Unanswered Prayer and A Hidden God

Sometimes, from our point of view in our prayers, God seems to hide Himself when He does not give to us what we request of Him. We ask the Lord for this or that, but we do not receive it. We may ask again and again, but what we request is not given.

From our point of view, therefore, it seems as if God is hidden. It is as if He does not hear what we say. We cannot find Him. Heaven is silent. No one is paying any attention.

The reason we are not granted our requests may very well be that we ask something contrary to God's will. Then it ought not to surprise us that God does not give us our request. The solution to the problem is, quite obviously, learn to pray, in every request that you make, "Thy will be done." James puts it succinctly: "For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that" (4:15).

But sometimes we are convinced that we are praying according to the will of God. Perhaps we justify our petition with a line of reasoning similar to this: "I have been given certain responsibilities of God in His kingdom and covenant. Now the Lord has sent me an affliction that makes it impossible for me to carry out my responsibilities. And so, because it is His will that I carry out my responsibilities, it is also His will that I be delivered from this affliction."

I am sure the apostle Paul reasoned much the same way when he prayed that God would remove the thorn from his flesh (2 Cor. 12:7-9). He was sure that he could not possibly perform his work as missionary to the Gentiles unless the Lord would remove the thorn. And so he prayed-- three times no less! Heaven was silent. God apparently did not hear him in his anxious request. God said nothing-- neither yes nor no. Where was God? Could He not hear?

Yet even this prayer was not in harmony with the will of God, and Paul's careful reasoning could not make it such. How often does not this happen with us! We mistake, once again, our own desires for God's will, although it may very well be that, as in the case of Paul, we sell the grace of God short. God's grace is able to do beyond what we ask or think, but we are sometimes, in our weak faith, doubtful whether this is really true.

God, in effect, told Paul the following: (1) Get busy with the work to which you were called; (2) Quit praying about that thorn, for I am not going to take it away; (3) When it comes down to it, I really cannot use you unless you continue to have that thorn. The only way you can do your work, quite contrary to what you think, is if that thorn remains; (4) the reason is twofold. My grace is sufficient for you to do the work, and do not sell my grace short. Also my strength is made perfect in weakness. That is, only when you, Paul, are as weak as it is possible to be and the work is still done, will it become apparent that I did it all, and not you. And that is the way it ought to be.

Prof. Herman Hanko 

When You Pray, pp. 147-148

https://rfpa.org/collections/books-by-herman-hanko/products/when-you-pray 

Affliction and A Hidden God

It is probably in times of deep affliction, when our souls are overwhelmed in us by the agonizing difficulties of our way, that the problem of a hidden God is greatest.

Our afflictions need not necessarily be caused by some specific sin in our lives. We have the example of Job to testify of this. 

Nevertheless, there are times when we ask the Lord for something that we are specifically commanded to ask for-- perhaps grace to endure some great trial. But even though we ask according to the will of God, we are still confronted with a hidden God, for no answer comes, even then.

I would venture a guess that, at some time in his or her life, every child of God experiences the same thing as Job. In fact, I am sure that this is why God put this beautiful and important book in the Bible. We all need it.

As was true with Job, sometimes God hides Himself even when there is no chastisement for sin. In a way, even then sin surely is involved. We are by no means perfect in this life, and always chastisement is for the purpose of correction. But God may hide Himself simply to teach us an important truth concerning us or Him, a truth which we have to learn and know. 

God's answer to Job was surprising and very disconcerting. It came, first, through Elihu, who seemed to be the only one with a correct understanding of things; but finally God Himself spoke of Job in that powerful and soul-shaking speech found in chapters 38-41.

In sum, these chapters make just one point, a point which was God's answer to Job. God had hidden Himself from Job. Yes, He did. But then He revealed Himself, and this is what He said.

"Job," God said, "you must learn that I am God. I am the one only God, the creator of all, great, glorious, perfect, beyond understanding in all My works and ways. 

"Now, Job, because this is true, you must also learn that I am under no obligation whatsoever to explain anything I do. I am not under obligation to you to explain what I do to you. I am not to be summoned, as you would like, into the dock to give an account to you of My actions and to justify My deeds. Who, really, do you think you are? Can you require of Me that I explain to you what I do? And even when I do what I have done to you, I have no need whatsoever to justify my actions to you.

"Were you present when I created all things? Were you there when I conceived my own perfect counsel? Should I have consulted with you before I determined to do what I decided had to be done for the perfect glory of My name?

