Psalm 44
Psalm 44
(Psa 44:1) For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago.
(Psa 44:2) With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our fathers; you crushed the peoples and made our fathers flourish.
(Psa 44:3) It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.
(Psa 44:4) You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob.
(Psa 44:5) Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes.
(Psa 44:6) I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory;
(Psa 44:7) but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame.
(Psa 44:8) In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever. Selah
(Psa 44:9) But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies.
(Psa 44:10) You made us retreat before the enemy, and our adversaries have plundered us.
(Psa 44:11) You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations.
(Psa 44:12) You sold your people for a pittance, gaining nothing from their sale.
(Psa 44:13) You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us.
(Psa 44:14) You have made us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us.
(Psa 44:15) My disgrace is before me all day long, and my face is covered with shame
(Psa 44:16) at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me, because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.
(Psa 44:17) All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant.
(Psa 44:18) Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path.
(Psa 44:19) But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals and covered us over with deep darkness.
(Psa 44:20) If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
(Psa 44:21) would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?
(Psa 44:22) Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
(Psa 44:23) Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
(Psa 44:24) Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?
(Psa 44:25) We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.
(Psa 44:26) Rise up and help us; redeem us because of your unfailing love.
1. Introduction
How do you respond when awful things happen to God’s people?
NB : NOT Why do awful things happen to God’s people
BUT:
How do you respond when awful things happen to God’s people?
2 funerals recently
1 x 57 lady – sad enough, but her mother is still alive, and to see her daughter go through the agonies of ovarian cancer was just devastating.
How was she to think, to respond , when something like this happened to one of God’s people?
The other funeral was gut-wrenching
Story of Nathaniel
Rejoicing
18 weeks! Then 31 weeks. . .
How do you respond when awful things happen to God’s people?
Think of Job in OT. . . .
Much of Job is about how to get it wrong in responding to the times when awful things happen to God’s people – his wife,
- Curse God and turn over and die!
- his so-called friends:
You must have done something terribly bad!
How to respond when awful things happen to God’s people.
You may not yet be . . . . .
But – the Bible . . .
And here in Psalm 44, as in many other places in the Bible , is a model of how God’s people ought to and are able to respond in such times.
Quite straightforward
Listen to this:
1 We have heard with our ears, O God;
our fathers have told us
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.
2 With your hand you drove out the nations
and planted our fathers;
you crushed the peoples
and made our fathers flourish.
3 It was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face, for you loved them.
4 You are my King and my God,
who decreesb victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we push back our enemies;
through your name we trample our foes.
6 I do not trust in my bow,
my sword does not bring me victory;
7 but you give us victory over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.
8 In God we make our boast all day long,
and we will praise your name forever. Selah
Notice:
What God did.
Handed down. God’s mighty acts in Exodus
We have even more reason to remember the past:
God’s mighty acts in Jesus – HE won, not us!
SO:
trusts in God
He boasts in God
He praises God – it is GOD who is his King, and his God!
Stop there???
Older might remember the Litany
And on its own – very important for our humility, our growth as believers
Ie. This Psalm and the pattern of this psalm shows us praise is the place to start.
In thinking about how to respond when awful things happen to God’s people – need to remember that God has acted and we can praise him for even greater things than what we may be experiencing or hearing about.
How are we to respond when awful things happen to God’s people?
PRAISE
We knew on Wednesday that the doctors were going to act to ensure delivery and from the moment we woke we were full of sorrow with uncertainty about what lay ahead. We prayed and read from the bible and were comforted by the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10.
2Co 4:6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
However . . .
NOTICE:
PRAISE not all
COMPLAINT
BUT!
9 But now you have rejected and humbled us;
you no longer go out with our armies.
10 You made us retreat before the enemy,
and our adversaries have plundered us.
11 You gave us up to be devoured like sheep
and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold your people for a pittance,
gaining nothing from their sale.
SOLD OUT – Betrayed!
13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads at us.
15 My disgrace is before me all day long,
and my face is covered with shame
16 at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,
because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.
SCORNED
Why? Serious sin?
Listen!
17 All this happened to us,
though we had not forgotten you
or been false to your covenant.
18 Our hearts had not turned back;
our feet had not strayed from your path.
19 But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals
and covered us over with deep darkness.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God have discovered it,
since he knows the secrets of the heart?
22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
NB :
We don’t know what’s happened –
Some terrible, unexpected slaughter,
Grieving widows and children and mothers and grandparents
A whole nation devastated with the loss of two generations of its manhood.
And they have done nothing wrong – they have trusted God!
FOR YOUR SAKE
Because of you!!!!!!!!
Yet – Romans 8
So they LAMENT to God. – no pretence, or denial
Can we?
That’s the model here!
To cry out in despair and lament and complain that God has brought this without any apparent cause!
To respond?
PRAISE – AND LAMENT
Yet
3. Prayer
BOLD Prayer:
23 Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
24 Why do you hide your face
and forget our misery and oppression?
25 We are brought down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.
26 Rise up and help us;
redeem us because of your unfailing love.
Sleeping?
Forgetful?
God to act?
Dear all,
Nathaniel Ghazal was born 30 April at 11:39pm. He was still born. It was a sad and short time we spent with him and we are glad that some family and friends were able to see him and spend some time with him. But we know that this was just really his earthly tent and that he has now been taken to his permanent heavenly building to be with the Lord forever. We are grateful to God that he has spared him from suffering in this world full of pain, tears and death, and also that he protected Ros during the delivery.
During the day we tried to memorise Psalm 62:5-8
Psalm 62:5-8 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I shall not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my honour depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.
We tested each other during the day and gained great comfort in the hope that God gives us knowing that God is both strong and loving and so will see us through all things until we reach our heavenly home reunited with Nathaniel as we look upon our Lord Jesus together. During the labour as a contraction was coming on Ros turned to me and asked me to repeat the memory verse to her. The midwife was present and I felt the pressure as my memory failed me. But Ros was able to fill in all the blanks, as she was breathing heavily through the contraction and we managed to say it from memory. She really was seeking to rest on God. I was very proud of her.
Answer?
NOT YET –
But the day is coming!
A prayer for the Coming
Return of the Lord Jesus
Romans 8 again
Praise
Lament
Prayer
[1]
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b Septuagint, Aquila and Syriac; Hebrew King, O God; | command
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ps 44:1-26
