Yahweh looked at him, and said, Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent you?
Gideon could not understand why the Israelites were suffering as they were, if Yahweh was indeed with His people (Judges 6:13; cf. Deuteronomy 31:17). He failed to realize that their condition was the result of their abandoning God, not His abandoning them.