"Job, the simple fact of the matter is that, as far as you are concerned, there is no answer. Nor will I give one. Nor need I give one. I am God!" 

Paradoxically, this is precisely God's purpose in hiding Himself: that we may learn this great truth. To use Calvin's expression, God batters us. We may perhaps rebel. So He batters us some more. We may, with great difficulty, submit but plead to know the reason. He batters us some more. We may cry out that we can take no more of this awful battering. He batters some more. We still have not learned.

And so, finally, at the bottom of the pit of our pain, God shows us that He is God and does what He pleases-- also with us. And so, finally, we say, Lord, whatever is Thy will, do with me as it seems good to Thee. Whatever happens to me is of no account. Do Thou Thy will. I want nothing more." Or as Job put it, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (13:15).

Then the God who is hidden speaks of His love in tenderest of terms and with infinite mercy towards us. He shows us that He never really was hidden, for He continued to hide all our tears in His bottle, but He assures us that it was necessary that He withdraw Himself from us so that we might come to appreciate more fully the wonders of His grace. He humbles us, but only to lift us up. He brings us very low, because only by our going through a deep valley can He bring us to the mountaintop. To forsake us is to draw us nearer to Himself.

Prof. Herman Hanko

When You Pray, pp. 148-149

https://rfpa.org/collections/books-by-herman-hanko/products/when-you-pray 

 

Smitten to Repentance

14 APRIL

And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. Isaiah 37:1

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 1 Chronicles 21:1-17

The modesty of holy King Hezekiah is wonderful. For after performing so many illustrious works and being adorned by the excellence of so many virtues, the king does not hesitate to prostrate himself before God. On the other hand, the courage and steadfastness of Hezekiah's faith is wonderful, for it shows the king is not hindered by the weight of the temptation of failing to freely seek God, by whom he is so severely smitten.

Scarcely one man in a hundred does not murmur if God treats him with any degree of severity or who does not bring forward his good deeds as a ground of complaint, reasoning that he has been unjustly rewarded. Other men, whose wishes are not answered by God, complain that their worship of God serves no good purpose. 

We perceive nothing of this kind in Hezekiah. Though he is conscious of possessing uncommon piety, he does not shrink from confessing his guilt. Likewise, if we desire to turn away God's anger and to experience his favor in adversity, we must repent and sincerely acknowledge our guilt, for adversity does not come to us by chance but is the method by which God rouses us to repentance.

Indeed, sackcloth and ashes will be of little avail if they are not preceded by the inward feelings of the heart, for we know that hypocrites are abundantly liberal in the use of ceremonies. Yet the Holy Spirit justly commends the exercises of repentance when they are directed to their proper object.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: 

When we are afflicted with sickness or sorrow, do we murmur and complain, thinking God means to destroy us? Or do we come to Him in sorrow and repentance, asking for the grace to bear any affliction and for forgiveness for any sin? Let us, like Hezekiah, seek our heavenly Father in all our troubles, trusting that He will use them to make us more like our Savior, Jesus Christ, whose sufferings were for us and our salvation.

365 Days With Calvin 

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Finding Blessing in Trouble

12 APRIL

And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. Isaiah 36:10

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Amos 9

Rabshakeh warns Hezekiah, King of Judah, that it is useless to assemble his forces and to make other warlike preparations against the attack of Assyria. For Hezekiah is not contending with a mortal man, but with God Himself, at whose suggestion (not his own) the King of Assyria is attacking Judah. Therefore those who oppose the King of Assyria will fight against God, and all their efforts will be useless. 

From this we ought to learn that, however earnestly we may be devoted to godliness, and however faithfully we may labor to advance the kingdom of Christ, we cannot expect to be free from every annoyance. Rather, we ought to be prepared to endure very heavy afflictions.

The Lord does not always recompense our piety with earthly rewards. Indeed, it would be exceedingly unsuitable for us to possess abundant wealth and enjoy outward peace and see that everything proceeds according to our wishes. For the world reckons even wicked men to be happy on the ground that they do not endure bad health or adversity, are free from the pressure of poverty, and have nothing to disturb them. In this respect, our condition would not differ at all from that of the reprobate.

