Another Long-Winded Monologue │ Msg 16/22

0:52 family of Ram, burned against Job, his anger burned because he justified himself before God. and his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer and yet had condemned Job. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he. And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, his anger burned. So Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, spoke out and said, I'm young in years and you are old. Therefore, I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think. I thought age should speak and increased years should teach wisdom. But it is a spirited man and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. The abundant in years may not be wise, nor may elders understand justice.

1:53 So I say, listen to me. I too will tell what I think Look at verse 18 and smile For I am full of words So let's go to chapter 34 Amazing. 34, then Elihu continued and said, Hear my words, you wise men, and listen to me, you who know, for the ear tests words as the palate tastes food. Let us choose for ourselves what is right. Let us know among ourselves what is good. Verse 7, What man is like Job who drinks up derision like water, who goes in company with the workers of iniquity and walks with wicked men?

2:53 For he has said it profits a man nothing when he is pleased with God. Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness and from the Almighty. to do wrong. Chapter 37 if you wish you could do that in a sermon just jump right to the end and you've come to the end of it 37 14 listen to this oh Job stand and consider the wonders of God do you know how God establishes them and makes the lightning of his cloud to shine do you know about the layers of the thick clouds the wonders of one perfect in knowledge.

3:47 Verse 21. Now men do not see the light which is bright in the skies but the wind has passed and cleared them. Out of the north comes golden splendor. Around God is awesome majesty. The almighty we cannot find him. he is exalted in power and he will not do violence to justice and abundant righteousness therefore men fear him he does not regard any who are wise of heart. Would you bow with me for a few moments of prayer, please? It's a wonderful reminder, our Father, to know that you stayed up all night planning this meeting, that you neither slumber nor sleep, that you've never met a moment when you were tired, you've never come to the end of your rope, and how patient and gracious you have been to us who frequently find ourselves there, how good you are to us, how gracious, giving us what we don't deserve, restoring us even when we resist your hand in our lives.

5:21 Thank you, Father, for pursuing us when we weren't even looking for you and for bringing peace when we were in the midst of such deep need. You are good all the time. forgive us for comparing you to anyone we've ever known or somehow thinking that there is something a lot like you in us. For apart from Christ, we are of all people most miserable.

6:01 Left to ourselves, we would make a royal mess of our lives. we come today to to learn and to grow and to worship and for a change not to be preoccupied with ourselves some image in a mirror some reputation we're trying to polish thank you that you are not impressed thank you for interrupting our world with reminders on occasion of our own limitations and weaknesses. It's as if you reach down and touch us. And whatever you touch, you change.

6:46 We need you, our Father, in a special way to touch our nation these days. We're hurting, many still in great grief over the disaster that struck. The atrocities where wicked, cowardly men took advantage of helpless passengers and killed them and thousands of others in tall buildings. at the Pentagon, in the plain in Pennsylvania.

7:20 And they would do it again and again and again and again. Thank you, Father, for watching over us even when we don't know where to look for danger. Thank you for those in uniform who have the unenviable task of protecting their country. heroic women and men who serve the cause of freedom. Give our president great guidance. These are threatening days.

7:56 The Congress is divided. The people are unsure. We need you to intervene and to touch us there. Lord, for this moment now in time, we pray that you will put your hand upon different lives represented in this room. And some who couldn't make it today, for whatever reason, we pray that you will visit us with a fresh touch, your presence and your encouragement. Awaken us, free us, give us reminders that you do all things well.

8:43 It is our privilege now to give to you and to your work. We do it gratefully and we do it joyfully and we do it generously, thanking you for having touched us and for changing our lives and making us generous. in the name of Jesus, we pray these things, and all God's people said.

9:14 Well, if you ask me, I think it's pretty gutsy for a pastor to put as his sermon title another long-winded monologue. You who are visiting with us don't know this, but the rest of us do, that we have monitors, little television monitors out in the hallway wrapped around this worship center, and somebody decided to put my picture on there when the sermon title appears. And I want you to know I don't appreciate all the comments I heard when I... One man said to his wife, long-winded monologue, so what else is new?

