Why is not a Question

Psalm 74

　

"O God, why have you rejected us forever?

Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?"

Have you ever cried out to God and asked Him, "Why"?

According to my study Bible this Psalm was written about the time of the exile when "Israel had been destroyed as a nation, the promise land devastated and the temple reduced to ruins". Feeling alone and rejected the Psalmist cried out, "Why God".

Really this is not a question as much as an accusation and the Israelites have a history of accusing God in this way. "Why did you make us slaves of Israel? Why don’t you free us? Why did you bring us into the dessert to die? Why do you keep feeding us manna? Why? Why? Why?"

It’s not too hard to imagine that even Jesus when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and was "sorrowful and troubled", may very well have asked God why. And following Jesus’ crucifixion the disciples hid and prayed. No doubt they asked God why. It is human nature.

But what they were really saying, and what the Psalmist is saying, is that they feel like God has rejected them, that He doesn’t love them, that He seems to have disappeared from their lives. Haven’t we all felt like that before? Our first born daughter was a stillborn and I cried out, "Why God".

What is important though is to keep going back to God. After all, we know that He is always with us and unconditionally loves us and faithfully continues to work in our lives.

"But God is my King from long ago;

he brings salvation on the earth"

Following this the Psalmist recounts how God saved the Israelites from the Egyptians. So the next time that you are asking God why, stop and remember how He has worked in your life in the past. After all, He is "your King from long ago".

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2074&version=NIV;MSG
http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Ps.74