Consider the example of Hezekiah, who labored with all his might to restore religion and the true worship of God, yet endured calamities to heavy and violent that he was not far from despair. We ought to constantly place this example before our eyes so that, even when we think we have discharged our duty, we may nevertheless be prepared to endure conflicts and troubles of every kind. We should then not be disturbed if enemies gain an advantage at the onset, as if all at once they would swallow us up.

John Calvin 

FOR MEDITATION: The example of Hezekiah is a powerful corrective to the "health and wealth" gospel that is common today. Such a gospel can only bring disillusionment when troubles and trials come, as they almost always do. Our assurance of God's favor must rest in something other than external blessings - it must rest in Christ.

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Disciplined to Obedience

26 MARCH

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept Thy word. Psalm 119:67

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Hebrews 12:5-11

Experience demonstrates that when God deals gently with us, we often break into rebellion. Since even a prophet of God who strays needs to be corrected by forcible means, discipline is assuredly needful for us when we rebel.

The first step in obedience is the mortification of the flesh, which does not come naturally to people. So, not surprisingly, God brings us to a resistant, even when it seems to be tamed, it is no wonder to find God repeatedly subjecting us anew to the rod.

This is done in different ways. He humbles some by poverty, some by shame, some by disease, some by domestic distress, and some by hard and painful labors. He applies the appropriate remedy to the diversity of vices to which we are prone. It is now obvious how profitable is the truth of David's confession. The prophet speaks of himself even as Jeremiah (31:8) says of himself that he was "as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke," setting before us an image of the rebellion that is natural to us all. 

We are very ungrateful indeed if the fruit that we reap from chastisements does not assuage or mitigate their bitterness. So long as we are rebellious against God, we are in a state of the deepest wretchedness. The means He chooses to bend and tame us to obedience is His chastisements.

The prophet teaches us by His own example that God gives evidence of His willingness that we should become His disciples by the pains he takes to subdue our hardness. We should then at least strive to become gentle, and, laying aside all stubbornness, willingly bear the yoke that He imposes upon us.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: If the afflictions we experience have a blessed end - our sanctification (Heb. 12:11) - shouldn't we learn to become thankful for them? Rather than simply enduring them with a stiff upper lip, we should be praising God that He did not leave us to ourselves. Are you facing afflictions today? If so, how can you shift your perception of them to offer thanks to the Lord for them?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Resting in God’s Favor

22 MARCH

Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. Psalm 116:7

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Psalm 145

David now tells himself to rest because God has shown favor to him.

Is the experience of the grace of God enough to allay the fear and trepidation of our minds? That is what David seems to indicate here in saying that, since he has experienced the relief of divine aid, he can now return to rest. But if the faithful regain their peace of mind only after God manifests Himself as their deliverer, what room is there for the exercise of faith, and what power will the promises have to quiet our souls?

Surely, waiting calmly and silently for indications of God’s favor which is concealed from us is the undoubted evidence of faith. As strong faith quiets the conscience and composes the spirit, so, according to Paul, “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,” reigns supremely there (Phil. 4:7). Hence the godly remain unmoved, though the world around them seems to be falling unmoved, though the world around them seems to be falling into ruin.

What does it mean to return unto thy rest? However much the children of God may be driven hither and thither, yet they constantly derive support from the Word of God so that they cannot totally and finally fall away. In confiding in His promises,they throw themselves upon God's providence even while they are sorely distressed by disquieting fears and sadly buffeted by the storms of temptation. No sooner does God come to their assistance, than inward peace takes possession of their minds. Also, in the manifestation of God's grace, they are given grounds for joy and gladness.

This latter kind of quietness is what David asks for, declaring that, even though he has experienced much to cause agitation of mind, it is now time for him to delight himself calmly in God.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: The storms of life can so agitate our minds and spirits that our only option is to run in desperation to the Rock of our salvation. There we not only find relief from the temptations and attacks of life, but, by grace, we also are inwardly restored to rest, assured that God will care for us. Have you experienced this peace that passes understanding?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Grateful in Danger

17 MARCH

Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron. Psalm 107:10

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Matthew 14:22-23

The Spirit of God mentions many dangers in which God shows His power and grace in protecting and delivering people. The world calls these vicissitudes the sport of fortune; hardly one in a hundred people ascribe them to the superintending providence of God.

But God expects a very different kind of practical wisdom from us, namely, that we should meditate on His judgments in a time of adversity and on His goodness in delivering us from danger. For surely it is not by mere chance that a person falls into the hands of enemies or robbers; neither is it by chance that a person is rescued from them. But what we must constantly keep in mind is that all afflictions are God's rod, and therefore there is no remedy for them other than God's grace.