9:56 A teenage kid said to his mother, oh no, not again. In a day of 10 to 15 minute sermonettes, which, by the way, are for Christianettes, I believe my 40-50 minute messages are probably a little outdated and tedious at times. Down through the years, people have fussed about long sermons. I was interested in reading a comment made by an older woman years ago when the Welsh preacher John Owen went on and on and on and on. She made the comment that he was so long setting the table in his introduction. She lost her appetite for the meal Ronald Reagan the great communicator while president loved to tell the story of the young country preacher Who had never before preached a message and he came to this country church and he walked in and to his amazement There was one rancher present the place was empty except for this one man sitting about halfway back on the hard bench and young preacher walked back there and he said well what do you think i ought to do and the rancher said well i don't rightly know son i'm just a cowpoke but if i went out in my field and found only one steer i'd feed it that's all the young preacher needed to hear and so he climbed up in the pulpit and he delivered a fiery sermon and it went on and on and on and on. When he finally ended it, he walked back to the fellow in the pew and he said, well, what'd you think? Well, I don't rightly know, son.

11:44 But I'll tell you this, if I went out in my field and found I only had one steer, I wouldn't feed him the whole load. Frankly, I'm encouraged that I'm in pretty good company when it comes to long-winded preachers. If you'll turn to Acts 20, you knew I'd find a text for this, didn't you? Acts 20, verse 7. please take note of a man named Eutychus only time he's mentioned in the scriptures acts 20 verse 7 on the first day of the week when we were gathered Luke's writing so it includes him he was there when we were gathered together to break bread Paul began talking to them intending to leave the next day and he prolonged his message until midnight I put in the margin of my Bible, bless his heart. Signed Mark Young. Put it right there. Bless his heart.

12:53 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together and there was a young man named Eutychus. You know what his name means? It means fortunate. Now keep reading. Eutychus was sitting on the windowsill, sinking into a deep sleep. Isn't that great the way it reads? He's just sinking into deep. I've seen that so many times in my...

13:25 It's when they start to drool that you have to get worried about them. So dear Eutychus is sinking into a deep sleep, and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. I love this story but Paul went down and fell upon him and after embracing him he said do not be troubled for his life is in him when he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten he talked with him a long while until daybreak and then left this dear man he just couldn't stay with it And he finally sinks into sleep and falls backwards down three floors. The apostle raises him up.

14:24 Spurgeon said, remember if we go to sleep during the sermon and die today, there are no apostles to restore us. Don't be warned. having said all of that about preaching too long you'll be relieved to know that the title has nothing to do with my message you hear him laugh back there i hope it doesn't it has everything to do with ellie hugh's long-winded monologue when you turn back to Job chapter 32. On top of Elihu's message to Job are three other friends who have taken far too long to say much too little to Job who could have taught them all. And then Elihu on the heels of everyone else, Eliphaz three times, Bildad three times, Zophar twice, and Job answering each one, you'll remember along the way. Elihu has waited, and then finally when he talks, you wonder why. Honestly. Six chapters. Are you ready for this? The length of these chapters, longer than 12 other Old Testament books, and 17 of the 27 New Testament books or letters.

15:56 longer than those. So this is a, he gave him the whole load, I guess we could say. Rather than getting bogged down into needless detail, let's sort of slide our way along with Elihu with apologies. Here's my take on what he has to say. Let me give you several observations. First, he delivers four speeches, four of them. two of them I should say two chapters cover the first speech 32 and 33 the second speech is in 34 third speech is in 35 and the fourth speech is in 36 and 37 so 2 1 1 2 Frankly, he's more effective at the beginning and the ending than he is in the middle.

16:54 It gets a little dull and boring when he goes on and on on this subject. Let me say, secondly, his message contains two very fine points. First, God disciplines... a person to turn him from the error of his way. God disciplines a person to turn him or to turn her from the error of their ways. Second, God governs justly. He's fair. And the major theme of all that Elihu has to say is a good theme. God is sovereign. He is not only good all the time, he is in control all the time.

17:53 Even when I'm, even when I'm, even when I can't, even when you can't, even at times like, even at times like, God is never shocked, God is never surprised, God is never out of control, and furthermore, God doesn't feel obligated to explain himself. I think if he tried, most of us wouldn't get it anyway because he is so profound. And I don't mean that as an escape hatch. I really mean it. He is sovereign and he doesn't explain himself, nor should he feel obligated to. Third, neither Job nor his counselors answer Elihu at any point. These chapters run uninterrupted. there's no question and answer. There's no response. There's no dialogue. It's all a monologue. It's a long-winded monologue. Interestingly about Elihu, unlike the others, it says four times at the beginning of his talk that he's angry. In fact, it says that he's burning with anger.

