When God Seems Distant

Psalm 43

¹Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!
²For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?

³Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
⁴Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.

⁵Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

When God Seems Distant

“I’m angry with God.”

“I don’t understand why God is letting this happen.”

Over my years as a pastor I’ve heard these and similar statements numerous times. People come to talk to me because they are angry that God has allowed something to happen or because they don’t understand why God is allowing something to happen.

Now it’s certainly okay, even good, to talk to your pastor when you’re feeling this way. However, this Psalm reminds us that instead of talking to other people about the questions we have for God, we can take those questions right to God Himself.

It’s okay, when you are angry, to talk to God about it. It’s okay, when you don’t understand why God is allowing something to happen, to speak to God about it: after all, we’re His children and Fathers want to hear from their children!

Psalm 43 is a Psalm for when God seems distant.  It begins with a cry for help.
¹Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!

Next, in verse 2, the psalmist presents God with two “whys?”
²For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?

It seems the psalmist is saying, “Lord, I don’t understand! You seem so far away. Why are you letting this happen? Why are you letting me be brought down by my enemies?”

Then the psalm takes a turn. It goes from presenting God with questions to asking for God’s help.
³Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
⁴Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.

Finally, the Psalm concludes with the psalmist seeming to talk to himself.
⁵Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

The psalmist seems to be saying to himself, “why are you letting others get you down when the God of the universe is there for you?”

Now, this Psalm is one of the readings for All Saints’ Day, so this psalm may not be the one you use in church this week. However, I think this Psalm is a wonderful reminder that the saints who have come before us had the same struggles we have. They asked God, “why?” They struggled with felling as if God is distant.

But from the saints and from this Psalm we learn that even when God feels distant, He is not distant. He is so close that He will hear your prayer. His presence and His promises that are yours in Christ are reason for you to have hope even in the most troubled of situation

Questions

• When it feels as if a friend is distancing himself or herself from you, is your tendency to create even more distance or to go to them?
• When it feels as if God is distant, do you have the tendency to even further distance yourself from God? Or do you lean in to the Lord at such times?
• How can we know that God is not distant? How can we know that God is real and present?
• How can we remind ourselves that God is real and present so that when hard times come, we take them directly to God in prayer?