If a person falls into the hands of robbers or thieves and is not instantly murdered, but, giving up all hope of life, expects death at any moment, surely his deliverance is striking proof of the grace of God. This grace is even more illustrious considering the few who escape from such danger. Such circumstances, then, ought not to diminish our praises of God.

The prophet charges people with ingratitude who, after they have been wonderfully saved, very soon lose sight of the deliverance granted to them. To strengthen the charge, he brings forward their sighs and cries as a testimony against them. For when they are in dangerous straits, they confess in good earnest that God is their deliverer. Why then do these confessions disappear when they enjoy peace and quietness?

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: Cries to God for deliverance come so easily and so naturally to our lips when we are humble to help ourselves. Why then does praise feel so difficult when things are going well? Are we so foolish to think that we can take care of ourselves in the good times, as if we are any less dependent on God?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Facing Severe Affliction

20 FEBRUARY

My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue. 

Psalm 39:3

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING:  Matthew 26:69-75

The psalmist now illustrates his great grief by using a simile. He tells us that his sorrow, when internally suppressed, becomes inflamed as the ardent passion of his soul continues to increase in strength. From this we learn that the more strenuously a person sets out to obey God, using all his efforts to exercise patience, the more vigorously he is assailed by  temptation. For Satan, while not so troublesome to the indifferent and careless and seldom looks near them, displays all his forces against the believer. If, therefore, at any time we feel ardent emotions struggling and raising commotion in our breasts, we should remember this conflict of David so that our courage will not fail us, or at least that our infirmity may not drive us headlong to despair.

Whenever the flesh puts forth efforts and kindles a fire in our hearts, let us know that we are afflicted with the same kind of temptation that caused so much pain and trouble for David. At the end of the verse, the psalmist acknowledges that the severity of his affliction eventually overcame him, and he allowed foolish and unadvised words to pass from his lips.

In this David personally sets before us a mirror of human infirmity so that, being warned by the danger to which we are exposed, we may learn to seek protection under the shadow of God's wings. Then spake I with my tongue is not a superfluous mode of expression but a true and full confession of sin, in which David says that he not only gave way to sinful murmuring but had even uttered loud complaints.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: How do you cope with major afflictions? How could meditating on the sufferings of Christ and the sovereign, paternal providence of God help us better cope when trials arise?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

When God Removes Any Comfort From Us

We must be patient when God removes any comfort from us.

If God takes away any of our relations – ‘I take away the desire of thine eyes with a stroke’ (Ezek. 24:16) – it is still our duty patiently to acquiesce in the will of God. The loss of a dear relation is like pulling away a limb from the body. ‘A man dies every time he loses his own kith and kin.’ But grace will make our hearts calm and quiet, and produce holy patience in us under such a severe dispensation. I shall lay down eight considerations which may act like spiritual medicine to kill the worm of impatience under the loss of relations:

1. The Lord never takes away any comfort from His people without giving them something better. The disciples parted with Christ’s corporal presence and He sent them the Holy Ghost. God eclipses one joy and augments another. He simply makes an exchange; He takes away a flower and gives a diamond.

2. When godly friends die, they are in a better condition; they are taken away ‘from the evil to come’ (Isa. 57:1). They are out of the storm and have gone to the haven: ‘Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord’ (Rev. 14:13). The godly have a portion promised upon their marriage to Christ, but the portion is not paid till the day of their death. The saints are promoted at death to communion with God; they have what they so long hoped for, and prayed for. Why, then, should we be impatient at our friends’ promotion?

3. You who are a saint have a friend in heaven whom you cannot lose. The Jews have a saying at their funerals, ‘Let your consolation be in heaven.’ Are you mourning somebody close to you? Look up to heaven and draw comfort from there; your best kindred are above. ‘When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up’ (Ps. 27:10). God will be with you in the hour of death: ‘though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Thou art with me’ (Ps. 23:4). Other friends you cannot keep. God is a friend you cannot lose. He will be your guide in life; your hope in death; your reward after death.

