Job finished speaking and even the three comforters stop answering him. Their discussion had reached a level of great frustration!

Elihu was silent through this whole dialogue between Job and the three comforters. He was silent because he was the youngest. But his anger is so aroused that he can't keep silent so his words pour out of his mouth.

He says the following:

1. I was fearful to speak because I am so young.

2. I thought it was the older ones that taught widom, but I see that's not necessarily true.

3. It is God almighty who is the provider of wisdom and understanding.

4. He says I listened to all of you and said nothing, so now listen to me!

– not one of you proved Job wrong.

– not one of you answered his arguments.

– the spirit is in me and compels me to speak and I can't keep it in.

– I will show no partiality nor will I try to flatter anyone.

I've seen it happen more than once over the years. I've seen situations where the Holy Spirit falls upon a person and they finally speak and one knows it was from God. I was in a board meeting where there was a heated debate on what decision should be made over a certain situation. And out of the blue a person speaks forward and when he was done, there's silence because we knew God was speaking.

I can remember as a young person beginning to follow the Lord and I found myself repeating a sin I knew was not right. My “partner-in-crime” made light of the sin as if it wasn't a big deal. And I began explaining why it was a big deal and as I began to speak, one could tell the Holy Spirit took over. The words that came out of my mouth were beyond me and were spoken with passion. I don't remember everything said but I do remember God speaking the words that “If we continue to sin knowing it's wrong, we build a wall between us and God and we don't allow the Holy Spirit to use us to the fullest.” There are other words that were spoken but when I was finished I remember my friend saying, “Wow that was from God!”

It reinforces in my heart that, yes, there is wisdom in age but there is yet greater wisdom when the spirit of God speaks. And the Holy Spirit is not bound by the age of people. He speaks when and where and through whom ever he wants. So walk faithfully with the Lord and get ready to speak his words. Don't let your age or your lack of wisdom keep you from receiving from God and being used by God in any given situation.

Some scripture verses that remind me of this chapter are:

1st Timothy 4:12.

 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

Psalm 8:2.

Through the praise of children and infants

you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.