Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Arise,Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
defending the fatherless and the oppressed.
Why is it our response to God to feel like God is absent in our pain and suffering? Jesus promised that discipleship would be full of pain and suffering. We are called to follow Christ and a part of that involves pain and suffering. The Bible is full reminders that God is on the side of the disenfranchised. God takes sides with the alien, the orphan, the wide, the helpless, the broken, the afflicted, the oppressed, and those who cry out to Him.
I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to be fatherless. My dad played such a vital role in my upbringing and formation as a person. I think my Dad did a great job at portraying and living our a godly example of a father. For those who are fatherless they have the promise that God will be their father, that God will watch over and protect them. This psalm is a good reminder that God is not absent in our pain or suffering, He is ever present. He allows pain and suffering for many reasons and some we may never know. When i think of my own son and the times he experiences pain, I realize that I allow him freedom to experience pain and don't always rescue him from it because it is in pain and suffering that we often learn the most from life.
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