4. Perhaps God is correcting you for a fault, and if so, it becomes you to be patient. It may be your friend had more of your love than God and therefore God took away such a relation, so that the stream of your love might run back to Him again. A gracious woman had been deprived , first of her children, then of her husband. She said, ‘Lord, Thou hast a plot against me; Thou intendest to have all my love.’ God does not like to have any creature set upon the throne of our affections; He will take away that comfort, and then He shall lie nearest our heart. If a husband bestows a jewel on his wife, and she so falls in love with that jewel as to forget her husband, he will take away the jewel so that her love may return to him again. A dear relation is this jewel. If we begin to idolize it, God will take away the jewel so that our love may return to Him again.

5. A godly relation is parted with, but not lost. That is lost which we have no hope of ever seeing again. Religious friends have only gone a little ahead of us. A time will shortly come when there shall be a meeting without parting (1 Thess. 5:10). How glad is one to see a long-absent friend! Oh, what glorious applause there will be, when old relations meet together in heave, and are in each other’s embraces! When a great prince lands at the shore, the guns go off in token of joy; when godly friends have all landed at the heavenly shore and congratulate one another on their happiness, what stupendous joy there will be! What music in the choir of angels! How heaven will ring with their praises! And that which is the crown of all, those who were joined in the flesh here shall be joined nearer than ever in the mystic body, and shall lie together in Christ’s bosom, that bed of perfume (1 Thess. 4:17).

6. We have deserved worse at God’s hand. Has He taken away a child, a wife, a parent? He might have taken away His Spirit. Has He deprived us of a relation? He might have deprived us of salvation. Does He put a wormwood in the cup? We have deserved poison. ‘Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve’ (Ezra 9:13). We have a sea of sin, and only a drop of suffering.

7. The patient soul enjoys itself most sweetly. An impatient man is like a troubled sea that cannot rest (Isa. 57:20). He tortures himself upon the rack of his own griefs and passions, whereas patience calms the heart, as Christ did the sea, when it was rough. Now there is a sabbath in the heart, yes, a heaven. ‘In your patience possess ye your souls’ (Luke 21:19). By faith a man possesses God and by patience he possesses himself.

8. How patient many of the saints have been, when the Lord has broken the very staff of their comfort in bereaving them of relations. The Lord took away Job’s children and he was so far from murmuring that he fell to blessing: ‘the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord’ (Job 1:21). God foretold the death of Eli’s sons: ‘in one day they shall die, both of them’ (1 Sam. 2:34). But how patiently he took this sad news: ‘It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good’ (1 Sam. 3:18). See the difference between Eli and Pharaoh! Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord?’ (Exod. 5:2). Eli said, ‘It is the Lord.’ When God struck two of Aaron’s sons dead, ‘Aaron held his peace’ (Lev. 10:2,3). Patience opens the ear but shuts the mouth so that it has not a word to say against God. See here the patterns of patience; and shall we not copy them? These are heart-quietening considerations when God sets a death’s-head upon our comforts and removes dear relations from us.

Thomas Watson

The Godly Man’s Picture, pp. 120-123

Seeing God in the Storm

9 FEBRUARY

Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth. Psalm 18:7

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Mark 4:35-41

God’s answers to David’s prayers were so powerful that it was impossible for the psalmist to sufficiently extol his Creator. He thus sets forth images of changes in the sky and the earth to show the power of God’s intervention.

If natural things always flowed in an even course, the power of God would not be so perceptible. But when God changes the face of the sky by sudden rain, or by loud thunder, or by dreadful tempests, those who were sleeping and insensible must necessarily awaken and tremble with the consciousness of a presiding God. Such sudden and unforeseen changes clearly manifest the presence of the great Author of nature.

No doubt, when the sky is unclouded and tranquil, we see sufficient evidences of the majesty of God, but many men will not stir their minds to reflect upon that majesty until it comes nearer to them in a threatening manner. David thus recounts the sudden by which we are usually moved and dismayed. He introduces God at one time clothed with a dark cloud; at another, throwing the air into confusion by tempests, rending it by the boisterous violence of winds, by launching the lightning, and by darting down hailstones and thunderbolts..

In short, the psalmist shows us that the God who chooses to cause all parts of the world to tremble by His power also chooses to manifest Himself as the deliverer of David. In doing so, He shows He can be known openly and by signs as clearly as when He displays His power to all the creatures both above and beneath the earth.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: God makes Himself known to us in many ways. Do not let the physical and chemical causes of thunderstorms or earthquakes blind you to the majesty of God behind them. See Him when the earth shakes, when the hills move, and when we ourselves tremble at His anger.

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke