Job 32 Devotional

Understanding as a Gift

After the three friends fall silent, a younger man named Elihu steps forward. He is angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God, and angry with the friends because they condemned Job without answering him (32:2-3). He had waited out of respect for their age (32:4-7). But now he says that God's own breath gives people understanding, and that wisdom does not simply come with years (32:8-9).

The book lets Elihu speak at length, and readers will need to weigh his words, as they weighed the friends'. Some of what he says echoes the friends; some of it turns toward the wonders of creation that the LORD will soon describe. What his opening makes plain is a principle the rest of Scripture affirms: wisdom is not earned by age or rank, but given by God. James tells anyone who lacks wisdom to ask God, who gives generously and without scolding (James 1:5). Understanding is a gift, and the Giver invites us to ask.

To think about: Where do you need wisdom right now, and what keeps you from simply asking God for it?