Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble? (Psalm 10:1)

In Jewish tradition, it is believed that this psalm and the previous one are to be read together. At the end of Psalm 9, David — who had been persecuted and oppressed by his enemies — appealed to God to arise and put fallen man in his place. So if Psalm 10 is a continuation of the previous one, it is interesting to see that it begins with a lament about God’s seeming indifference to his plight. At least in the first verse, David was wondering why God had not answered him; why was He keeping His distance from the situation and hiding while trouble nipped at the heels of His servant?

So let’s consider this: are there times when God keeps His distance from us or even hides from us in our time of trouble? We know that God is good and abundant in mercy, meaning that any trouble He allows to touch our lives will, in some way, be for our good — if we allow Him to work in us. So then, it is possible that God will allow us to go through times of testing, perhaps even remaining quiet during the test (which the teacher is supposed to do) in order to see what we have learned? Does that mean He isn’t paying attention or that He is indifferent? Of course, not! He’s just not speaking during the test.

We must also consider that there are times when it is not God who has moved away from us, but that we have moved away from Him. It is our inclination, unfortunately, to go astray and wander away from the path that leads to life and blessing, especially when we are living relatively worry-free. In fact, most people don’t call on God when things are good; they call on Him when things aren’t so good.

That being so, it isn’t hard to figure out why God would allow us to go through difficulty — it has the potential to direct us back to Him. Even so, we have this promise: if we will turn to Him, He will turn to us. As it is written: “Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness” (Joel 2:13).

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill 

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