How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
The cry of how long expresses the anguish of one who feels forgotten by the Lord and left without His presence. Such hopelessness, with the conviction of being lost beyond recovery, can settle upon the sick when the adversary assaults their trust and presses them to surrender confidence. That inward sense of abandonment is not proof of actual abandonment, for divine loving-kindness continues toward the afflicted one. God looks with pity upon the sufferer in that condition and longs to bring deliverance and salvation.
The cry of how long expresses the anguish of one who feels forgotten by the Lord and left without His presence. Such hopelessness, with the conviction of being lost beyond recovery, can settle upon the sick when the adversary assaults their trust and presses them to surrender confidence. That inward sense of abandonment is not proof of actual abandonment, for divine loving-kindness continues toward the afflicted one. God looks with pity upon the sufferer in that condition and longs to bring deliverance and salvation.