Job 32:13

He had listened closely to all they said. Not one of them had convinced Job, or answered him properly. Just look back at their speeches. Eliphaz began in an elevated, dignified way and ended with the most brutal charges. Bildad's words were much the same, though less harsh. Zophar made his vehement declarations. That shows how fully Elihu was right in what he said. Truly he could add that they had no right to claim they had found out wisdom. It was God, he declares, not man, who had thrust Job down, and made him realise his helplessness.

Note this: "There was no answer." They reasoned, they argued, they appealed to experience, tradition, and law. Still there was "no answer." This is very instructive. Job's friends had covered a very wide range. They had said many true things. They had attempted many replies. But note it well: they found "no answer." Nothing on earth or in nature can find an answer for a self-righteous heart. God alone can answer it.

But how instructive the reason for all this! "Lest you should say, We have found out wisdom; God thrusts him down, not man." No flesh shall glory in the presence of God. Outside His presence it may boast. It may parade its pretensions, glory in its resources, and be proud of its projects, as long as no one thinks of God. But bring Him in, and in a moment it all withers — the bragging, the boasting, the empty glorying, the lofty pretensions, the self-satisfaction and the self-conceit.

Reader, let us remember this. "Boasting is excluded." Yes, all boasting — the boasting of Job, the boasting of his friends. If Job had succeeded in establishing his case, he would have boasted. If, on the other hand, his friends had succeeded in silencing him, they might have boasted. But no: "God thrusts him down, not man."

Why had they been silenced? "Lest you say, We have found wisdom" (v.13). God would humble them because of their own pride in thinking they had the answer that escaped Job. They could not vanquish Job. As Elihu says, "God will vanquish him, not man." Elihu knew Job needed to be vanquished — but by God, not by man, and not by the three friends or himself. Whether we realise it or not, we all need to have God gain the victory over us. Only when we allow God this place of absolute authority will our own hearts find true joy and rejoicing.

He saw that it was a question of God. They had not really brought in the true God as He is. "God thrusts him down, not man." That is what Job had said. So far, Job was far more right than his friends.