Elihu defends God as a just Judge:
Since God hates evil and good pleases him, he hears the oppressed when they cry out, and does not hear the oppressors. So he says, “They will cry out,” i.e. calumniators and tyrants seeking the fulfillment of their desires from God, “and he (God) will not hear.” He does this, “because of the pride of wickedness,” according to Psalm 101, “He regarded the prayer of humble men.” (v. 18) So that one does not believe that God hears all people indiscriminately he says, “For not in vain,” without reason, “will God hear,” because he hears some and not others for a very just reason. He expresses this reason saying, “and the Almighty will regard the causes of each man” in that he hears the worthy but not the unworthy. God especially does not seem to see the causes of individuals because the wicked sometimes prosper, but to disprove this he says, “Even though you have said,“ i.e. when you reflected in your heart, “He (God) does not consider,” the deeds of men, “be judged in his presence,” prepare yourself to submit to his judgment, “and await him,” the future judgment, even if he does not punish you here. For he delays that he might punish more harshly later, and Eliud he adds, “For now,” in the present life, “he does not unleash his fury,” the great extent of his punishment, “nor does he take great vengeance on a crime,” i.e. he does not punish in the present according to which the gravity of fault demands. For the punishments of the present life are for correction and therefore he reserves for future damnation those whom he judges unworthy of correction. This is another reason why the wicked prosper in this world and he agrees with the opinion of Job about this. But since he took Job’s words in a evil sense, he therefore rejected them, concluding from what he had said, “So Job in vain (without reason) opens his mouth, “rejecting his lengthy discourse, “and multiplies words without knowledge.” In this he accuses him of ignorance and useless verbosity.
Go here to read the rest. Elihu is preparing the way for God to enter the debate. In this he is acting the role of a prophet.
