I believe that God is ACTIVELY protecting us from many things, most of which we will probably never know until we get to Heaven. But if we persist in doing as we wish then He really is left with no choice because He respects our free-will. In Psalm 81:10-16 it was the people who wanted nothing to do with God so He "gave them over" (See also Job 22:17).
Now, is that "giving over" or "non-hindering active or passive? As a former secretary of state once asked, "what difference does it make anyway" (I'm just messing with you here). It seems that people make an active decison to forfeit God's protection and God makes a decision to remove it and allow whatever consequences comes as a result:
And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. (Deut. 32:19-20)
Or, as the Complete Jewish Bible says, "He said, ‘I will hide my face from them and see what will become of them." In other words, while God more than likely ACTIVELY relinquishes His protection and ACTIVELY engages in non-hindering, He is not the One who actively brings about the results or makes the consequences happen. He himself waits to see what happens to the people as a result of His no longer hindering the forces of evil.