Job 35: God’s Transcendence and the Heart Behind Our Words
“Lift your eyes to the heavens”—a reminder that God's ways are higher, and His silence is never absence.
Elihu continues his speeches in Job 35 by redirecting the focus from human fairness to divine transcendence. He addresses Job's complaint that righteousness seems to have no benefit when suffering still arrives. Elihu doesn’t dismiss Job’s integrity—but he points out a flawed conclusion. He lifts Job’s eyes upward to the heavens, inviting him (and us) to consider how infinitely beyond us God truly is. Our good behavior doesn’t manipulate God; our sins don’t diminish Him. He is not swayed by leverage, like a human would be. We do not live rightly to get a reward but because it reflects the order and beauty of the One we are united with. In this, Elihu actually affirms something Job modeled with his life, though his words started to waver.
Elihu’s next point is more piercing. He says that God doesn't always respond to cries of distress when they come from selfish or unbelieving motives—when people cry out for relief but not out of trust in God's goodness. It's not that God is indifferent; rather, He looks at the heart. Elihu applies this insight gently but honestly to Job, who has begun speaking more from pain than from trust. Though Job is upright, Elihu notes that his complaining words lack faith in God's character. And even the most faithful can fall into this. So Elihu offers a loving rebuke—a "wound of a friend"—not to condemn Job, but to invite him to surrender his words and heart again to the God who listens to faith, not frustration.
Personalized Journal Entry (in the Holy Spirit’s Voice Through Scripture):
I see when your heart seeks Me in truth and when it groans with longing for justice. I have compassion on the groaning, but I respond to the one who comes believing that I am and that I reward those who seek Me. My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts are beyond your grasp. As the heavens are high above the earth, so is My perspective beyond your measure.
You are not forgotten in your suffering. Though I may be silent for a time, My silence is not absence. My patience toward you is not neglect but love that draws you deeper into trust. I examine not only your actions but your words, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. When your words shift from worship to worry, from faith to accusation, I still love you—but I long for your return to the truth.
I delight in righteousness that flows from your union with Me, not from a hope of reward. Your righteousness does not benefit Me, nor does your sin diminish Me, but what you say and do reflects who you trust. Lift your eyes, beloved, and behold Me. I am not a man that I should be manipulated; I am the Lord who sees the heart.
If you speak as one despairing of My goodness, your voice will feel distant. But the moment you rest again in who I am—merciful, just, and near—I am already there, already answering. Though your words may falter, your spirit is righteous in Me. Return your words to faith, and you will again know the nearness of My presence.
(Job 35:2–3, 6–8; Isaiah 55:8–9; Hebrews 11:6; Matthew 12:34; Psalm 50:21; Proverbs 27:6; Psalm 34:15)
Prayer:
Father, I rest in the truth that You are always good and always near, even when You seem silent. You don’t respond to me because of my merit, nor do You ignore me because of my mistakes. You have given me Your Son, and in Him, I stand righteous. Let my words echo that righteousness—not to earn Your attention, but because I already have it. I trust that as I speak from faith, Your nearness becomes evident. So tonight, I speak back to You not from desperation, but from confident rest, knowing You are already with me.
Credit:
Insights adapted from the Grace and Truth Study Bible (Zondervan, 2021).
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Caption: “Lift your eyes to the heavens”—a reminder that God's ways are higher, and His silence is never absence.