19:04 Did you catch that when I read that earlier? Verse 2, the anger of Elihu burned. Against Job, his anger burned. Verse 3, his anger burned against his three friends. Verse 5, his anger burned as he spoke. remember when you've spoken and you were angry? All of us can remember. Almost without exception, we said things we wish we hadn't said. We said more than we wish we would have said. We regret things that fell from our lips, especially if we were burning with anger. It's kind of a momentary, out-of-control verbal condition. And that's Elihu.

20:02 we're told a little of his background. You can check it for yourself. In verse 2 and verse 6, we're told where he's from and what family he's come from. And we're told he's younger. Did you get that? Verse 6, I am young in years, and you are old. Therefore, I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think. Ever been in that situation? Sure, most of us have. You're around those who are wiser, those who have more years on you, and we all have learned over the years that we need to respect those who are older. I think his words speak of intimidation. He's reluctant to speak. he's even as he says fearful but he does make a good comment because he's listened to those other gray heads and he says in verse 9 the abund 32 9 the abundant in years may not be wise nor may elders understand justice true In other words, years may cause you to listen closely, but you may not necessarily hear great wisdom just because a person is older.

21:31 A person can be old and foolish. A person can be much older than you and no less than you in wisdom. So years are no guarantee of wisdom. David Atkinson writes Elihu is an enigma. He blusters on the stage as an angry young man full of his own importance offering to clarify the situation for Job and his friends angry with the muddle they have got themselves into. In one respect it's rather like a comic turn for he manages to spend a lot of time not saying very much. I don't answer out loud but have you ever been around a person who did that and you had your hopes up that you were going to really get an insight on something and you listen and you keep listening thinking he's going to make his point here in just a minute if I'm just willing to wait or she'll make sense if I just hear her out on this but they don't That's Elihu.

22:48 That's why I like the verse 18 of chapter 32. I'm full of words. He's also full of himself when you get to reading what he has to say. He's younger. He's rash. Let me suggest that he made four very real mistakes when he decided to talk. First, he took too long getting started. you know how we'll say to someone we know real well like somebody in our family get to the point you know how you'll do that or what is it you're trying to say every person who has ever been an assistant of mine has heard me do that i'm kind of notorious for what's the point or what get to the bottom line you know what is it You want to say that to Elihu Just about six verses into chapter 32 What is it? Say it And then when he does you go Sorry, I hurried you.

23:54 Second, he comes across as pompous. He comes across as pompous. How do we come across as pompous? He leaves little room for response. He states his opinion with too much dogmatism. He sees himself as the final authority. He preaches. Let me give you a tip. It's helpful if you just leave the preaching to me. Okay? Let me take the hits. If it's one-on-one or one-on-a-few, don't preach. If it's with your kids, don't preach. If it's with your partner in life, don't preach. If it's with your boss or somebody who works for you, don't preach. Preaching isn't appropriate in small group settings. And he forgets that.

24:47 The third thing, he states what Job already knew. he brought nothing new out. That's why Job never responds. And fourth mistake, he never acknowledges that he doesn't know for sure. There's something refreshing about someone who has the floor who's willing to say, I really don't know all that I should know about this, but it's wonderful when you're around someone who has a wealth of knowledge but you hear them say, I'm not the final word. Let me give you an example of that. A man who meant a great deal to me and means a great deal to me to this day, one of my mentors is Bruce Waltke. Dr. Waltke is as fine a student of the Hebrew Bible as I have ever been around, ever. It was my privilege to study under him two of my four years at Dallas Seminary and it was a splendid experience.

25:54 I remember taking an early course in Hebrew one summer before we began the course that fall, and I remember seeing him sitting on a stool up front, and he would cradle his Old Testament, he would cradle his Kittle Hebrew Bible and was reading from it and would kind of rock, and sometime he would tear up, he would weep. I tried that and I wept for other reasons. It looked like a rag rug, sort of, and I was trying to do it. Oh, it's upside down. That's a little problem. He, I'm having a little fun about this, but he was truly brilliant. And not only knew the text, knew the footnoting, knew the textual apparatus, knew arguments for the interpretation. at just every place we turned, it seemed.

