December 22
“Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble? . . . Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the humble . . . You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief, to repay it by Your hand . . . You are the Helper of the fatherless . . . The Lord is King forever and ever . . . Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart, You will cause Your ear to hear,” Psalm 10:1, 12, 14, 16-17.
In Psalm 10, the psalmist is praying and pleading with God, asking Him to deal with all the enemies of the children of God. The psalmist says that it outwardly appears as if God is standing afar off and actually hiding His face from all of the trouble that a child of God must endure. So he asks, “Why, O Lord, why?”
Did the psalmist actually believe that God was far away and unconcerned about what happens to His children? No – he is only speaking of how things appear at times. Certainly, in every generation God has given His children the assurance of what He expressed through the prophet Jeremiah: “‘Am I a God near at hand,’ says the Lord, ‘And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places so I shall not see him?’ says the Lord; ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord,” Jeremiah 23:23-24. No one can keep a secret or anything hidden from God. In Proverbs, we read, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good,” Proverbs 15:3.
However, in times of trouble and in difficulty, every Christian needs the reassurance again and again that God is near at hand and not far away. We have God’s invitation, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble,” and we have His promise, “I will deliver you.” Then do not forget to thank Him: “You shall glorify Me,” Psalm 50:15. God’s promise to hear and answer the pleading of His people is so specific. Through the prophet Isaiah, He says, “It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear,” Isaiah 6:24.
The assurance of God’s presence and God’s help is expressed repeatedly throughout Psalm 10 and throughout all of Holy Scripture. God is near at hand. God does not hide. God lifts up His almighty hand to help. God does not forget. God sees and observes. God hears, and God helps.
The assurance of God’s help and blessing is most clearly revealed in the Gospel. After our first parents, Adam and Eve, had sinned, God promised to send a Savior. He repeated and elaborated on that promise through the prophets for many generations. Then, Scripture reports, “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” Galatians 4:4-6.
In His grace and mercy, God kept His promise and sent the Lord Jesus to be our Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Then, by the Holy Spirit’s power, He called us to faith in Jesus, and now we address Him as our loving Father, who promises, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” Hebrews 13:5.
“Thou art the Way; to Thee alone,
From sin and death we flee;
And he who would the Father seek,
Must seek Him, Lord, by Thee.
Thou art the Way, the Truth, the Life;
Grant us that Way to know,
That Truth to keep, that Life to win,
Whose joys eternal flow.” Amen.