Psalm 60

O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again. (v 1)

David begins this prayer with a cry that has surely ascended to heaven from many hearts before his time and since. In verses 1-3, we see him calling upon God to revisit His people, for reasons of which we are unaware (perhaps he recalled Israel's staggering defeat by the Philistines that resulted in the deaths of King Saul and his sons, or it might refer to an unspecified defeat suffered during the present battle [see psalm header]). What is clear is that at some point while writing this psalm, David felt abandoned by God.

Why does God sometimes appear invisible?

He has promised never to leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), but we will go through trials during which we cannot see God at work. The following scriptures may point to some of the reasons:

1. The presence of sin: If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; (Psalm 66:18 NIV)
   
2. Building godly character: ...but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4 NKJV)
   
3. Strengthening our faith: In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)
   
4. Producing patience and maturity: My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1:2-4)
   

For these and other reasons (including the fact that we may simply need to retune our listening frequency to hear God clearly - see Elijah's encounter with God), God may be silent, or seem to ignore our plight.

For we walk by faith, not by sight: (2 Corinthians 5:7)

But the psalmist does not stop there. God had guaranteed that Israel would inherit the promised land, and right there, as he stood in God's presence, prophetic words began flowing from David's lips:

God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me.

Even in the midst of your greatest trials, as you bring your griefs and burdens to God, He can and will speak to you. He will remind you of His promises. Just be sure to listen. Don't approach Him listlessly, but like the woman with the issue of blood, let your grief and desperation place a demand on His power. Let there be no doubt in your heart that, as David says,

Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

God's faithfulness never, ever fails.

Psalm 60 Full Reading