(Note: The graphics were generated using AI.)

Some questions exist that I know I’m supposed to answer correctly. 

Is God good? Yes.

Is God faithful? Yes.

Is God in control? Yes.

Is God near? Intellectually, I know the answer is yes, but emotionally, it often feels like a completely different story. If you have ever felt this gap between what you know and what you feel, you are in good company. Psalm 10 opens with a startlingly honest cry that captures this exact struggle:

“Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”
(Psalm 10:1)

I appreciate that David doesn’t clean up the question before bringing it to God. He looks around and sees arrogance, oppression, greed, injustice, and people apparently getting away with it. Even worse, the wicked seem convinced God isn’t paying attention.

“He says in his heart, God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” (v. 11)

I have wondered that myself. God, do You see this? Do You see what is happening in the world? Do You see when someone is treated unfairly? Do You see the person who is hurting while someone else seems to prosper?

And, perhaps more personally: God, do You see me?

Psalm 10 answers that question: “But you do see.” (Psalm 10:14). Four words, but what a difference they make.

But You do see.

God sees what I see. He sees what I don’t see. He sees the injustice that seems unnoticed, the pain nobody else recognizes, the motives hidden from everyone else, and the circumstances I cannot understand. 

His silence is not blindness. His patience is not indifference. And His apparent delay does not mean He has abandoned His throne.

By the end of the psalm, David has moved from “Why do you stand far away?” to:

“The LORD is king forever and ever.”
(Psalm 10:16)

The circumstances haven’t necessarily changed, but David’s perspective has. That’s something I need to remember.

When I cannot understand what God is doing, I am often tempted to interpret God through my circumstances. Psalm 10 invites me to do the opposite—to interpret my circumstances through what I know about God.

He sees.

He hears.

He knows.

He reigns.

And He cares.

Maybe there will always be things that make me look toward heaven and ask, “Why, Lord? Where are You?” Psalm 10 reminds me that God isn’t offended by these questions, nor does He leave me stranded in them. When everything around me suggests He isn’t paying attention, I can always return to four simple, grounding words: But You do see.