Psalm 13 When God Is Distant

Why does it seem sometimes that when we are in need of God's help most He seems to be the farthest from us? How should a believer react when everything indicates that he should run for his life and forsake his trust in God rather than wait on Him? 

In Psalm 13 David, the beloved psalmist of Israel cries out under the oppression of the evil upon him. He pleads against the Lord’s seeming inactivity on his behalf. Had he not stepped out for the cause of God and taken his stand on the trust of God’s Word? Where now is the Divine assistance when the enemies of God have become his enemies and their hatred targets him? This is often our cry in the work of the gospel. We are placed in peril because of our faithfulness to His Word and His enemies become our enemies and His supporters are few in number and short on courage. This leaves the man or woman of God alone and exposed to great danger. Why does the Lord hold back His deliverance? Where are His faithful fighting men? Why will He allow His people to be dashed and demoralized? 

This is not an uncommon thing in the spiritual experience of those who walk deeply with God. Psalm 31:9-12 is another time when David, the beloved of the Lord, found himself overcome with grief and sorrow. He pleads for God’s graciousness, i.e., His covenant love, to act on his behalf to deliver him from losing confidence in the Lord and defaming the cause of God. 

In his excellent commentary on the Psalms, William VanGemeren describes the unique suffering that God’s saints often pass through along their journeys, “The psalmist is alone, and suffering in loneliness aggravates the anguish.”