An old hymn asks:
Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth and song;
As the burdens press and the cares distress
And the way grows weary and long?
Elihu answers in chapter thirty-five: “No.”
Of course, Elihu wasn’t talking about Jesus specifically, but about God. God doesn’t care. If you sin it has no bearing on Him at all. If you are righteous, it has no affect on God.
And yet, the book opens with the pride of God centered on Job: “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (1:8). It certainly does not sound like the lives of humans don’t impact God.
The prophets will be explicit that God experiences sadness (Ezekiel 6:9; Genesis 6:6; Psalm 78:40-41) and joy (Isaiah 5:7; 42:1;65:19), and both are based on the actions of his creation. In his rush to extol the loftiness of God, Elihu actually likens Him to pagan Gods, who were unmoved for the human race and saw them only as their servants, not people they should care about.
God is high and mighty (see Psalm 68:32-35), but not so high or mighty that he is not touched by the plight and sins of humanity. There is a reason God “sees all.” It’s because He cares about all.