A Distant God

Ἵνα τί, Κύριε, ἀφέστηκας μακρόθεν, ὑπερορᾷς ἐν εὐκαιρίας, ἐν θλίψεσιν; ἐν τῷ ὑπερηφανεύεσθαι τὸν ἀσεβῆ ἐμπυρίζεται ὁ πτωχός συλλαμβάνονται ἐν διαβουλίοις οἷς διαλογίζονται.    Ἐν τῷ ὑπερηφανεύεσθαι τὸν ἀσεβῆ, ἐμπυρίζεται ὁ πτωχός. Ὁ Προφήτης ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐρωτᾷ, καὶ πυνθάνεται τοῦ θεοῦ λέγων· Ἵνα τί, Κύριε, ἀφέστηκας μακρόθεν; Εἶπεν δ' ἂν ὁ λόγος πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀποκρινόμενος, ὅτι τὸ χρηστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς μετάνοιαν ἄγει τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας. Ἀφέστηκεν δὲ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν μακρὰν ὁ Θεὸς, τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῆς διοριζούσης καὶ μακρὰν ἐλαυνούσης τοὺς ἁμαρτάναοντας, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον· Αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὑμῶν διῖστῶσιν μεταξὺ ἐμοῦ καὶ ὑμῶν. Ἄλλως γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἀεὶ τοῖς πᾶσι πάρεστιν, καὶ τὰ πάντα πληροῖ πανταχοῦ τυγχάνων. Διὸ λέλεκται ἐν προφητείαις· Θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι, λέγει Κύριος, καὶ οὐ Θεὸς πόῥῥωθεν. Θλιβομένων δὲ κατὰ τὸν ἐνεστῶτα βίον τῶν δικαίων καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσεβῶν καταπονουμένων, ὥσπερ μακρὰν ἀφεστὼς καταλείπεις αὐτοὺς, φησὶν, ὦ Κύριε, καὶ ὑπερορᾷς· διὸ αὔξει ἡ ὑπερηφανία τῶν ἀσεβῶν· τὸν δὲ σὸν πένητα καὶ πτωχὸν ἐμπυρίζεις, ζηλοῦντα τὸν θεοσεβῆ ζῆλον, καὶ ἔνδοθεν φλεγόμενον τὴν ψυχήν. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος θ'

Why, O Lord, do you withdraw afar, and look down as on prosperity, our tribulations? On account of the pride of the impious the poor man burns trapped in the plots which they contrive. 1 While the impious is proud, the poor man burns. The Prophet as a man questions and inquiring from God, says, 'Why, Lord, withdraw afar?' But to this Scripture replies that undoubtedly the kindness of God leads sinners to penance. 2 For God withdraws far from sinners, their own sin being the cause of separation, and far off they are expelled who sin, according to which it is said, 'Your sins create distance between me and you.' 3 For although God upholds all things, and fills everything, and is everywhere, and therefore it is said in the Prophets, 'I am a God who is near,' the Lord said, 'and not a God far off,' 4 but when in the present life the righteous are persecuted by the impious, as if afar withdrawing, He abandons them. And so he says: O Lord, look down, for the pride of impious grows; your needy and poor burn and with religious zeal they are inflamed in the depths of the soul. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 9 1 Psalm 9.1-2 2 Rom 2.4 3 Is 59.2 4 Jer 23.23