26:49 Well, I was pastoring a church near the seminary at the time, and I was in Proverbs 22, and I was doing something on the family, rearing children. And I came up with an interpretation that was a little bit of a maverick approach to rearing children. But I became increasingly more convinced of it. I thought, I need to run this by walkie. I mean, I don't want to be out there on the limb and be way, you know, off base. So I made an appointment with him and came as an alumnus back to the school, and he was gracious to see me. Chuck, how are you? Fine, Dr. Walkie. Sit down. What's on your mind? I said, well, I'm doing some work in Proverbs 22. Oh, one of my favorite things. So he turns to it in a Hebrew Bible. I'm trying to find in my English. And I said, you know, I've done some work in the text, and I want to be sure I'm not off base.

27:47 And he listened and didn't interrupt and I spent maybe 15, 20 minutes going over why I was teaching that and where I was going to go with it. And when I looked up, he was like this on his desk looking at me. And he said, I'll never forget this. He said, Chuck, there are no popes in the body of Christ. I'm not the final word on that looks fine to me that's what the Lord's shown you that's what you got to preach I'm telling you I could have flown out of there it was like I probably walked out he goes oh man but he didn't I'll never know you know I left but I will never forget the comment there are no popes in the body of Christ. I do not care what authority you are, how long you've studied in the field, how many initials are after your name, what degrees you have earned and worked hard for, you are not the final word.

28:52 You are still a learner. And the most intelligent are the most teachable. We still are learning. I learn from virtually every person I'm around. every intern we've ever worked with I've learned something valuable from the interns hopefully they picked up some things as well Elihu's not a learner Elihu's busy with that long index finger bouncing against the sternum of Job and probably never himself had one boil Job's covered with them Don't be the Pope, Elihu Learn from this man well the first speech he begins in chapter 32 and ends it at the end of chapter 33 and there's a couple of things in it i think are worth mentioning he uh he speaks first to all the men verses 6 to 14 then he speaks to job 15 to 30 to 22 and then he continues on speaking to job and finally gets to his point, takes him forever, but he finally gets to a point, verse 13 of chapter 33.

30:14 Why do you complain against him? H is capitalized appropriately. It refers to God, Job. Why do you complain against God that he does not give an account of all his doings? Indeed, God speaks once or twice, yet no one notices it. In good Hebrew poetry, he says once, yea, twice. Sometimes it'll say six, yea, seven. So he's saying God speaks in a couple of ways. First verse 15, in a dream or a vision. If you like marking your Bible, put a little one there. That's the first way God speaks. At least he did in those days. And put a little tube by verse 19. Man is also chastened with pain on his bed. God speaks when you're sick, when you're laid aside with unceasing complaint in his bones, describing the pain of life so that his life loathes bread and his soul favorite food. His flesh wastes away from sight and his bones, which were not seen, stick out.

31:24 It's a picture of going hungry and being so sick you don't even want to eat. Then his soul draws near to the pit. He thinks he's going to die in his life to those who bring death. Then he refers to a very interesting observation, a mediating angel. Now look closely.

31:48 He says, God speaks in a dream and a vision in the night, verse 15, and he also speaks even in the pain. There is a message that God communicates in suffering itself. Most people who have gone through deep suffering have a knowledge and a wisdom others of us lack. Why? Because they learned on the bed of affliction. and then how do we get the message from God to us well leu suggests look closely verse 23 there is an angel as mediator for man one out of a thousand i think you may have never seen this before i confess i don't remember ever reading this before they're rare one in a thousand we would say to remind a man what is right for him.

32:47 Let him be gracious to him and say, deliver him from going down to the pit. And he delivers him from death. Let his flesh, verse 25, become fresher than in youth. Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor. And he will pray to God and he will accept him. Capital H, God will accept him and he may see his face with joy, may restore his righteousness to man.

33:15 Let me pause here and let you look at that. Let your mind turn over what we just read. Now, admittedly, this may be Elihu's opinion, but it is inspired. It comes from the spirit of God and it's preserved for us in the sacred text.

