For he draws up the drops of water; they distill his mist in rain,
Elihu has just said that God is great beyond our knowing. Then, instead of pointing to something vast, he points at rain — and asks what one drop of water can teach a suffering man.
Where the verse falls in the speech
Elihu's final address breaks in two, and this verse falls in the second half:
Samuel RidoutThe address may therefore be divided into two parts, each with its own steps of thought. God's dealings among men (Job 36:1-21). His ways in nature (Job 36:22-37:24).
What the words describe
The verse traces water on a round trip: drawn off, held as mist, returned as rain. One close rendering brings out each stage:
William KellyWhen He drains off the drops of water, they condense into rain in place of its mist, so that the clouds drop down and pour it abundantly on man.
That cycle is so ordinary that it slips past us without notice:
Leslie M. GrantGod is infinitely greater than human intellect can ever comprehend. Elihu illustrates this by pointing to God drawing up drops of water from seas, lakes and rivers and distilling them into rain. We know this happens continually, so the wonder of it does not lay hold of us as it should. We easily forget that the power of God is needed to keep the waters moving continuously in their wonderful cycle.
From the smallest drop to the soul of man
Elihu picks something tiny on purpose, and runs the argument upward from it:
William KellyHe is infinitely above our thoughts. "For he makes small the drops of water." Elihu illustrates it by God's power with outward things. And if that is true of something as small as the rain, how much more of something as great as the soul of man — the soul that came from the inbreathing of God Himself?
Why the drops are small
Older translations read the verse as "he makes small the drops of water," where the ESV has "he draws up the drops of water." One writer takes that smallness as a kindness:
Samuel RidoutAnd how good He is! If He opened the windows of heaven all at once, a flood would sweep all life away. Instead He makes the drops of rain small, and they fall in refreshing showers "upon the place beneath." So it is with His afflictions. The suffering and the grief are, after all, only blessings in disguise for faith: "The clouds you so much dread are big with mercy, and will break in blessings on your head."
Accuracy that outlasts the centuries
One writer holds the verse up against modern science:
Samuel RidoutFrom the great reservoir of waters — whether above or below the sky — He causes the rain to fall in gentle and plentiful showers on people. Could modern science state the origin of rain more exactly?
But a description that stops at the process leaves out the Person behind it:
Samuel RidoutBut both science and poetry leave God out, and when men do not see Him, what is all the rest worth? What use is it to speak of "gravity, expansion, condensation," if we do not see the spreading of His clouds, the majestic crash of the thunder in His tabernacle?
The care hidden in one drop
God tends what looks automatic. One writer marvels at the trouble He takes over the smallest part of His work:
William KellyWhat skill and care in His production of every drop of water filtered into rain, in or with His mist! What bountiful provision, as the high clouds drop down, and distil it on the multitudes of men!
Summary
- Drawn up. God lifts the drops off seas, lakes and rivers. The cycle only keeps running because His power keeps it going.
- Distilled. God turns the vapour back into rain and drops it from the clouds. The wording is so exact that one writer asks whether science could state the origin of rain any better.
- Measured. God makes the drops small on purpose. Open heaven's windows at once and a flood would sweep life away. Instead the rain falls gently — and so do God's afflictions on faith.
- Poured on man. The rain falls in abundance on people. Every single drop shows skill and care.
- Applied. If God's hand governs something as small as rain, how much more the soul of man. A description that names only gravity and condensation leaves God out — and misses the whole lesson.