"Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom."
Job 36:5
Our verse of the day is found at the beginning of Elihu’s counsel to Job. Elihu is one of Job’s “comforters” or “counselors” if you will. As Elihu speaks “shortly” to Job in chapters 36 and 37, we see that he does have correct knowledge about God. Although he doesn’t entirely read Job correctly, as he believes Job to be an unrighteous man, in the book of Job we see that Job was indeed one of God’s children. This fact should encourage all of us who counsel to be sure we are counseling with the Holy Spirit leading us. This is not a devotion for counselors but a disclaimer that although Elihu was correct in his theology, he missed it in his counsel.
“Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any:”
Even though God is almighty and exalted above all and everyone in His greatness, He never looks down on the weak and those who are the lowliest of His creatures. We, His creatures who lack wisdom, since He is all-wise, He never despises us for coming to Him to ask for wisdom (James 1:5). And He gives wisdom to His children who are lacking in wisdom – “liberally.” Isn’t it interesting that this is the opposite of humans? The greater, smarter, or richer the person is, the more they tend to look down on all others. Not so with our God! The greatest One of all “despises not any.” We can freely go to a God like that.
“He is mighty in strength and wisdom.”
Have you ever had a need in your life and you had a friend who wanted to help you, their compassion for your need was tremendous, but their ability to help you was nil? For whatever reason, they were not capable of supporting even though their heart was in the right place. One thing about our God, He always has the strength and ability to help us!
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” (Psalm 46:1).
“O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God,” (Psalm 68:35).
“O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?” (Psalm 89:8).
Not only is our God mighty in His strength, but He is also all-wise. A saying I love to repeat often is “God is too wise to make a mistake, and too loving not to care.” The Bible teaches us that no other god is wise. Note these verses:
“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen,” (1 Timothy 1:17).
“To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen,” (Jude 1:25).
Our God is both strong and wise, all that we can ever want or need we find in Him!
In our verse for today, I learn that My God is Strong and Wise!