When It Seems As If God Can’t See You

Scripture — Psalm 31:21-22 (NRSV)

Blessed be the LORD,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was beset as a city under siege.
I had said in my alarm,
“I am driven far from your sight.”
But you heard my supplications
when I cried out to you for help.

Devotion

Have you ever felt far away from God? Perhaps your life was going along wonderfully, right according to plan. Then, without warning, everything started to fall apart. You lost your job. Or you were diagnosed with cancer. Or your spouse asked for a divorce. Or . . . you name it. In desperation, you cried out to God, but it felt as if God didn’t hear you or didn’t care.

How did you respond in that moment of apparent disconnection from God? Perhaps you prayed as David did in Psalm 31:22: “I had said in my alarm, ‘I am driven far from your sight.’ But you heard my supplications when I cried out to you for help.”

I love this verse, but not for the reasons you might suppose. Yes, I am glad God heard David’s cry and answered his call. This reminds me that God does indeed hear us when we cry out. Such a reassuring truth! Moreover, David’s cry for mercy assumes that God is, indeed, “rich in mercy” (see Ephesians 2:4). This explains why God responded positively to David even when David doubted God’s presence. David didn’t earn God’s favor with his exemplary faith. Rather, the favor of God was an expression of God’s matchless grace.

What I love most about Psalm 31:22 is David’s open admission: “I had said in my alarm, ‘I am driven far from your sight.’” Why do I love this? Partly because it’s so honest. Here is David, the man after God’s own heart, who is freely admitting that, in fear, he said what he knew at other times was not true. Not only did David doubt God, but he also freely admitted it. He confessed it to himself, to God, and through this psalm, to us. Such honesty impresses me and encourages me to be truthful when I am struggling with my faith.

I also love the various connotations of the phrase “in my alarm.” The Hebrew word chafaz, translated here as “alarm” can mean “alarm” or “fear.” But it can also mean “hurry.” David may well have meant, “I had said hurry, ‘I am driven far from your sight.’” This translation reveals a close association between fear and rushing. When I think of times in my life when I felt cut off from God, times when I wondered if God had turned away from me, almost inevitably I was impatient. I was rushing to judgment. I was demanding that God act on my hurried timetable. I was so busy that I had no time to sit before the Lord in quiet. Later, when I found time to step back, to reflect, to be silent, and to pray – when I stopped hurrying – my fear began to subside. I began to see God’s presence in my life, that which I had overlooked in my fearful scrambling.

In the season of Lent, Psalm 31:22 serves as a compelling reminder to us that when we feel cut off from God, not only will God be merciful to us, but also we should slow down. We need to take time to quiet our souls and remember God who is rich in mercy. God promises to be with us always, no matter how it seems to us. The God who drew near to us in Jesus Christ remains near right now. And, as Paul writes in Romans, nothing “in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39).

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Father, I Entrust My Spirit into Your Hands.