There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.
Elihu has just argued that God is so far above us that our sin does no damage to Him and our goodness adds nothing to Him. Now he turns to a harder fact. The world is full of people crying out under oppression, and heaven seems to say nothing. Elihu points at the criers, not at God.
God is not asleep
Silence can look like indifference. One commentator answers that first:
Samuel RidoutElihu now goes on to show that God does care about the ways of men. God does not sleep. He sees and hears. It grieves Him at His heart when men sin. Evil outrages His infinite perfections. That is why He does not answer the cry of the oppressed for relief — in faithfulness He cannot. Elihu is not speaking directly of Job, but of all afflicted people, including him. There is a reason why they get no relief from the Almighty.
The diagnosis: pride
The verse names its own cause. One writer traces how the section moves from song to scream and lands on the answer:
F. B. HoleThe God who gives the songs in the night teaches man whom He made. Men are of a far higher order than the beasts and birds. They can have dealings with Him, whether in songs of joy or cries of need. Verse 10 mentions the songs and verse 12 the cries. And why do men cry and yet receive no answer? The answer is: because of pride. In verse 13 Elihu diagnoses the root cause of it all as vanity. It is disgusting to God, a thing He completely disregards. Is not this instruction for us? Do we not see here an explanation of many an unanswered cry and prayer?
Pain that never turns Godward
The cry here is real pain, but it is aimed nowhere. Another commentator links it to a complaint God later made against Israel through the prophet Hosea:
William KellyIn a world like this there is never a shortage of oppressors. Oppression abounds, and the oppressed cry out and wail because of the violence of the mighty. Is it that God does not hear or feel? Not so. It is that even human anguish fails to lead them to God. As the prophet long afterwards complained of the pride and foolishness of stricken Israel: "they do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds" (Hosea 7:14). … There are the proud as well as the wicked, and there are people who suffer at the hands of men and never think of God. His eyes and His ears are open to those who appeal to Him, not to empty cries that have no more spiritual, or perhaps even moral, feeling than the animals that perish.
The question nobody asks
Verse 10 supplies the missing words — nobody says, "Where is God my Maker?" — and verse 12 shows the result. One writer asks where men actually do turn to God when they suffer:
Samuel RidoutAnd here is the reason. They are taken up with their own misery. They look for relief only for their own sake, with no thought of God's will or of His glory. They do not ask, Where is God my Maker? What can I learn of Him in these things? And is this not almost universal? Where do we find men turning to God in their affliction? The hungry want bread, but they do not want God. Give them bread, and they are quite content to go on in complete ignorance of Him.
The same thing in modern dress
The pattern did not stay in Job's era. One commentator sees it repeated wherever grievance is voiced loudly and God is left out of the account:
Leslie M. GrantPeople cry out, but God does not answer because of the pride that moves them (v.12). The many demonstrations today demanding the people's rights are clearly the expression of man's pride, for in demonstrating like this they are telling the world that they are wise and that those who oppose them are not worth considering — and even God Himself is given this inferior place. Can they expect God to listen to their empty talk? (v.13). They completely forget that He is "the Almighty."
A test to apply to yourself
The practical use of the verse is a question about the quality of our own crying:
F. B. HoleThere is all the difference in the world between a cry to God from the heart and a howl upon one's bed. The heart-cry sends a man to his knees in repentance toward God. The howl means only annoyance and distress, and rebellion against God.
Silence is not God's character
Elihu is explaining one thing only. It is not a full portrait of God:
Samuel RidoutElihu is dealing here with principles. It hardly needs adding that he is only explaining God's silence when men cry. He is not speaking of His kindness and care for His creatures. "The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made." Might not Job learn the lesson he needs if he would only pay attention? He had received abundant mercies from God; must there not be a reason for His apparent silence now?
Summary
- Cry — Pain is real and God is not asleep; He sees, hears, and is grieved when men sin.
- Pride — The verse names pride as the blockage. Its root, in the next verse, is vanity, which God disregards.
- Missing — The cry never becomes a question: nobody asks, "Where is God my Maker?" The hungry want bread, not God.
- Howl — A howl on the bed is not a cry from the heart; one is annoyance and rebellion, the other repentance.
- Silence — God's quiet here explains a principle, not His character. He is good to all, and there is a reason behind His silence.