Elihu reaches the end of his speech, and he ends in a storm.
As he speaks, a great tempest seems to be gathering on the horizon — thunder, lightning, wind, and cloud. And Elihu reads the storm as a sermon, pointing Job away from arguments and toward the sheer, overwhelming majesty of God. "Stand still," he says, "and consider."
What Elihu does not yet know is that out of the very storm he is describing, God Himself is about to speak.
The Thunder Is His Voice
Job 37:5
"God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend."
Elihu hears the thunder and calls it the voice of God.
"God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend." The storm rolling in is a reminder of a God whose works are beyond our grasp. He commands the snow and the rain, seals up the hand of every man, fills the sky with lightning at His word.
And the key phrase is "which we cannot comprehend." Elihu is leading Job toward humility — toward the realisation that there is a vast greatness in God we will never fully understand, and that this is not a problem to be solved but a majesty to be revered.
Stand Still and Consider
Job 37:14
"Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God."
Here is Elihu's central plea, and it is a beautiful one.
"Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God."
Stop. Be quiet. Stop arguing, stop explaining, stop demanding answers for a moment — and simply behold. Look at the storm, the stars, the snow, the vastness of what God does, and let it quiet your soul.
There is deep wisdom here for the suffering. Sometimes what we need is not another explanation, but a holy stillness before the greatness of God. Not more words about Him, but a wordless wonder at Him. "Stand still, and consider." Let His majesty become larger in your eyes than your trouble.
With God Is Terrible Majesty
Job 37:22–23
"...with God is terrible majesty. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict."
Elihu's final note is awe.
"With God is terrible majesty." Terrible here means awe-inspiring, overwhelming — the kind of greatness that makes us fall silent. We "cannot find him out"; He is beyond our full understanding, excellent in power and justice.
And then a tender word to close: "he will not afflict." For all His overwhelming majesty, God is not cruel. He does not crush His children for the pleasure of it. The God of terrible majesty is also good.
This is exactly the posture the soul needs before God answers — awe, stillness, humility, trust. Elihu has, without fully knowing it, prepared Job's heart for the encounter that is coming.
A Gentle Word for the Reader
Job 37 is the hush before the whirlwind, and it has a gift for you.
When you are worn out from trying to understand your suffering — from arguing with God, from demanding explanations, from turning your trouble over and over — there comes a moment to simply "stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God." To let Him be bigger than your questions. To trade, for a while, the search for answers for the wonder of His presence.
Because often the real answer to our pain is not an explanation at all. It is an encounter. It is God Himself, drawing near. Elihu's storm is about to become the place where God speaks — and the same God still meets the soul that grows quiet enough to consider Him.
Stand still. Consider Him. The One of terrible majesty is also the One who will not, in the end, afflict His own. He is about to draw very near.
Reflection Questions
- "Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God." When has stillness before God's greatness done more for you than another explanation?
- Elihu says God's works are things "which we cannot comprehend." How can you make peace with a God who is bigger than your understanding rather than demanding He fit inside it?
- "With God is terrible majesty... he will not afflict." How does holding both — God's overwhelming greatness and His tender goodness — prepare your heart to meet Him in suffering?
Short Prayer
Lord, I have worn myself out trying to understand. Teach me to stand still and consider Your wondrous works.
Let Your majesty grow larger in my eyes than my trouble. Let wonder quiet my anxious questions.
You are of terrible majesty, beyond my finding out — and yet You are good, and You will not crush Your own.
I grow quiet before You now. Draw near, Lord. More than answers, I want You.
Amen.
JMS