Albert Barnes Commentary Job 36:19

"Will thy cry avail, [that thou be] not in distress, Or all the forces of [thy] strength?" — Job 36:19 (ASV)

Will he esteem thy riches? This means God will not regard your riches as a reason why he should not cut you off, or as a ransom for your forfeited life. The reference here must be to the fact that Job had been a rich man. The meaning is, either that God would not spare him because he had been a rich man, or that if he now had all the wealth which he once possessed, it would not be sufficient to be a ransom for his life.

Nor all the forces of his strength. This refers to not all that gives power and influence to a man—wealth, age, wisdom, reputation, authority, and rank. The meaning is that God would not regard any of these when a man was rebellious in affliction and refused in a proper manner to acknowledge his Maker.

Of the truth of what is affirmed here, there can be no doubt. Riches, rank, and honors cannot redeem a man's life. They do not save him from the grave, and from all that is gloomy and revolting there.

When God comes forth to deal with mankind, he does not regard their gold, their rank, their splendid robes, or palaces. Instead, he deals with them as men. And the happy, the beautiful, the rich, the noble, return, under his hand, to their native dust in the same manner as the most humble peasant.

How forcibly should this teach us not to set our hearts on wealth, and not to seek the honors and wealth of the world as our portion!