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Psalm 89:46
How long, LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire?
44You have ended his splendor, and thrown his throne down to the ground.
45You have shortened the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. Selah.
46How long, LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire?
47Remember how short my time is, for what vanity you have created all the children of men!
48What man is he who shall live and not see death, who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.
Notice
Against the backdrop of a fallen throne, the fear that God might remain hidden forever makes this cry about time as much as pain.
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What would you want to say to God after reading the word “forever”?
Write on thisHow do you understand the pairing of God's hiddenness with wrath that burns like fire?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 13:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?Both prayers ask how long God will remain hidden, with the word “forever” expressing the feared length of his absence.
Psalm 79:5How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?Both prayers ask how long God's anger will last and describe his wrath or jealousy as burning like fire.
Psalm 77:7“Will the Lord reject us forever? Will he be favorable no more?Both prayers ask whether distress will last forever, one naming God's hiddenness and wrath, the other rejection and lost favor.
Job 23:9He works to the north, but I can’t see him. He turns south, but I can’t catch a glimpse of him.Both speakers describe being unable to see God, though Job speaks of searching while the psalm asks how long God will hide.
Psalm 35:17Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destruction, my precious life from the lions.Both speakers ask the Lord how long distress will continue; Psalm 35 adds a plea for rescue from destruction.
Isaiah 45:15Most certainly you are a God who has hidden yourself, God of Israel, the Savior.’”Both texts speak of God hiding himself; Isaiah also names this hidden God as Israel's Savior.
Isaiah 8:17I will wait for the LORD, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.Both texts describe the LORD as hidden; Isaiah speaks of waiting for him while the psalm asks how long.
Lamentations 2:3He has cut off all the horn of Israel in fierce anger. He has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy. He has burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, …Both passages describe God's anger through fire; Lamentations names Jacob as the people consumed by that judgment.
Ezekiel 38:18It will happen in that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord GOD, “that my wrath will come up into my nostrils.Both passages speak of God's wrath; Ezekiel names Gog's attack on Israel as the occasion for it.
Deuteronomy 31:17Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils …Both texts join God's anger with his hiding himself, connecting divine hiddenness with suffering under judgment.
Job 19:11He has also kindled his wrath against me. He counts me among his adversaries.Both speakers address suffering in terms of God's wrath, using burning or kindling language to describe it.
Jeremiah 4:4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go out like fire, …Both texts compare God's wrath to fire; Jeremiah warns of its burning, while the psalm asks whether it will continue.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. waiting. doubt.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The prayer ends without a date for relief. Even with God's wrath pictured as fire, the speaker still addresses YHWH and asks him to respond.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).