33:36 Interesting, isn't it? Could it be that certainly in those days when God communicated through dreams and visions and in those days when God spoke directly to individuals, in supernatural manners, could it be that there is a mediating angel? John Hartley in his book, The Book of Job, writes, Elihu teaches that there is a heavenly intercessor who takes up the sufferer's case. This helper is an angel who functions as a mediator, one who will help whomever God is afflicting for disciplinary reasons. The identity of this mediating angel is uncertain. Elihu is also countering Eliphaz's position that there's no holy one to whom Job may turn for help.

34:36 Elihu says that there is a special angel who works for the redemption of the afflicted. The phrase one among a thousand is taken by some to mean this mediating angel is a very special heavenly creature. In Elihu's teaching, this special angel works for the restoration of those who have strayed from the right way. How about that? Now, before I go on, let me caution here. God no longer speaks in dreams and visions. I think there are times we learn things while suffering. I certainly believe in the ministering spirits who are the angels who carry God's bidding or carry out God's bidding and sometimes even carry God's message. Most often they are invisible.

35:29 We cannot hear them. We cannot see them. We cannot touch them, though they can manifest themselves in human form and have done so. Hebrews 13 suggests that. I think these mediating angels, if in fact there are such, are rare. I think they carry his message.

35:53 Now, we have now the Holy Spirit who takes the word of God and reveals truth to us from the scriptures. so be careful about guiding your life with dreams and visions okay i always get a little nervous when a fellow christian says i had a vision and god told me to tell you i go oh whoa i mean i may not do that but you need to know down inside i'm going oh brother uh you know like this gal that saw the face of Jesus in an enchilada.

36:28 You know, I see Snoopy in an enchilada. It doesn't mean Snoopy's there. I see him in the clouds and all of that. That's nonsense. That's crazy-making stuff. Don't fall into that. You go there, I can take you to Zipville where you'll find out all kinds of other things and you will have no way of knowing it wasn't God. Because I say it's a vision and he told me. People tell me God told me so and so. I say, is he baritone or bass? And they don't like it when you ask him that because it sounds like you don't believe God is miraculous. I believe he's miraculous. I believe he can do whatever he wishes to do. I just know he's limited the truth to his word. and I'm satisfied with that.

37:22 When we exhaust the scriptures then we can look for other sources. But we have a lifetime in which we cannot even exhaust one page of scripture. But in those days before the Bible was complete God gave his message through dreams and visions. And he spoke in the midst of the pain with mediating angels communicating. And Job God's speaking to you in this. Are you hearing what he has to say? interestingly Job doesn't answer the second speech begins in chapter 34 Elihu is pleading for his audience maybe he's seeing Job drift a little kind of like Eutychus hear my words you wise men verse 2 listen to me you who know for the ear tests words as the palate tastes food He says it again in verse 16. If you have understanding, hear this.

38:16 Listen to the sound of my words. Now he speaks only to Job until he gets to verse 33. Then he waits. It sounds like a pause. In 34, 33, if you'll turn there, shall he recompense on your terms because you have rejected it? For you must choose and not I. Therefore, declare what you know. And I think he waits. And Job doesn't speak. why doesn't Job answer? He's been there before. I don't mean this to sound wrong or to be ugly, but not every person needs an answer. You just let them go on. And you don't owe them an explanation. You don't need to give them proof of something. Job doesn't even answer Elihu here. So Elihu gets a little ticked.

39:09 And he ends with a rather strong and firm word regarding repentance. And he now takes up the cause of the other counselors who were blaming Job at every turn. And that continues through chapter 35. I realize we're covering a lot of territory. I'm aware of that. Trust me, you're not missing a lot. 35 is a lot of 34. 34 is a lot of 14 and 12 and 9 and 7. It's the same old sing song given in other words, but Elihu has nothing fresh to offer. And so Job doesn't answer him. In fact, Elihu ends by insulting Job at the end of chapter 35, which is this third speech you may recall in our outline. At the end of it, he sort of levels Job.

