Job 33:2

"Behold, I open my mouth" — he had been very slow to do it — "the tongue in my mouth speaks. My words declare the uprightness of my heart" — it is all genuine and sincere — "and what my lips know, they speak sincerely." And so they did.

After Elihu has made his excuses for speaking, he takes the last place. It is really the weightiest place of all, though he was so little thought of that we had not even heard his name before. This is one of the things men keep failing to understand: the last should be first, and the first last. To my mind it fits not only this book, but Scripture, and God's ways in general: He brings people forward at the right moment.

Elihu had been an interested listener all the way through, and so he was ready to speak when the others had gone quiet. There is much fittingness in the meaning of his name — "My God is He." He does not speak for himself, but for God. In this way he is a picture of our Lord, whose one object was to speak for the Father: "I made known to them your name" (John 17:26).

Job's heart went out towards God, but he was afraid that it would be too overwhelming. He wanted to find Him, and yet he was still afraid. He wanted someone who could speak to him in a human voice — someone who could speak fully for God. Well, Elihu does that, as far as he is able.

Elihu did not take the proud and unfeeling attitude that Job's three friends did. He speaks with simple humility, asking Job to hear and consider what he says (v.1). He claims that his words come from his heart, speaking pure knowledge (vv.2-3). He says this because he knows that the Spirit of God has made him, and the breath (or Spirit) of the Almighty gives him life. "Answer me, if you can; set your words in order before me; take your stand" (v.5). This should be true of anyone who speaks for God.

In these tones, the ministry of "grace" unfolds itself, sweetly and powerfully, to the heart of Job. The three friends had none of this most excellent ingredient in their ministry. They showed themselves only too ready to bear down on Job with "a heavy hand." They were stern judges, severe critics, false interpreters. … They had completely misunderstood God's dealings. … There was neither "grace" nor "truth" in their ministry, and so they failed to convince Job. They condemned him without convincing him, when they ought to have convinced him and made him condemn himself.

It is one thing to say a certain amount of true things. It is quite another to be the living channel of communication between the very heart of God and the souls of God's people. It is this second thing, and this alone, that makes true ministry. … Nothing is more sad and humbling than to listen to a man who is clearly drawing from his own poor and scanty resources, or trading in second-hand truth, in borrowed thoughts. Far better for such a person to be silent — better for their hearers, better for themselves.