Why Hast Thou Forgotten Me?

 

A similar cry is also recorded in the following verse:

 

Psalm 43:2 "For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?"

 

Like the writers of these psalms, when people find themselves facing painful and difficult circumstances, it can be easy to wonder, "If the Lord God is truly my rock and my strength, how can I possibly be in such a difficult situation?" In times of trouble, we may even feel as though God is far away from us:

 

Psalm 10:1 "Why standest thou afar off, O Jehovah? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?"

 

We may even wonder whether God is asleep:

 

Psalm 44:23-25 "23Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever. 24Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? 25For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth."

 

We may also become anxious and wonder whether He has abandoned us:

 

Psalm 88:14 "Jehovah, why castest thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me?"

 

And when our troubles continue for a long time, we may begin to feel as though God has forgotten us forever:

 

Lamentations 5:20 "Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?"

 

Psalm 13:1 "How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?"

 

In more serious cases, a person may even become unable to stand firmly on God's side:

 

1 Kings 18:21 "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word."

 

A person may even go so far as to entertain the foolish thought that there is no God:

 

Psalm 14:1 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God...."

 

All of this may come from our own weakness:

 

Psalm 77:6-10 "6I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. 7Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? 8Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? 9Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. 10And I said, This was my infirmity..."

 

It may also be because our faith is small:

 

Matthew 8:26 "And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm."

 

For contrary to what our weak thoughts may tell us, the Word of God says:

 

Isaiah 49:14-15 "14But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me. 15Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee."

 

It is difficult for us even to imagine a mother forgetting her nursing child. Yet God's Word tells us that even if a mother could forget her child, He will never forget us. From this we can know with certainty that God's care for us is even greater than the tender love a mother has for her own child. We can see the same truth in the following verse:

 

Jeremiah 31:20 "Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD."

 

In this way, God treats us as His "dear son" and His "pleasant child." He tells us that He earnestly remembers us and that He will surely have mercy upon us. And the proof of this promise is our Lord Jesus Christ, because through Jesus Christ, God has demonstrated and confirmed His love toward us.

 

Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Therefore, the God who promised, "I will not forget you, and I will surely have mercy upon you," and who fulfilled that promise is always with us:

 

Psalm 139:7-10 "7Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me."

 

Matthew 28:20 "...lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

 

Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

 

Therefore, when the circumstances before us are painful and difficult, we should not lose heart, become anxious, or be afraid. Instead, in those very moments, we should rely all the more on the name of Jesus and hope in God.

 

Psalm 42:11 "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."

 

When we refuse to lose heart and wait upon the everlasting God—the One who neither faints nor grows weary—He will give us new strength so that we may mount up with wings as eagles:

 

Isaiah 40:27-31 "27Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the justice due to me is passed away from my God? 28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? the everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding. 29He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength. 30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint."

 

And He will keep us through every trouble!

 

Psalm 121:4, 7 "4Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 7Jehovah will keep thee from all evil; He will keep thy soul."

 

Amen.