Bible Synapse
Is God a very present help in trouble, or does he hide himself when people cry out?
Hard question · Who God is · raised by 1 of the lists sceptics circulate
See the passages joined in the interactive mapThe passages
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
“The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.”
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”; “I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not”.
To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
Later in the same psalm: God has not hidden his face, “but when he cried unto him, he heard”.
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
“O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!”
O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
To a people whose “hands are full of blood”: “when ye make many prayers, I will not hear”; “Wash you, make you clean”.
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
The objection
Psalm 46 calls God “a very present help in trouble”, and Psalm 145 says he is near to all who call on him. Yet in Psalm 22 the psalmist cries day and night and is not heard, Habakkuk asks how long he must cry without an answer, and elsewhere God says plainly that he will not hear, or that he hides himself. Critics say the record does not match the promise.
The answer
The passages that seem to deny God’s help are of two kinds, and neither cancels the promise.
The first kind are the cries of faithful people while help is delayed: Psalm 22, Psalm 10 and Habakkuk 1. They are honest prayers, and the Bible keeps them because believers really do feel abandoned at times. But each one moves on to God’s answer. Psalm 22 begins “why hast thou forsaken me?” and later says that God did not hide his face, “but when he cried unto him, he heard” (22:24). Psalm 10 begins “why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” and ends “Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble” (10:1, 17). God answers Habakkuk that the vision will come at its time, “though it tarry, wait for it” (2:3), and the book ends in joy (3:18). Jesus prayed the first words of Psalm 22 on the cross (Matthew 27:46), and his resurrection was God’s answer. A ‘present help’ is not always an instant one. Isaiah 45:15, “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself”, belongs here too: in the same breath the prophet names him “the Saviour”, and two verses later says that “Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation” (45:17). God’s ways are often hidden, but his purpose is to save.
The second kind are words to people who are calling on God while they hold on to their sin. Isaiah’s hearers prayed while their “hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:15); the elders in Ezekiel 20:3 still polluted themselves with idols (20:31); in Hosea 5:6 Israel brought sacrifices while dealing treacherously with God (5:7). Samuel warned Israel, when they insisted on a king against God’s word, that they would one day cry out because of that king, “and the Lord will not hear you in that day” (1 Samuel 8:18). God refuses to be used as a charm by those who will not turn. Even then he calls them to come back: “Wash you, make you clean” (Isaiah 1:16). Psalm 145:18 states the condition plainly: he is near to all who call on him “in truth”. See also the entry on whether everyone who calls on God will be heard.
From the classic commentators
To the tearful eye of the sufferer the Lord seemed to stand still, as if he calmly looked on, and did not sympathize with his afflicted one. Nay, more, the Lord appeared to be afar off, no longer "a very present help in trouble," but an inaccessible mountainC. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, on Psalm 10:1 (1869–85), at Bible Hub