In my darkest moments… when I can’t see clearly… I remember that King David had been there, too. He knew the wilderness. He knew the silence. He knew what it felt like to cry out to a God who felt far away.

In Psalm 22, David pours out words so raw that Jesus Himself would later cry them from the cross:

“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.” (Psalm 22:1–2 NLT)

This isn’t poetic distance. This is pain. This is a warrior who had faced lions, bears, and giants… a king who had seen miracle after miracle… now wrestling with the ache of unanswered prayers. The same God who once showed up so powerfully now seemed painfully silent.

Scripture doesn’t tell us the exact moment David wrote these words, but his life gives us plenty of candidates…hunted by Saul, hiding in caves, betrayed, exhausted, overwhelmed. Seasons where the promise felt distant and the pressure felt relentless.

And then there’s Psalm 10, where David asks the question every believer has whispered…or shouted…in the dark:

“O Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble?” (Psalm 10:1 NLT)

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