40:06 Verse 13 of chapter 35. Surely God will not listen to an empty cry, implying Job's cries are empty. Nor will the Almighty regard it, how much less when you say you do not behold him. The case is before him. You must wait for him. Hear the preaching? And now because he has not visited in his anger, nor has he acknowledged transgression well, so Job opens his mouth emptily. He multiplies words without knowledge. that's a that's really insulting to say it like that Eugene Peterson gets the idea when he paraphrases Job you talk sheer nonsense non-stop nonsense that's the way he ends and then he goes to his fourth message and Job patiently waits for him to finish but you know what when you get toward the end of Elihu's speech he gets back on target.

41:08 In fact, chapter 36 and into 37, he covers four bases. Listen to them. They all make sense. First, God watches over the righteous. If the righteous commit a transgression, he lets them know they've done wrong. if they respond to the rod of discipline he restores them if they don't they suffer the consequences that's awfully good theology one man suggests that chapter 36 is the best theology in the book of job thus far and he may very well be right. Now, what I love is how he ends it.

41:56 Sometime as a sermon ends, it reaches its best point, doesn't it? He comes toward the end, and he begins to introduce Job to the way God reveals himself. By the way, what do you think of when you think of God? What an intriguing kind of question. What's in your mind? Elihu helps Job grasp a pretty good understanding of the living God. He even says he trembles when he thinks of him. Chapter 37, verse 1, At this my heart trembles and leaps from its place. Listen closely to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that goes out from his mouth. his mouth. He's beginning to picture God in this in this thunderstorm. Under the whole heaven he lets it loose and his lightning to the ends of the earth. After it a voice roars, he thunders with his majestic voice and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard. God thunders with his voice, wondrously doing great things which we cannot comprehend. Now you're You're talking, Elihu.

43:15 Now you're on to something. God reveals himself. God shows himself strong. God presents himself in ways that are overwhelming to us. Overwhelming. Unlike the little girl walking beside her mother in a pretty big thunderstorm. And every time the lightning flashed, she turned and smiled. And then walked a little further than lightning. and she turned and the mother said, sweetheart, why do you always turn and look at the lightning? She said, well, God's taking my picture. I just want to smile for him. He's not, he's not. It's not about us. It's not about us. It's about himself in his magnificence.

44:01 Nahum writes of it. He has his way in the whirlwind and the storms and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He is transcendent. He is magnificent. He is mighty. He is gigantic. He is everything about us, above us, around us, and within us. Without him, there is no righteousness. There is no holiness. There is no ability to change. There is no truth. God authors it all and Elihu comes to this in the simple form of the thunderstorm and he shows Job of the living God and he begs him to listen to this chapter 37 verse 14 listen Job stand and consider the wonders of God do you know how God establishes them and makes the lightning of his cloud to shine of course he doesn't do you know how God establishes them and makes the lightning of his cloud to shine.

45:01 Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds and the wonders of one perfect in knowledge? Describes it all as a canopy in a few moments. And I love that 2022, out of the north comes gold and splendor around God. It's awesome majesty. Is that magnificent? Nothing around us is awesome or majestic. Nothing. We've seen nothing that can be compared to the living God. We sing of it. O tell of his might, O sing of his grace, whose robe is the light, whose canopy's space. His chariots of wrath, the deep thunderclouds form, and dark is his path on the wings of a storm. Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite. It breathes in the air, it shines in the night.

45:55 It streams from the hills. It descends to the plain and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain. Great words from, oh, worship the king. He is great. He is mighty. And we sit in awe and we worship. Job.

46:18 Job. Job. Join me as we worship. Not surprisingly, when God does finally speak 38-1, he answers Job out of a whirlwind. There he is. Wouldn't that have been great to be there? Wow.

46:42 Don't talk. Don't talk. Don't say a word. Just stare. sometimes God bursts on the scenes in such a magnificent way, your breath is taken away. I was fishing with my father many years ago, sitting on a slick in the Cronkway Bay, just this side of Matagorda Bay. We were sitting in a probably 14-foot fishing boat my granddad owned. My dad was in the back by the motor, and I was up front. and it was one of those days you could flip a penny, and it would hit the water, and you could just count the ripples. I mean, it was slick, and it's just about daybreak.

47:33 All of a sudden, from the depths came a tarpon. out of the water, you know. I wish I could jump up above this pulpit to do that for you, but I can't, didn't I? I'm sitting there watching this fish come out of the water. My dad didn't even turn around. He says, I told you the big ones were down there. What? Cast open it as if I'm going to land that mother of all fish. Out of nowhere this suddenly appears. And so does our God. Job. Job. Listen.

