Cry to God: Act to Aid the Hurting

In verses 12-15, the afflicted person reaches out to God for help. The voice that said, "God, you seem distant," now cries, "God, be near." As David Powlison notes, "This God can "rise" and "lift His hand": he can remember - and do something....Believing sufferers may wonder (v.1), but they call on him to do something...The Lord misses nothing. He does not forget."

While there are many human activities that can help sufferers (e.g., mercy ministries), any person suffering ultimately needs God. Powlison writes:

God runs his universe to ensure that in an evil world, no mere human advocacy can redress the full need. Consider Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the life of faith: "into Your hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46) and "for the joy set before Him [He]endured the cross, despising [thinking little of] the shame" (Hebrews 12:2). Profound suffering needs one who will "wipe away every tear from their eyes; and their will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain" (Rev. 21:3).

In these situations, when we cry out to God for relief and comfort, sometimes we demand those things to be done in our way an in our time. But God works in his own ways and his own time. What we can do is trust that he is sovereign and have faith that he will make things right. We can get on with our lives knowing that he loves us. In that, we can take great comfort.