This psalm is traditionally attributed to David, who is expressing a deep sense of distress and questioning God's apparent absence during troubling times.
“Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (v.1)
This is a psalm of complaint, of God hiding Himself (Psalm 10:1); where He appears to be afar off, no longer “a very present help in time of trouble,” but an inaccessible mountain, into which no man would be able to climb. Furthermore, it expresses the outrage and pride of the wicked (Psalm 10:2-5), the malicious practices of the wicked (Psalm 10:8-10), and their denying God’s omniscience (Psalm 10:11).
So the psalmist inquires, Why? Why, after delivering his people from their foreign foes, does he not interfere to protect his true people from their domestic oppressors? It can only be answered, "In his wisdom; for his own purposes; because he knows it to be best."
“The refiner is never far from the mouth of the furnace when his gold is in the fire, and the Son of God is always walking in the midst of the flames when his holy children are cast into them. Yet he that knows the frailty of man will little wonder that when we are sharply exercised, we find it hard to bear the apparent neglect of the Lord when he forbears to work our deliverance.”
Elliot
Therefore, even when God seems distant, His sovereignty and faithfulness remain unchanged. As believers we are called to trust in His ultimate plan and timing.
The Truth: “ Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong. For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants.” (Psalm 37:1-2)
**Read Psalm 37 completely
