PSALM TEN

WHERE IS GOD? 
 
  It is an age old question - "If there is a God, why has this
happened?"  How strange it is that people who profess no belief in God
Almighty, are quite willing to blame Him when disaster strikes.  Even
if one were able to PROVE the existence of God by mere argument, men
would not necessarily believe He existed.  The Bible makes it clear
that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.  In
considering the question, where is God?, let us bear in mind three
important things:- 
  1. The proximity of God. 
  2. The proof of God. 
  3. The providence of God. 
  How near is God?  If we are to consider His proximity we must ask
this question.  The psalmist sings, "Why standest Thou afar off?  Why
hidest Thou Thyself in time of trouble?"  It is quite a common mistake
to think that God is far away when trouble comes.  God remains the
same.  He is just as near (or as far) in times of trouble as He was
before it happened.  BUT, in times of trouble we can be more occupied
with our trouble than we ever were previously acquainted with God. 
  God is always there.  If in times of trouble we feel He is afar off,
then the withdrawal is ours, and of our own making.  At the end of the
story of Noah in the Flood, the Bible records, "The Lord remembered
Noah."  As a matter of fact He had never forgotten Him.  But it must
have seemed to Noah, after that long period cooped up in the ark with
all those animals, that a visit from God was overdue.  So when God did
move in, it would appear to Noah that at last the Lord had remembered
him.  We may forget God; He will never forget us. 
  We exist in God; by Him we live and move and have our being.  Should
He forget us, but for an instant, we would cease to exist.  WE
ourselves are the proof of His existence.  We are living in days when
men ask for proof because of a so called scientific outlook.  Ask him
to prove the theory of evolution by producing the missing link and he
sneers at your unscientific attitude.  It is quite possible in this
life to have more proof and less faith.  Dogmatism has injured the
Church's witness.  There is nothing worse than an ignorant repeating,
ad nausium, of dogmatic statements.  He who comes to God must believe
that He is and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.  Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, came to reveal the Father.  The proof of God is
in our hearts.  All the thoughts of the wicked are, there is no God. 
  The psalmist then sings of the Providence of God.  He is the helper
of the fatherless.  He is the provider for the poor.  He is the patient
listener to the humble.  There is no end to the provision which God has
made for those who trust him.  One hymnist put it this way, "They who
trust Him wholly, find Him wholly true." 
  God has a plan and purpose for every life.  That plan is only
fulfilled and the purpose worked out with the co-operation of the
person.  For God has given to each of us a free will.  When we make His
will ours we discover that all God's provision is focussed on what He
intends us to be.  He is preparing our hearts for a  transformation
which will bring us in line with His will.  This is the fullest
fulfilment of our lives.  Our satisfaction is to be what He wants us to
be.  In this way we fulfil our destiny. 
  He is preparing our hearts.  What we take to heart benefits us.  What
we really believe - we believe in our hearts - not in our minds.  This
is why the Bible says, "With the heart man believeth unto salvation." 



Copyright (c) 1995, Hedley Palmer. All rights reserved.



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