Job 35:11 - Exposition

Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven . Elihu probably alludes to Job's defence of his complaints as natural, like the instinctive cries of beasts and birds ( Job 6:5 ). God, he says, has given to man a higher nature than he has bestowal on the brutes; and this nature should teach him to carry his griefs to God in a proper spirit- a spirit of faith, piety, humility, and resignation. If men cried to him in this spirit, they would obtain an answer. If they do not obtain an answer, it must be that the proper spirit is lacking (comp. James 4:3 ).