“Remember to extol his work, of which men have sung.
Elihu has just asked who teaches like God, and who could dare tell Him He has done wrong. Now he turns Job from arguing his case to remembering God's work and making much of it — which raises the question of what magnifying a finished work can possibly add to it.
The shift from Job's case to God's greatness
Elihu stops probing the sufferer and starts describing the One who is dealing with him.
Leslie M. GrantElihu turns again to speak of the greatness and glory of God Himself, no longer of Job's own felt need. If God is recognised for who He is, this has a vital effect on how a person responds. God is all-powerful, so He must have the highest place — and who else could teach as He does? (v.22). On the one hand, who has ever handed God an assignment? On the other hand, who dares tell Him He has done wrong? (v.23). Only contemptible pride could take such an attitude.
Not rescue only, but teaching
The command to remember follows Elihu's question about who teaches like God.
William KellyThe teaching of God is the point pressed here — not just God saving a soul from going down into the pit, but the teaching of God.
Magnifying instead of accusing
Elihu sets magnifying God's work against the alternative he has just ruled out — charging God with wrong.
Samuel RidoutWho is a great God like Him? Who teaches like Him, both in the mind of man and in nature? Can we charge such a One with evil? Rather let us magnify His works — the theme of men in their song. All nations look at it from far off and grasp it only faintly. Yet from the most cultured to those with no schooling at all, they have gazed at the scene in wonder and admiration.
A work in plain sight
Elihu points to what is in plain sight, not to a secret revelation. One writer finds in this an argument about the age of the book of Job itself.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIt proves how old the book is. In early days man knew the Creator by His works, and was completely taken up with them (Romans 1:20-21).
Greatness that still leaves a question
Men see this work only from far off. One writer asks what such a distant view can give a person, and what it cannot.
J. T. MawsonWe acknowledge the greatness of God; every man who is not a blind fool does that. In the heavens spread out above us we can read, by day and by night, the story of His power and glory. But is this all we know of Him? If it is, there is no answer in it to our question. We may admire the grandeur of His limitless glory. But if that is all we know, our knowledge gives no comfort. It only makes us feel that He is far removed from us, and that we cannot tell whether He cares or not.
The posture Elihu is pressing for
Behind the call to magnify lies an argument about God's rights.
J. N. DarbyWe should notice this in Elihu's speech: he brings forward God and gives Him first His rights, and draws all his conclusions from that… Here he speaks of God's title to be owned, and of what He is. But He does judge rightly and break down pride. It is fitting for man to bow under His hand and seek to be taught.
Summary
- Teacher. The verse rests on the question just asked — no one teaches as God does, and no one may tell Him He has done wrong.
- Remember. Elihu presses instruction, not rescue only. God is educating the sufferer, not just relieving him.
- Magnify. Accusing God is one road; making Him great is the other. His work is the theme of men's song, not the target of their complaint.
- All men. The work is public. Every nation, cultured or unschooled, has gazed at it, and from the earliest days men knew the Creator by what He made.
- From afar. Admiring His greatness from a distance gives no comfort on its own. The fitting end is to bow under His hand and ask Him to teach you.