Psalm 44

Introduction

And about you be turning your Bibles this morning to the 44th Psalm. Psalm 44. It is, first of all, good to see so many who are out this morning. I was a little worried, and as Brother Ralph made mention of several of our own being out of town this week. In fact, he said a good number, and that in itself is an understatement. In fact, if you’ll look around, we don’t have a single one of our deacons in town this weekend. All six are gone. And so that just kind of tells you when you think of our deacons and their families, we’ve got a sizable portion of our congregation gone. Of course, that’s bad for me because that eliminates one of my go-to lines when people ask me about something.

I will say, well, go ask a deacon. Well, who am I going to ask today? And so I might be in a little trouble. So if I head out very quickly after service this morning so I conduct those questions, you’ll understand. Psalm 44 was one of the psalms from our reading this past week. And I’ll go ahead and draw your attention to verse 22 of Psalm 44. And if it’s familiar to you, well, it’s because you’ve already heard it once this morning. But for your sake, we are killed all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. Our brother Justin Kozak read for us this morning from Romans chapter 8. And you’ll note that that Psalm, verse 22 of Psalm 44, is quoted in Romans chapter 8 and verse 36.

And so Paul is alluding back to this phrase, this psalm, and that we’re going to talk about this morning. For those who are visiting with us, what we have been doing typically, as I have opportunity to preach the 9 o’clock hour on Sundays, is we look at one of the Psalms of which we have read in our daily Bible reading this past week. And of course, there’s ample material there. There’s wonderful material there. And I hope that today’s Psalm will be meaningful to you. It’s been meaningful to me. The heading of Psalm 44 simply states that it’s for the choir director, a maskell of the sons of Korah. Now, what we know of the sons of Korah is that this is certainly one of those Levitical pro Levitical tribes, and the sons of Korah, it seemed, had to do with the choir, the singing that would happen within the temple service was one of their particular duties.

But we’re not given a time setting, and this, of course, being the sons of Korah, and Korah being a family of the Levites. This could have happened anytime in Israelite history. But it’s thought that the sons of Korah were those who probably accompanied David in his life. And that many of the songs, Psalms of the sons of Korah are actually things are alluding to things that would have occurred in the life of David. And so that may give us a little indication of some of what’s happening here. It’s interesting as we read through Psalm 44, you’ll notice that the speaker changes from the plural to the singular and back and forth. And so it seems that in Psalm 44 we have the people speaking, but we also have an individual, perhaps the king, perhaps David speaking, and this is of course related to us through the sons of Korah.

1. God Gave the Victories in the Past

The Psalm begins on a very positive note. I want to go ahead and read verses 1 through 8. Oh God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us the work that you did in their days in the days of old. You with your own hand drove out the nations, then you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, then you spread them abroad. For by their own sword they did not possess the land, and their own arm did not save them. But your right hand and your arm and the light of your presence, for you favored them. Of course, we read that, and our mind instantly goes back, of course, to the Exodus out of Egypt. And God delivering his people out of Egypt, and then God also fighting their battles as they go into the land of Canaan, and they take possession of the land that God had promised.

And of course, when we think of those events, we think of individuals like Moses, we think of Joshua as he led the people of Israel into Canaan. But the Psalmist rightfully ascribes those victories to God. Throughout, you may see it is your hand who drove out the nations. You planted, you spread, your right hand, your arm, your presence, you favored. This is all being ascribed and credited to God. Continues on in verse 4. Now we have the singular. Now it’s the king who is speaking. You are my king, O God. Command victories for Jacob. Through you we will push back our adversaries. Through your name we will trample down those who rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, nor will my sword save me.

But you have saved us from our adversaries, and you have put to shame those who hate us, and God we have boasted all day long, and we will give thanks to your name forever. And so we we build off of those past victories. We build off of what God has done in the past, and now the king can with assurance say, You will continue to give us victory. And we think of this as David. And David, this mighty warrior. But if David’s David saying, I will not trust in my bow, nor will my sword save me. Only God, the God who delivered his people out of Egypt, the God who gave them the land, only God can now assure the people of victory. And so if we just left there, what a wonderful psalm of comfort and hope.

A psalm of assurance, because our God has acted in the past, and we have assurance that our God will continue to act. But then you come to verse nine. And things are not well.

2. The Defeats Are Also Ascribed to God

You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those around us. You make us a byword among the nations, a laughing stock among the peoples. All day long my dishonor is before me, and my humiliation has overwhelmed me because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger. You see there again, it is plural, the people speaking, and also the king speaking. Both have suffered defeat, as the king says, and so now I am dishonored. And it’s an interesting parallel, if you’ll note, whereas in verses 1 through 8, all these wonderful things are ascribed to God. Now in verses 9 through 17, all of these tragedies, all of these defeats, they too are ascribed to God.

You have sold us. You have not gone out with our armies. We are defeated because of you.

