When God’s faithful people face affliction, Psalm 44 tells us how to respond. Remember God’s past faithfulness, demonstrate covenant loyalty despite present suffering, and boldly plead for God’s intervention.
When God’s faithful people face affliction. Remember God’s past faithfulness (1-8)
O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their day, in the days of old. (ESV, Psalm 44:1)
A familiar storyline runs throughout the Old Testament. It begins as God establishes a covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai under the leadership of Moses. If the people of Israel obey God’s voice and keep his covenant, they will remain his treasured possession among all people. (Exodus 19:5-6)
You’d think this favored position as God’s people would motivate ongoing obedience. But the people of Israel regularly turned away from God to idol worship. And it became an on again, off again pattern of turning away and then back to God. So God punished their disobedience when they turned to idol worship. He let other nations conquer, exile, and oppress them. But restored them when they repented and turned back to him.
In this passage, the psalmist begins on a positive note by remembering God’s faithfulness. He affirms God’s blessings on Israel and gives him full credit for defeating their enemies. It was not Israel’s military might that cleared the way into the promised land, but the hand of God. And V.8, the psalmist gives thanks to God’s name forever.
When God’s faithful people face affliction. Demonstrate covenant loyalty despite present suffering. (9-22)
All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way. (ESV, Psalm 44:17-18)
However, in V.9, the psalmist takes a sharp turn. He points out the people of Israel are presently under hardship. Israel’s army is suffering defeat, people are scattering, and losing possesions as spoils of war. And if that’s not enough, their enemies humiliate them further by scornfully taunting them. And now the psalmist complains.
Because in spite of their hardship and suffering, the nation of Israel remains faithful to God’s covenant. And it implies a question: Why are we being punished? We upheld our end of the covenant. It’s a frequent question asked today by Christ-followers when facing difficult circumstances. Aren’t we supposed to experience God’s blessings when we faithfully follow him?
Still, the psalmist affirms Israel’s unwavering faithfulness to God.
However, Psalm 44 confronts a painful truth. God’s ultimate rewards are eternal and not temporal. For reasons beyond our understanding, even God’s faithful people suffer pain, injustice, and hardship in this life. And this was taught by the Jesus himself.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (ESV, Matthew 5:11-12)
In Romans 8:36, the Apostle Paul quotes Psalm 44:22 to teach that sometimes our covenant union with Christ is the reason we suffer. And not because God is punishing or abandoning us.
When God’s faithful people face affliction. Boldly pead for God’s intervention. (23-26)
Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! (ESV, Psalm 44:23, 26)
Jesus was perfectly obedient to God the father. But in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed and asked God the father to spare him from crucifixion. So it’s perfectly acceptable for us to ask God to deliver us from our difficult circumstances. And this is exactly what the psalmist does. In fact, you can sense the desperation in his voice as he cries for God to wake up!
Jesus not only encourages us to pray with diligence. In Luke 18:1-8, he tells the parable of a widow who kept appealing to a judge for justice against an adversary. And the judge finally relents because he realizes it’s the only way she will stop pestering him. We are encourage to pray with the same persistence. But recognize that God is sovereign and sometimes the answer is “no.”
The psalmist ends by crying out for God’s mercy and appealing to his steadfast love. And in our times of trial, we too, should remember God’s faithful past and the assurance of his steadfast love. We are never forgotten or abandoned by God. But eternally secured by his amazing grace through Jesus Christ, our savior and lord.
About Chip Tudor:
Chip Tudor is an author, blogger and professional writer. He publishes books, humorous Christian drama, and thought provoking blogs from a Christian worldview. This blog is originally published here.
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