Psalm 42:10 As with a breaking of my bones, My enemies reproach me, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

If you haven’t read and studied Psalm 42 yet, I suggest that you do. It is a great case study for what transpires in the life of the faithful and a very lucid observation of those around us, David calls “enemies”.

The enemy to child of God is His enemy, an unbeliever. Now they might be docile enemies to you personally in that they are friendly, kind, and even considerate, but make no mistake they are still enemies to one who is faithful. And they will make it known in times of distress or hardship in your life. While comforting you, they are saying “where is your God?”.

“As they boast and directly or indirectly say “look at me, I don’t have your problems, I travel to Europe, I have a large estate, I have all the money I can dream of, I have a solid marriage and a great family, and I am not doing ANYTHING for God, so WHERE IS YOUR GOD? Give up on Him!“

They HOPE you FAIL MISERABLY in your faith, yes, this is what won’t probably be mouthed to you, but when you have a terrible life event come your way, they are cheering this on in their minds in a sadistic manner, saying to themselves “watch, they’ll break and leave all that God nonsense now, and come back to us”. It is what I call the same test of Job!!

Job’s friends and even his wife thought Job would break under Satan’s pressure. That Job’s faith was fragile and would succumb to all the tragedies he went through in a short period of time. His family was destroyed, his fortune taken away, and his health was in peril. Job’s wife went as far to say to him “just curse God and die already”. His friends constantly needled him, tempting him to give up his supposed vanity in faith and go back to his old life with them. Although Job bent a bit, he never broke! And in the end his faith remained strong, God rewarded him.

Your enemies DO HOPE YOU FAIL, because it justifies their unbelief! Some would host a large party for you if you discarded your preaching of the Gospel, and went back to your old life of sin with them. Some will tempt you with money, offering to get you out of a problem, with the conditions being you stop preaching the Gospel and go back to your old ways with them. THE OLD YOU was much easier to be around, so they sadistically hope your faith will be broken.

The “where is your God?” definitely shows up during those times. They might not say those words, but listen carefully. I had a friend recently for example tell me that I spend much too much time on these blogs and preaching the Gospel as the remedy for my financial future. He didn’t say “where is your God?” but that was the gist of what he was saying. And he isn’t the only one I have heard this from. Their solution? Give up God, give up sharing the Gospel, and come back to your old life of sin, the sinner they remember, join them again on a path to hell in other words.

The temptation is to say “you’re right, maybe I should take a break from God and concentrate on worldly things, that’ll solve the issue”…they HOPE you fail and say that! As they boast and directly or indirectly say “look at me, I don’t have your problems, I travel to Europe, I have a large estate, I have all the money I can dream of, I have a solid marriage and a great family, and I am not doing anything for God so WHERE IS YOUR GOD? Give up on Him!“

But the question of “where is your God” is EASILY answered! He is right here with you if you believe. It doesn’t matter what worldly issue, health problem, financial calamity, etc., God is always there! And by that test, you MOST IMPORTANTLY show the enemies that the faith He granted you, the same faith He granted Job, David, Abraham, Paul, etc., CANNOT BE BROKEN by worldly problems! This is a message of God which actually goes directly to your enemies! That He exists, what He said was true, and He CANNOT be conquered!

The enemy HOPES YOU WOULD JUST SHUT UP! They HOPE by that tragedy or problem, you will show that all you preached was in VAIN. They LOVED the OLD YOU, because the OLD YOU was just like them, an enemy of the Kingdom. They HOPE by the tragedy or problem God now won’t be your first priority, “give up the blog, give up sharing the Gospel and focus on the world again”. And the more sadistic nature of the “where is your God” is “see, your God is punishing you, because you DESERVED it”. They rejoice in your suffering, even when they are giving you a hug in trying to console you.

I will give a quick personal example. During the Fall of 2019, my beloved 7 year old dog came down with cancer and 4 months later he passed away. My close friends and family who were unbelievers secretly rejoiced, as they now could say “where is your God?”. A hardship that they viewed as a reason why I might just now give up my faith. Some actually said in their way “you deserved it for judging sinners”, meaning that I should never have shared the TRUTH. Some were hoping “well now Jeff will come back to us and give up on God”. And some were hoping “he’ll come back to our false gospel now”. NONE OF WHICH TOOK PLACE, because of God’s faith.

So be aware, your enemies will give you a cup of water, a blanket, but the sadistic hope is that YOU GIVE UP! David at his breaking point in Psalm 42 seemingly almost did, but he didn’t break. He ended the Psalm with answering his own questions by the AWESOME FAITH GOD GRANTED, ¹¹ Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.