Job 35-38

I really like Elihu's worship (ch37), and yet it is not pleasing to God: even though the statemnts are true. Elihu doesn't find favour in worship because his heart is not right towards God's servant. We must be careful in our attitude to each other: "who are (we) to judge another man's servant?"

Since writing this, I have revised my opinion of Elihu. God does not single out Elihu for opprobrium unlike Job's other friends, neither does He require Job to intercede for Elihu. It is implicit that Elihu has not spoken wrong. Indeed, his speech is God-centred and worshipful, and prophesies the coming of the Messiah: the mediator who delivers us from the pit.

Job 31-34

23 “If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness,
24 Then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘ Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’;


Jesus.

Job 27-30

24 For He looks to the ends of the earth... To establish a weight for the wind,

Selah!

16 I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know.

This challenges me. Job actively seeks out injustice. Ignorance is no excuse.

2 Chronicles 13-16

(13v18) 'The men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers' The true followers of God prevail because they rely upon the God of the covenant - the One who remains faithful to His promises. To forsake God is to go to war against Him (13v10-12), a war which can only have one victor - The Lord.

2 Chronicles 9-12

(12v1)'...he abandoned the law of the Lord...' Rehoboam turns away from following the Lord, and is overrun by the Egyptians, the enemies of God. Our enemy waits 'like a stalking lion', ready to take our blessings and bring a degree of sin's oppression back into our lives. Let us not allow grace to make us complacent about 'the law of the Lord' and holy living.

Job 23-26

Job 26: Profound worship from Job's lips. Crushed flowers release perfume.

"He hangs the earth on nothing." That is a selah moment!

2 Chronicles 5-8

As Solomon dedicates the temple, he prays by pleading the promises of God. We do this when we pray 'in the name of the Lord'. We plead the promises fulfilled by Christ, that have opened a 'new and living way' to approach the Father - the fulfilment testified to by the Father when He raised Jesus from the dead.