Psalm 10 · Day 10 Devotional · 5–6 min read · KJV
It is okay to ask God “Where are You right now?”
Have you ever looked at what is happening in your life — or in the world — and asked God: where are You?
Not in a blasphemous way. In a desperate, honest, I-need-you-to-show-up way. In the way that only comes when you have been waiting a long time and the silence is starting to feel like absence.
If you have asked that question — you are in good company. David asked it. Right here in Psalm 10. Word for word. And the fact that God preserved this prayer in Scripture for thousands of years tells you something important: He is not offended by the question.
In fact, He put it in the Bible so that every generation that followed would know — this kind of honesty is welcome in His presence. Your “where are You, God?” is not a failure of faith. It might be the most honest prayer you have ever prayed.
Psalm 10 — King James Version
1 Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.
4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.
14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
17 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
— Psalm 10:1–18 (KJV)
“Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?”
That is the most honest first line of any psalm in the entire book. No warm-up. No praise introduction. Just a raw, direct question aimed straight at heaven: God, why do You seem so far away right now?
And God did not erase this prayer from Scripture. He did not edit it or replace it with something more theologically tidy. He kept it — exactly as it is — because He wants you to know that this kind of honesty is welcome in His presence. Always.
Point One
Honest Questions Are Not a Sign of Weak Faith — They Are a Sign of Real Relationship
“Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?”
— Psalm 10:1 (KJV)
The people who never ask hard questions of God are not the ones with the strongest faith. They are often the ones with the most performance-based religion — the ones who are afraid that honest doubt will disqualify them from God’s presence.
David had a real relationship with God. And in real relationships, you ask hard questions. You say what you actually feel. You do not perform. You do not manage the conversation to look more spiritual than you are.
The fact that you are asking “God, where are You?” is not evidence that your faith is failing. It is evidence that you believe God is real enough to be asked. You do not direct that question at someone you do not believe in. You ask it because you expect an answer.
Keep asking. He can handle it. He always could.
Point Two
God Sees What You Think He Is Missing
“Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand.”
— Psalm 10:14 (KJV)
Midway through Psalm 10, something shifts. David stops describing the problem and starts describing God. And what he says cuts through every fear of divine absence with four simple words: thou hast seen it.
Everything you think God is missing — He has seen it. Every injustice you think has slipped past His notice — He has seen it. Every hidden motive, every secret cruelty, every thing done in darkness that no one else knows about — He has seen it all. And He has a hand prepared to deal with it.
God’s silence is not the same as God’s absence. He is working in ways you cannot see yet. He is moving behind scenes you do not have access to. He is preparing outcomes you have not imagined.
Trust the process even when you cannot see the progress. He has seen it. He always has.
Point Three
God Hears the Humble — Every Single Time
“Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear.”
— Psalm 10:17 (KJV)
Psalm 10 ends with one of the most tender promises in all of Scripture. God has heard the desire of the humble.
Not the loudest prayer. Not the most eloquent prayer. The humble prayer. The one whispered at 3am when no one else is listening. The one cried with no words — just tears and a name. The one that started with “God, where are You?” and ended with “but I still trust You.”
And then this — thou wilt prepare their heart. God does not just hear the humble. He prepares them. This season of waiting, this season of honest questioning, this season that feels like silence — it is not wasted. God is doing something in you that could only happen in the waiting. He is getting your heart ready for what is coming.
The humble are not forgotten. They are being prepared.
What God is building in you in this season is as important as what He is building for you. Do not despise the preparation.
🕑 Pause and Reflect
- Is there a “where are You, God?” question you have been afraid to ask — because you thought it meant your faith was weak or disqualifying?
- What situation in your life have you been assuming God has not noticed? What does Psalm 10:14 — “Thou hast seen it” — say directly to that fear?
- Can you hold on today to Psalm 10:17 — that God has heard your desire and He is preparing your heart for what is coming?
🎯 Your One Action For Today
Write God an honest letter today. Not a polished prayer. A letter — the kind you would write to someone you trust completely. Start with whatever is most honest. Even if it is “God, I do not understand what You are doing right now.” Write it all out. Nothing is too raw.
Then end it with Psalm 10:17:
“Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear.” — Psalm 10:17
Claim that promise over everything you just wrote. Seal it with trust. That is one of the most powerful prayers you will ever pray — and God heard every word of it.
🎧
Listen to Psalm 10
If you are in a season of silence — where God feels far and the waiting feels long — put on your headphones and let the ASMR reading of Psalm 10 sit with you in it. Sometimes the most healing thing is not an answer. It is knowing that someone understands the question. And God does.
→ Coming next — Psalm 11: Everyone around David is telling him to run. To give up. To get out while he still can. And David’s answer is one of the boldest statements in the entire Book of Psalms — “In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?”
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Frequently asked questions about Psalm 10
What is Psalm 10 about?
Psalm 10 is an honest prayer asking why God seems distant while evil people thrive. It does not end in despair — it ends with a declaration that God sees everything and will act in His time.
Why does God seem silent when evil is happening?
Psalm 10 gives us permission to ask that question. God’s silence is not the same as God’s absence. He sees. He notes. He will not forget.
How do I pray when God feels far away?
Start exactly where you are: “Why, Lord, do you stand far off?” Bringing the distance itself to God is one of the most faithful things you can do — it says: I still believe you are there, even though I cannot feel you right now.
What Psalm speaks to unanswered prayer?
Psalm 10 is one of the most honest Psalms about unanswered prayer. Paired with Psalm 9, they move together from “Why are you silent?” to “You are King forever.” Lament and trust are not opposites — they are steps in the same journey.
[…] Coming next — Psalm 10: Have you ever looked at what is happening in your life — or in the world — and asked God: where […]
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