God has always hidden Himself from the wicked so far as giving them a view of Himself by faith. Not everyone possesses faith (See II Thess. 3:2) for God does not give it to all men, and therefore not everyone can see Him with an eye of faith; see Him so as to love Him; or so as to trust Him and find in Him their all in all. Ungodly men may see God in the works of nature and even go so far as to acknowledge His existence, but they despise Him. They do not desire the knowledge of His ways and would prefer that He depart from them (Job 21:14). God was for many centuries greatly hidden from the Gentile nations, and is yet but obscurely seen even by multitudes of those who profess to believe in Him. Those who think they know most of Him, actually know least of Him. Some have such a dim concept of Him as to think He is altogether such an one as themselves (See Psalm 50:21). But to entertain such an opinion of Him is to have the lowest possible notions of His nature and being. God often hides Himself even from His own believing people. Bible readers will recall that David once uttered the following sad interrogatory; "Is his mercy clean gone for ever? Doth his promise fail for evermore?" (Psalm 77:8). And have we not often felt similar sentiments as we struggled under the hidings of God's face? One of the characteristics of our corrupted nature is to begin to take even our greatest blessings for granted if we are given unbroken access to them over a period of time. God, in His wisdom, knows that it would not be in our best interest, in our present state, to enjoy uninterrupted communion with Him or to always feel His presence with us. It is not for us to know now all the reasons why God hides Himself from us from time to time, but we may be certain that all of His behavior toward us is in our best interest. May He give us grace to be reconciled to that fact.