Disappointed in God

 

“Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!”

Psalm 44:26 ESV 

Many times, as believers, we are disappointed in God. We feel let down by him. And we feel that we’ve been rejected by him.

Throughout the course of our lives, we’ve heard how God has acted on behalf of his people. We’ve learned in Sunday School how God saved his people from slavery in Egypt, bringing them into the Promised Land. We’ve learned through sermons how God has acted in miraculous ways for the sake of his people. We’ve learned in Bible studies how God has intervened in situations that seemed hopeless. And we’ve learned through our own personal Bible reading how, in Jesus, God has both provided and promised his blessing.

This, then, has led us to trust in him. It’s led us to offer to him our prayers. And it’s led us to depend upon him.

However, as we go through life, God often seems absent. As we offer our prayers and requests, he remains silent. And as we experience trials and tribulations, he offers no relief.

What are we to do in times like this? What are we to do when God seems absent? What are we to do when he seems silent? And what are we to do when he seems to offer no help?

Looking at Psalm 44, a similar set of circumstances are described for us. The author expresses, first of all, how the people had heard from their fathers the deeds the Lord had performed in the days of old. And he expresses his faith in the Lord, who acted in these ways.

But then, in verse 9, his tone changes. In fact, it sounds accusatory. He seems to suggest that, although the people had not forgotten him, God had rejected and disgraced them. Although their heart had not turned back nor had they ceased to walk in his ways, he’d caused them to be taunted and reviled.

He, then, calls upon God to awake. He asks why God is hiding his face from them. And he expresses the state of humiliation in which they found themselves.

As we read these words, I’m sure that we can relate to his feelings. We can relate to his circumstances. And we can relate to his complaint.

But, at the end of this Psalm, in the verse seen above, we find that he does not lose hope. We find that he does not turn from the Lord. He, instead, cries out to him once again.

And this, you see, is what we must do when we feel that God has let us down. This is what we must do when we feel that he’s turned is back on us. We must cry out to him once again, trusting in his steadfast love.

As the apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”