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passages (Matt. 27: 46; Matt. 4: 1-10 and Mark 4: 34-41) have been brought
forward to show that the Saviour entered into all the physical and mental trials that are
known to man, and so the question "Why?" came from His lips, not because He did not
know the answer, or was ignorant of the purposes of God, but that He might assure us
that the eternal question "Why?" that haunts man from cradle to grave is understood by
Him, and shared by Him.
So far as we have any means of knowing, man is the only creature on earth that asks
the question "Why?", and so with these introductory words, inadequate as they may
appear to be, we turn to the Scriptures for examples and for the answers given to this
ever-repeated question "Why?"
Psalm 73:
This Psalm of Asaph shows us a man of like infirmities as ourselves, whose faith was
sorely tried, but who was graciously led to the only place where his questioning heart
could be satisfied. The Psalm is divided into three parts by the recurrence of the words
"Truly" (1), "Verily" (13), and "Surely" (18), which are all translations of the same
Hebrew word, and could be translated in each place "After all". First the Psalmist gives
the conclusion that he had been led to after a period of doubt, and says "After all, God is
good to Israel", and if we demur and say, did Asaph doubt this blessed fact? he himself
says:
"As for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped" (2),
and this because he had become envious at the prosperity of the wicked who seemed to
have no trouble as other men, whose eyes stood out in fatness and who had more than
heart could wish. So in verse 13 he came to the sad conclusion:
"After all I have cleansed my heart in vain."
But then came the wonderful change:
"Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end" (17).
"After all, Thou didst set them in slippery places" (18).
Asaph's question "Why?" was solved as our questionings must be solved "in the
Sanctuary". He had actually put his finger on the answer by his use of the word
"chastened", for this is the Lord's dealings with His own. Asaph's feet "were almost
gone", his steps had "well nigh slipped", but now he realized that those who had been the
object of his envy would be cast down to destruction, while he emerged from the
Sanctuary saying:
"Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel"
"And afterward received me to glory"
"Whom have I in heaven but Thee?" (24, 25).