48:21 He's here. He isn't silent. He speaks. And there's no voice like his. Robert Dick Wilson was the professor of Old Testament and Semitics from 1900 to 1929 at the great old Princeton Seminary, back when it was straight, back in the days when its theology was evangelical.

48:54 And serving on that same faculty had been to B.B. Warfield and J. Gracia Machen, great names. Machen later left and began Westminster Seminary, and Robert Dick Wilson left with him. They formed a new school. But anyway, from 1915 to 1917, Donald Gray Barnhouse was a student at Princeton Seminary. Barnhouse later went on to 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia to serve as a pastor for 33 years. but before then after graduating about 12 years passed and they invited Barnhouse to come back to the seminary and to preach in Miller Chapel and Barnhouse loves to tell the story of just before he got up to preach Robert Dick Wilson walked in came all the way down near the front sat right down close and I can tell you from experience similar to that when I preach in the seminary chapel in Dallas, and I'm surrounded by those who taught me theology and the languages and whatever.

50:04 It's pretty intimidating. You have to do a lot of self-talk to get over it. And I'm sure that's what Barnhouse went through when he saw his old prof, Dr. Robert Dick Wilson. Brilliant mind, great man. Barnhouse said when he finished his message, Wilson walked up to him and said, shook his hand, said, if you come back, I will not come hear you preach. I only come once to hear my boys. And I come only to see if they are big godders or little godders.

50:40 Not sure that he understood what Dr. Wilson meant by that. Barnhouse asked for an explanation. Oh, he said it's very simple. some men have only a little God, and they are always in trouble with him. He can't do the miraculous. He can't take care of life's details. He doesn't intervene on behalf of his people. They have a little God, and so I call them little Godders. Then there are those who have a great and mighty God. he speaks and it is done he commands and it stands fast he knows how to show himself strong on behalf of those who fear him Barnhouse anxious to know in which category he was.

51:40 Breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the man's final statement. You, Donald, have a great God. and he will bless your ministry He paused, looked deeply into the eyes of the young preacher, smiled and said just before he turned to walk out, God bless you, Donald. God bless you. How big is your God? Big enough to intervene? big enough to be held in awe.

52:37 and ultimate respect and trust, big enough to turn your worries into fodder so that he can put it all in perspective. Little Godders, Big Godders. When God is too small in our minds, our problems are magnified and we retreat in fear and insecurity.

53:16 Job was not one of those. When God becomes great in our minds, our problems pale into insignificance and we stand in awe. and we worship the King. Ours is a great God, great and mighty, is our God. Will you bow with me please before him? The words are many used for him, transcendent, inscrutable, incomprehensible, magnificent, all-knowing, all-powerful, omnipresent, holy, just, good, gracious. Don't forget mysterious, incomprehensible.

54:25 Self-sustaining. He doesn't come to our rescue because he needs us. He comes because we need him. He doesn't speak because he thinks he needs to be heard. He speaks because he knows without his voice, without his message, without his word, we are in a morass of trouble and misery and worry. if you've never met the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to understand that that's essential if you wish to know a God this size.

55:18 Jesus alone said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. He's the only road to take to God. It's one way. His way. we worship you our great and mighty God this day the one who transcends time and space the one beyond our comprehension full of a grace that is not in us, a goodness we have never known in ourselves, mercy and love that knows no limit.

56:19 Almighty, magnificent, victorious, sovereign, holy, just. in a day of many voices all of them loud much noise enormous confusion and chaos bring us often to the simple truth that you love us and your plan is best and your motive is right and it is for your glory and therefore for our good.

57:08 Deliver us from every pursuit of our own selfish happiness, a desire to please what we want. and to find our satisfaction in you, great God. Whom have we, Lord, but thee, soul thirst to satisfy, exhaustless spring, the water's free, all other streams are dry. and so we worship you our God we have done so with our songs we have done so in the reading of the word we have done so in our giving we have now done so in our silence before you minister and continue ministering even when we're away from each other but not at all away from you Thank you.

58:09 unto him who is able to guard us from stumbling and present us faultless faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy