You asked

what current experiences of displacement or loss make people feel like god has forgotten them?

Adds the setting and its conversation across both testaments.

Psalm 13:1-2

“How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall my enemy triumph over me?”

Psalm 13 is a lament, a common genre in the Psalms where the writer pours out their distress to God. This psalm captures a moment of intense personal suffering and a feeling of abandonment, moving from anguished questions to a declaration of trust.

What feelings of fear, grief, or frustration are you holding onto today, and how might expressing them honestly change your perspective?

Then — the setting

Psalm 13 is an individual lament, a type of prayer common in ancient Israel. While we don't know the specific historical event behind this psalm, it reflects deep personal distress, possibly due to illness, injustice, or the oppression by enemies, which were common experiences in the ancient Near East. The psalmist expresses the raw emotion of feeling abandoned by God, a sentiment that resonated deeply with individuals facing hardship in a world where God's favor was often seen in prosperity and protection.

Across the Testaments

The Old Testament, particularly the Psalms and prophetic books, frequently voices the experience of feeling forgotten by God, especially during periods of national disaster, exile, or personal suffering (e.g., Lamentations, parts of Isaiah). The New Testament does not diminish this experience. Jesus himself, on the cross, quotes Psalm 22:1, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' (Matthew 27:46). This demonstrates that even in ultimate suffering, the human experience of feeling God's absence is acknowledged and validated, rather than condemned. It connects the deep human lament of the Old Testament to the ultimate divine-human experience of Christ.

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

Lamentations 5:20
Another poignant question asking God why he has 'forgotten' and 'forsaken' his people amidst their suffering.
Matthew 27:46
Jesus' cry from the cross, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?', echoes the psalmist's sense of abandonment.
Psalm 42:9
The psalmist asks, 'Why have you forgotten me?' and wonders why they suffer oppression.

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