Learning From The Psalms When You Can't Find God

Today we'll be reflecting on Psalm 42 and what it means to struggle when it seems like God is absent.  You can read Psalm 42 HERE. 

“Faith is not the absence of doubt, nor is it the constant awareness of God's presence. Faith is the willingness to keep turning toward God even when God seems silent, trusting that the silence itself is not abandonment but another way God teaches us to seek.” — Frederick Buechner

Some of the darkest and most challenging seasons of my life have been marked by what I can only describe as the silence/absence of God's presence.  

As a pastor, I have taught, preached, and written about how God is present with us in every moment of our lives, even the ones when it feels like we are alone and abandoned.  But it's one thing to say that to others, and quite another at times to apply the same teachings to myself. 

Over the years. I have grown to take comfort in the fact that even Jesus, when he was suffering on the Cross, cried out to God, wondering where God was.  

Theologian Jurgen Moltmann refers to this as "God experiencing the absence of God," which at the very least gives us the knowledge that when we feel as though God is not present, God gets what that feels like.  

Nearly everyone who walks with God long enough will experience seasons when God feels strangely absent.

Prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling. Scripture feels flat. Worship no longer stirs the heart. We begin to wonder if we've done something wrong or if God has somehow withdrawn.

The Psalms assure us that these experiences are not signs of failed faith. They are often part of mature faith.

Psalm 42 begins with words that have comforted generations of believers: "As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God." (Psalm 42:1). The psalmist remembers seasons when worship came easily, yet now he feels distant from God. Three times he asks the same haunting question: "Why are you cast down, O my soul?"

What makes this psalm remarkable is that the writer continues praying even while feeling spiritually dry. He refuses to give up the conversation. Instead, he tells his own soul, "Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God." (Psalm 42:11).

The apostle Paul reminds us that "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). There are seasons when faith feels like walking through fog. We cannot clearly see where we are going, but we continue placing one foot in front of the other because we trust the One who walks beside us.

Sometimes God's presence is most deeply at work beneath the surface, quietly forming perseverance, humility, and hope. The silence is not necessarily God's absence. It may simply be another chapter in our spiritual journey.

If you feel far from God today, don't mistake your feelings for the whole truth. Keep praying. Keep showing up. Keep reading Scripture. Keep worshiping. One day, perhaps unexpectedly, you will discover that the Shepherd never stopped walking beside you.

Prayer

Loving God, there are days when your presence feels wonderfully close and days when you seem painfully distant. Help me to remain faithful through both. Give me perseverance to keep seeking you, confidence that your love has never failed, and hope that even now you are drawing me nearer to yourself. Amen.

Reflection Questions

1. Have you experienced a season when God felt distant? What helped sustain your faith?
2. How does Psalm 42 encourage you to remain hopeful in spiritual dryness?
3. What faithful practice can you continue this week, even if you do not immediately feel God's presence?