“The Christian must trust in a withdrawing God.”
William Gurnall
Psalm 10 – Do We Serve a Hidden Savior?
When the trials of our personal lives are compounded with a general sense of societal injustice the resulting burden can get pretty heavy. The Psalmist, cumbered by this freight cries to the Lord, “Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (v. 1) Have you ever examined the prospering of the wicked or the misery of the oppressed and wondered ‘Where is God?’ Have you felt the pain of personal affliction and pondered, ‘Why has God withdrawn his presence from me?’
The prospering of the wicked and the times of trouble that the Christian experience both work to glorify God. William Jenkyn writes, “As the wicked are hurt by the best things, so the godly are bettered by the worst.” (Puritan’s Golden Treasury, p. 16) The injustice in our society and the feeling that God has withdrawn his presence from us are both designed to teach us to pray. Abraham prayed when confronted with the perverse conditions in Sodom and the prospect of God’s judgment. (Gen 18) He pleaded with God to spare the righteous in that city. He interceded with God that he would not, “treat… the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen 18:25) The demands of justice beckon us to approach God’s throne of mercy.
God withdraws that he might ultimately draw us to himself. The absence (perceived absence) of God’s presence in our lives should drive us to seek him fervently. When we feel the ‘dark night of the soul’, the experience that God is ‘far off’, we should humble ourselves before the Lord. Abraham’s intercession was powerful because he had humbled himself before God, “…I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes.” (Gen 18:27) This is a principle of prayer that Thomas Watson understood, “The lower the heart descends, the higher the prayer ascends.” (Treasury of David, p. 126) Remember this if the ‘dark night of the soul’ is pressing down on you, “You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry.” (v. 10) God is listening.
Unto Him be glory,
Pastor Dale
