Reflections From the Psalms
Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? (Ps. 10:1)
One of the traits of any trial of faith is that it will seem as if God is indeed, “afar off.” It will often seem like He is indifferent. Perhaps the greatest trauma in any trial of faith is the sense that, for reasons unknown to us, God has forsaken us. We may cry, “Why are you hiding Yourself from me, Lord?”
Of course, God has not forsaken us. Neither is He hiding Himself from us. The problem, therefore, is in US: We cannot see Him. Indeed, the trial of faith may be exposing the fact that we never did see God – at least not as clearly as we supposed. Now, we are seeing we have been blind – our blindness is now evident – the trial has exposed this fact. Ironically, it is a great freedom, “to see that you are blind.”
Even though there are going to be times when we cannot see God, He always sees us, and is as close to us as He has ever been. The trial of faith will bring us to the place where we can see God as never before. We will see Him spiritually – through the eyes of faith. Those born again will understand.