is over every detail of our life. He who numbered the hairs on your head has numbered the days of your life. He knows everything about you for he ordained your life in the events of your life. As the Westminster Confession says, God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass. The faithless, godless alternative to this is that everything is random and meaningless. Let us not be caught up in the same falling of those who believe that the world came into order through a chaotic cataclysmic event. No, God is sovereign, he is creator, he is in all, through all and over all. Yet God being mighty and having all power, He is not capricious. While He is the absolute sovereign, exalted in power, He cares for us. While He acts as His own, He does not act in indifference, but He acts for His creation. The ultimate proof of His loving care for us is found in this, 1 John 4, 9 and 10. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God sent his only begotten son into the world so we might live through him. In this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. In 1 John 3.16, we know love by this, that he laid down his life for us. So, If God didn't reveal it to us, it would seem untrue that this great God who is exalted in power so loved us that he gave his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that a son would come to the earth, his perfect holy lamb would come to the earth and die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. And if you will believe upon the Lord Jesus, you will be saved from sin and death to life everlasting. God is exalted in power. He is in all, through all, over all. God is the one who is in control. Believe in his son and you will be saved. Let's bow our heads. Our great and mighty heavenly father, we bow before you at this moment, trying to take in the things we have read from your word. Lord, I pray that you will cause us to think heavily upon the truth of who you are, your glory, your might, your strength, your perfection, that though you are the almighty one, you care for us, your creation, who have sinned against you. And that you so loved us that you gave your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to redeem us from sin to yourself. Lord, we thank you for the story of Job. We see in him a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, thank you that you came, the sinless one, to die on the cross, to bear the penalty of our sin. It has become to you in faith believing you redeem us, and we are at peace with the Father. We thank you, Lord, for your truth. We pray, Lord, that it will take deep root in our heart, and Lord, that we will leave this place today glorifying you. Let us live our lives for your glory. In the name of Christ, I pray, amen.