Bible Verses About Questioning God

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

“But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”

“Why, O LORD, do You stand far off? Why do You hide in times of trouble? In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise. For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD. In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God. He is secure in his ways at all times; Your lofty judgments are far from him; he sneers at all his foes. He says to himself, “I will not be moved; from age to age I am free of distress.” His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue. He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless. He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net. They are crushed and beaten down; the helpless fall prey to his strength. He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.” Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God! Do not forget the helpless. Why has the wicked man renounced God? He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.” But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call him to account for his wickedness until none is left to be found. The LORD is King forever and ever; the nations perish from His land. You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will incline Your ear, to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed, that the men of the earth may strike terror no more.”

“Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?”

“Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker— one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought forth?’” Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: “Concerning things to come, do you question Me about My sons, or instruct Me in the work of My hands? It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. It was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I ordained all their host.”

“For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning? I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.”

“For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

“About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

“If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You?”

“Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge? Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone, while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket, when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors, and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’? In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place, that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment. Light is withheld from the wicked, and their upraised arm is broken. Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea or walked in the trenches of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides, so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home? Surely you know, for you were already born! And the number of your days is great! Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail, which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle? In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt, to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives, to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass? Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb does the ice emerge? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven, when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen? Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear and her cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you? Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods of earth stick together? Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?[’]”

“Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts? So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”

“A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance — Mount Zion, where You dwell. Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins, to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed. Your foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs, like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks. They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name. They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely.” They burned down every place where God met us in the land. There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last. How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever? Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand? Stretch it out to destroy them! Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth. You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea; You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert. You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers. The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun. You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and winter. Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name. Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever. Consider Your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land. Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame; may the poor and needy praise Your name. Rise up, O God; defend Your cause! Remember how the fool mocks You all day long. Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.”

“But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

“But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed. They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men.”

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

“The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?” Behold, these are the wicked — always carefree as they increase their wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands. For I am afflicted all day long and punished every morning.”

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.”

“This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by the signs in the heavens, though the nations themselves are terrified by them. For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman. They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.”

“Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever. Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression?”

“For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit, in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water. And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.”

“And the LORD said to Job: “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.”

“Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.”

“Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again? Is His loving devotion gone forever? Has His promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has His anger shut off His compassion?” Selah”

“We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.”

“So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”

“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.”

“So John called two of his disciples and sent them to ask the Lord, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”

“If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat. I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say.”

“And without faith it is impossible to please God. For anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.”

“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.”

“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...” Then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” And the man got up and went home. When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”

“So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus.”

“Therefore, brothers, stand firm and cling to the traditions we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.”

“Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.”

“Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.”

“Behold, these are the wicked — always carefree as they increase their wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands. For I am afflicted all day long and punished every morning. If I had said, “I will speak this way,” then I would have betrayed Your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was troublesome in my sight until I entered God’s sanctuary; then I discerned their end.”

“Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it? Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?”

“Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life. Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil. This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones. Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke; for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights. Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding, for she is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. All her ways are pleasant, and all her paths are peaceful. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who lay hold of her are blessed. The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding. By His knowledge the watery depths were broken open, and the clouds dripped with dew. My son, do not lose sight of this: Preserve sound judgment and discernment. They will be life to your soul and adornment to your neck. Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you rest, your sleep will be sweet. Do not fear sudden danger or the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from the snare. Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act.”

“So you are to tell them this is what the LORD says: “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not return? Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return. I have listened and heard; they do not speak what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, asking, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone has pursued his own course like a horse charging into battle.”

“For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.” Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.”

“Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the LORD, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.”

“They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’ I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land and made My inheritance detestable. The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.”

“It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them. After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” Now Thomas called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.”

“How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save? Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.”

“If all our flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?”

“For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day? How long will my enemy dominate me? Consider me and respond, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death, lest my enemy say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes rejoice when I fall.”

“You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long.”