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When God Plays “Peek-a-boo”
- Greg E. Williams, MD
- Apr 18, 2022
- 3 min read
Psalm 77 “ Hath God forgotten to be gracious? ... And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. ...Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people...Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. (v.9-11,15,19)
Every parent enjoys playing “Peek-a-boo” with their children when they are young. Parents cover their face and then reveal their face to their baby as the child seems to become repeatedly surprised by the parent's reappearance. Children grow through developmental stages, of which this milestone is one of “object permanency”. This is where a child learns that objects out of sight still remain present even though they do not see them. According to one Prager,
“Peekaboo develops the idea of object permanence, the idea that something out of sight is still there...“They’re saying to the child, ‘I’m here for you every time you leave.I’m not going away.’” It can actually beused to rebuild trustwith traumatized children.” (Prager*)
We all have grown through this stage of development and understand this experience clearly. This process goes contrary to the old cliche, “Out of sight, out of mind”. Yet, if we are to be honest we have all felt from time to time that as Christians, when we do not see God working in our situations it seems to us that God has abandoned us. We look for evidence of his presence in the midst of a particular trial, yet we do not have any sign or clue that God is present nor has he been aware of us in our situation. This is the theme of Psalm 77. The psalmist questions if God has abandoned him. But eventually he has to acknowledge that this question was more about his own experience of God and not about God's absence. (This is my infirmity..).
The psalmist then challenges himself to reflect on what his experience has taught him as he remembers how God has been consistently involved in the lives of his people. He considers the saving power of God’s "right hand", his "mighty works" for his people and the "wonders of old".
As he embraces such memories and the evidence of God’s continued presence he then shares a metaphor for us. He states, “Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known".The original word here for footsteps actually refer to “foot prints” left behind on the earth from our feet. To grasp the idea presented here, consider what it is like to walk the beach where we leave our foot steps in the sand just before they are washed away by the waves. The psalmist makes a more significant visualization of walking within the water where the water separates around our feet before us and after us. The water fills the space where our foot once touched the ground as it is lifted. There really is no way to see exactly where we have stepped nor where the next step will be made.
The emphasis of this passage is more of reassurance to us of “object permanence”. The requirement of having faith depends on our trust in God even when we do not see him at work on our behalf or we see no evidence of his presence in our situation. Just as God lead his people in faith throughout many generations, we have a similar privilege to walk in the same faith as they did. Our impression of being abandoned is our infirmity. The reality is what God has done and will continue to do through those who walk in faith. There is something for us to learn in God’s “Peek-a-boo”.
Trust that God is in us in our situation, my friends. We will not always sense that he is with us, but that is how our faith grows.
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