25 Bible Verses About Questioning God (ESV)

8   For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
9   For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

10:1   Why, O LORD, do you stand far away?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2   In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
    let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3   For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
    and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD.
4   In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
    all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
5   His ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
    as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6   He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
7   His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
    under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8   He sits in ambush in the villages;
    in hiding places he murders the innocent.
  His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9     he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
  he lurks that he may seize the poor;
    he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10   The helpless are crushed, sink down,
    and fall by his might.
11   He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
12   Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand;
    forget not the afflicted.
13   Why does the wicked renounce God
    and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14   But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
    that you may take it into your hands;
  to you the helpless commits himself;
    you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15   Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    call his wickedness to account till you find none.
16   The LORD is king forever and ever;
    the nations perish from his land.
17   O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18   to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
    so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

9   “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
    a pot among earthen pots!
  Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
    or ‘Your work has no handles’?
10   Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
11   Thus says the LORD,
    the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
  “Ask me of things to come;
    will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?
12   I made the earth
    and created man on it;
  it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
    and I commanded all their host.

2   O LORD, how long shall I cry for help,
    and you will not hear?
  Or cry to you “Violence!”
    and you will not save?

16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

2   “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3   Dress for action like a man;
    I will question you, and you make it known to me.
4   “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
    Tell me, if you have understanding.
5   Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
    Or who stretched the line upon it?
6   On what were its bases sunk,
    or who laid its cornerstone,
7   when the morning stars sang together
    and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8   “Or who shut in the sea with doors
    when it burst out from the womb,
9   when I made clouds its garment
    and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10   and prescribed limits for it
    and set bars and doors,
11   and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
    and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
12   “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
    and caused the dawn to know its place,
13   that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
    and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14   It is changed like clay under the seal,
    and its features stand out like a garment.
15   From the wicked their light is withheld,
    and their uplifted arm is broken.
16   “Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
    or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17   Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
    or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18   Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
    Declare, if you know all this.
19   “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
    and where is the place of darkness,
20   that you may take it to its territory
    and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21   You know, for you were born then,
    and the number of your days is great!
22   “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
    or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23   which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
    for the day of battle and war?
24   What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
    or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
25   “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
    and a way for the thunderbolt,
26   to bring rain on a land where no man is,
    on the desert in which there is no man,
27   to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
    and to make the ground sprout with grass?
28   “Has the rain a father,
    or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29   From whose womb did the ice come forth,
    and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
30   The waters become hard like stone,
    and the face of the deep is frozen.
31   “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
    or loose the cords of Orion?
32   Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
    or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33   Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
    Can you establish their rule on the earth?
34   “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
    that a flood of waters may cover you?
35   Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
    and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36   Who has put wisdom in the inward parts
    or given understanding to the mind?
37   Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
    Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38   when the dust runs into a mass
    and the clods stick fast together?
39   “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
    or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40   when they crouch in their dens
    or lie in wait in their thicket?
41   Who provides for the raven its prey,
    when its young ones cry to God for help,
    and wander about for lack of food?

A Maskil of Asaph.

74:1   O God, why do you cast us off forever?
    Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
2   Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old,
    which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!
    Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
3   Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
    the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
4   Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;
    they set up their own signs for signs.
5   They were like those who swing axes
    in a forest of trees.
6   And all its carved wood
    they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7   They set your sanctuary on fire;
    they profaned the dwelling place of your name,
    bringing it down to the ground.
8   They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
    they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9   We do not see our signs;
    there is no longer any prophet,
    and there is none among us who knows how long.
10   How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
    Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11   Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
    Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!
12   Yet God my King is from of old,
    working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13   You divided the sea by your might;
    you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
14   You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
    you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15   You split open springs and brooks;
    you dried up ever-flowing streams.
16   Yours is the day, yours also the night;
    you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
17   You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
    you have made summer and winter.
18   Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs,
    and a foolish people reviles your name.
19   Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;
    do not forget the life of your poor forever.
20   Have regard for the covenant,
    for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21   Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;
    let the poor and needy praise your name.
22   Arise, O God, defend your cause;
    remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
23   Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
    the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

2   But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
    my steps had nearly slipped.
3   For I was envious of the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4   For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
5   They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

2 Thus says the LORD:

  “Learn not the way of the nations,
    nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
    because the nations are dismayed at them,
3   for the customs of the peoples are vanity.
  A tree from the forest is cut down
    and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4   They decorate it with silver and gold;
    they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so that it cannot move.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

A Psalm of David.

23:1   The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
  He leads me beside still waters.
3     He restores my soul.
  He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name’s sake.
4   Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
  for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.
5   You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
  you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6   Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
  and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
    forever.

11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

4   “You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD:
  When men fall, do they not rise again?
    If one turns away, does he not return?
5   Why then has this people turned away
    in perpetual backsliding?
  They hold fast to deceit;
    they refuse to return.
6   I have paid attention and listened,
    but they have not spoken rightly;
  no man relents of his evil,
    saying, ‘What have I done?’
  Everyone turns to his own course,
    like a horse plunging headlong into battle.

22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.