Albert Barnes Commentary Job 36:6

"He preserveth not the life of the wicked, But giveth to the afflicted [their] right." — Job 36:6 (ASV)

He preserveth not the life of the wicked - Elihu here maintains substantially the same sentiment that the three friends of Job had expressed: that God's dealings in this life are in accordance with character, and that strict justice is thus maintained.

But giveth right to the poor - The margin reads, “or afflicted.” The Hebrew word often refers to the afflicted, the humble, or the lowly; the reference here is to the lower classes of society. The idea is that God deals justly with them and does not overlook them because they are so poor and feeble that they cannot contribute anything to him.

In this sentiment, Elihu was undoubtedly right. However, like Job’s three friends, he seems to have adopted the principle that God’s dealings in this life correspond to people’s characters.

Elihu did have some views in advance of theirs. He saw that affliction is designed for discipline (Job 33) and that God is willing to show mercy to the sufferer on repentance. He also understood that God is not dependent on human beings, and that his dealings cannot be measured by any reference to what he would receive or suffer from people. Yet, he still clung to the idea that God’s dealings in this life are a proof of the character of the afflicted.

What was mysterious about these matters, Elihu resolved by an appeal to God’s sovereignty, showing that humanity ought to be submissive to God and believe that God is qualified to govern. He lacked the views that Christianity has provided: namely, that the inequalities appearing in God’s dealings in this life will be made clear in the retributions of the world to come.