If you have any words, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you.
Elihu has been speaking to Job at length, and now he stops and hands him the floor. His reason is what matters: he wants Job justified — not Job defending himself, but God putting him right.
The pause that gives Job a voice
Elihu wants to be heard, yet he leaves Job room to answer. His reason sets him apart from Job's three friends.
Leslie M. GrantElihu desired time to say all that was on his mind, yet he did not demand that he should do all the speaking. Rather, he invites Job to speak out plainly if he has anything to say (v.32). Elihu was not putting Job down, as his friends did. He wanted Job justified. He did not mean that Job should justify himself, for this was already Job's tragic mistake. No doubt he wanted Job justified from God's viewpoint, just as the tax collector was justified and the Pharisee was not, when he prayed, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" (Luke 18:13-14).
The righteousness that has to be let go
Job had spent chapters defending his own record. One writer shows what had to go before God would justify him.
W. T. P. WolstonJob was as busy as he could be, justifying himself. He goes so far as to say, "My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go" (Job 27:6). He never made it out, though. At the end of the story he has to put his hand on his mouth and say, "Behold, I am of small account" (Job 40:4). The Lord seems to say, "I will never let you go, Job, till you have given up those filthy rags, your own righteousness. Then I will justify you. I will give you My righteousness." … Only the presence of God can enable anyone to let go of their own righteousness. Not that they have any to let go, really — they only think they have.
A desire, not a reluctance
The word "desire" carries the weight of the verse. Elihu does not help Job reluctantly — he wants this outcome. One writer hears God's own heart in it.
Charles StanleyGod's very object, His desire, His purpose in sending His beloved Son into this world was to justify ungodly sinners. Let the anxious, awakened sinner know this — in coming to Him, He is most ready, and He desires to justify you. The moment you believe on Him who raised up Jesus from the dead for our justification, that moment you are justified from all things. See Acts 13:38; Romans 4:24 to 5:1.
Why God is in the judge's seat at all
If God desires to justify, why is He on the judgment seat at all? One writer puts the question back on us.
W. T. P. WolstonThe common thought is that God is our Judge, and so He is; but who made Him a Judge? Who put God on the judgment seat? You did! I did! The sin and guilt of man have forced God into the place of judgment. God must judge sin. Otherwise God and man would be alike, neither of them thinking much about it, and there would be no righteousness. Yet He has no desire to take the place of judgment. Even here, to Job, He says, "I desire to justify you" (Job 33:32).
The man Job had asked for
Earlier Job had cried out for someone to stand between himself and God. One writer shows Elihu stepping into exactly that place.
Samuel RidoutHe reminds Job of his own desire for such a person. Job had said, "There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both" (Job 9:33), and, "that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbour" (Job 16:21). To this desire Elihu now replies: "Behold, I am toward God as you are; I too was pinched off from a piece of clay. Behold, no fear of me need terrify you; my pressure will not be heavy upon you" (Job 33:6-7).
Older translations render Job 33:6, "I am according to your wish, in God's stead" — the writer's point is that Elihu stands in God's place toward Job.
The silence that follows
Job takes the open invitation and says nothing. The next verse offers him the other road to wisdom.
Leslie M. GrantElihu had asked Job to speak if he had anything to say. He rightly adds, "if not, listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom" (v.33). Job then had nothing to say. No doubt he recognised that Elihu's message was higher than he had considered. He wisely chose to listen.
One writer weighs what that silence means.
Samuel RidoutElihu is truly answering Job's desire for an arbiter. Job's silence may well be a sign of beginning conviction.
Summary
- Desire. The verse turns on one word. Elihu wants Job justified, and one writer hears in it God's purpose in sending His Son to justify ungodly sinners.
- Not self-made. The justifying Elihu wants is not Job's self-defence — that was Job's mistake. It is God putting him right.
- Release. God gives His righteousness only after the filthy rags go. Only His presence makes a man loosen his grip on his own.
- Mediator. The offer comes through a man who does not terrify Job. That was Job's own cry — for someone to stand between him and God.
- Silence. Job is free to answer and has nothing to say. That silence is the first sign of conviction, and the doorway to the wisdom promised next.