They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.
Elihu is describing a storm as it breaks over him — thunder, lightning, rain and snow. Here he watches the clouds churn and turn overhead. Is that turning blind weather, or is it steered? The answer matters for a man who has just lost everything.
Guided, not random
What looks like raw physics has someone behind it.
Leslie M. GrantThick clouds are full of moisture, and they whirl as the wind drives them. But all this is by the guidance of God, directed as He commands (v.12).
The cloud may spin however it likes; it still runs the errand God gave it.
William KellyTurn about as it may, it nonetheless carries out what He commands it across the face of the inhabited world.
The three errands
The next verse names why God sends the storm. Each of the three words carries a different purpose.
F. B. HoleElihu recognised that God ordered the weather with wise purpose. What He sends may be "for correction," that is, discipline for wrongdoing. Or "for His land," that is, to keep the earth producing as it normally does. Or "for mercy," that is, to bring about some merciful deliverance. This too had a bearing on Job's case.
(Where older translations read "for mercy," the ESV has "for love.")
Grant points out what this knowledge would have spared Job:
Leslie M. GrantIf Job had realised this, it might have saved him some deep soul distress.
From the weather to the man
Elihu is not giving a lecture on meteorology. He is arguing from the smaller case to the greater one.
William KellyIn verses 9-12 he shows the absolute sovereignty of God. And if that is true about natural things, is it not still more necessary in spiritual things? "He causes it to come, whether for correction" — that is what he was showing about the dealings with Job — "or for his land, or for mercy."
The balancing of the clouds
Elihu goes on to ask Job whether he understands how God balances the clouds. One writer takes that image and lays it over a suffering life.
Samuel RidoutAll this display of divine power is to accomplish His will… but always it is God whose actions, plans and purposes are before the eye of faith. Let Job forget himself, his troubles, his "friends"; let him "stand still and consider the wonderful works of God." Can he explain these purposes? Does he realise the light that shines behind the clouds? Does he understand the balancing of these clouds? … All nature is balanced in this way, one force against another; and so too there is divine equilibrium in the clouds of life.
Listening while it is still loud
Elihu does not wait for the sky to clear before drawing the lesson.
Samuel RidoutThe storm is upon them now, and Elihu trembles. He calls upon Job to hear God's voice in it all; and, we may well believe, to hear His voice in the storm of sorrow that has fallen on him too. Blow upon blow it has come — the sharp lightning stroke of affliction, the terrible thunder of God's discipline. God has been at work in wonderful ways, beyond our understanding, but it is God.
Where it leaves us
Once you see that God steers the storm, trouble stops being an accident. It becomes something to read.
The Christian's FriendNothing happens without His hand in it. Stormy wind and rain only fulfil His word. "He causes it to come, whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy" (Job 37:13). This is how we learn the most precious lessons. They are precious because we get past the trial that tests us, through to the loving-kindness of the Lord. Then our feet can stand on level ground.
And the right posture under that hand is not argument.
F. B. HoleHowever wise in heart any of us — Job included — may think we are, our attitude before Him should not be one of criticism and questions. It should be fear.
Summary
- Whirling. The clouds turn and turn again; from below the motion looks like nothing but wind and weather.
- Steered. That same turning is by His guidance — spin as it may, the cloud still carries out what He commanded it.
- Purposed. God names the errand: correction for wrongdoing, ordinary fruitfulness for the land, or mercy that rescues.
- Personal. If God rules the rain and the wind, He rules a soul far more. That is the point Elihu presses on Job.
- Still. So the answer to the storm is not criticism but stillness. Stand and consider, and get past the trial to the loving-kindness behind it.