And in an instance where this psalm could apply, there may be one historical setting going back to, I believe it’s 2 Samuel chapter 8, and something that’s alluded to in 1 Kings chapter 15, or sorry, chapter 11 and verse 15, where David is fighting a battle on two fronts. He is fighting the Syrians to the north, the Arameans, and he’s fighting the Edomites in the south. And in the particular passage in 1 Kings 11, it’s made mention of how Joab has to bury the dead in secret. And so maybe during this time of battle, as David is fighting the Edomites in the south and the Arameans in the north, and he certainly will be victorious. God will give them the victory ultimately, and yet there has been a defeat.

That may be the historical context, but we cannot be certain. But coming back to the Psalm, we are defeated. Our armies are routed. What has happened? Now, typically in anyone who studied the Old Testament, we would associate defeat with unfaithfulness. We would say that when Israel goes out to war, and when Israel suffers defeat, it’s because Israel has been unfaithful. We go back to those passages of the covenant, in particular passages like Deuteronomy chapter 28, where you have beginning in verse 16 and going through the end of the chapter, all of those curses that would follow if they were unfaithful to the covenant of God. And of course, many of those curses had to do with defeat, captivity, oppression, shame. And so our mind went instantly go to, okay, yes, God has been faithful.

3. For Your Sake We Are Killed All Day Long

God has done exactly what he said he was going to do, and now, because of Israel being unfaithful, they’re being defeated. Which brings us to the great shock of the Psalm. Verse 17. All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten you. And we have not dealt falsely with your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, and our steps have not deviated from your way. Yet you have crushed us in a place of jackals and covered us with a shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God or extended our hands to a strange God, would not God find this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart. And here comes our main text. But for your sake, we are killed all day long.

We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. If we were just to read verse 22, or even if we were just to read Romans chapter 8 and verse 36, and we read that for your sake, we are killed all the day long. Our mind would probably go to the fact that, well, it’s because we are faithful to God. It’s because we belong to God, and so this persecution has come about us, and so it’s because of our allegiance to God that we are killed all the day long. That’s not what the psalmist is saying. The psalmist is saying, we are killed because it’s your will. It is you who have allowed this to happen to us. We have not transgressed your covenant. We have been faithful.

Now, certainly we understand that even in the best of times, is there absolute 100 faithfulness on the part of the people? Even a man like David whose heart was after God’s own heart, we know of his unfaithfulness. And yet the psalmist recognizes here that I’m not putting on a show, I’m not acting like I’m faithful, because I recognize God, you search hearts. So even if I say I am faithful, you know really if I’m faithful or not. But we as a people, God, we’re coming before you as those who have not forsaken your covenant, and yet here we are. We’re slain. We’re defeated. And this is for your sake. Your sake that we are killed all day long. It’s for your sake that we are like sheep led to be slaughtered.

It’s a perplexing psalm. And it’s a psalm that does not come back with a concrete answer. God does not reply. God does not say, here is why this is occurring. He does not come back and give assurance to David and the people. Oh, yes, don’t worry. I’m going to be with you. And yet there is a sense of assurance nonetheless. Because as we turn now to verses 23 through 26, the Psalm ends with a prayer. Arouse yourself. Why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake. Do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our affliction and our oppression? For our soul has sunk down to the dust, our body cleaves to the earth. Rise up, be our help, and redeem us for the sake of your loving kindness.

The last word of the psalm is significant. Because it is that loving kindness, it is that faithfulness of God that God ascribes to himself in his covenant relationships with man. When God entered into a covenant with Israel, it was due to his loving kindness. When God preserved that covenant, when God blessed Israel, it was because of God’s loving kindness. And so now the people and the king, they are coming back to God and they are saying, please awake, be aware of our situation, deliver us. And we are not praying this based on our own merit, our own worth. We are praying, God, do this for the sake of your own loving kindness.

4. Why Do Good People Suffer So Much?

It is a psalm that deals with the question that besets us every day why do good people suffer so much. Now, granted, we could turn on the TV evangelist today, and we could get this false message of just be faithful, pray a little more, give a little more, and God’s gonna make sure everything works out okay. But the sad thing is, it’s not just the television evangelists who buy that. We ourselves, and when we go through difficult times, when we go through experiences, that we wonder, why would God allow this to happen to us? It is in our own mind that we have given this idea that if I am faithful to God, then God is going to make sure everything works out okay. And therefore, if I’m suffering, and if I’m experiencing bad things in my life, then there must be something about my faithfulness.

But then we get angry, perhaps even with God because we go back and we wonder, what did I do wrong? I haven’t been unfaithful. Granted, I recognize that I’m not perfect, but I’ve been trying to follow God, and I’ve been trying to do his will. And yet it’s more harder and harder every day. What am I doing wrong? Why, oh God, are you allowing this to happen to us? And if we’ll all be honest to ourselves, there are times in our lives when probably all of us have wondered that. Why is this happening? That’s the question that the Psalm is seeking to find an answer for. Now, if you would go over in your New Testament to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, of course, is a wonderful passage.

And I’ll not take time this morning to go back and read all of Romans chapter 8, but just to give a little bit of a context to what Paul writes there in verse 36. Go back and read verses 16 and 17 with me. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children heirs also, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. There’s the rub. Here we are, we are children of God. We are heirs of Christ. And we will be glorified with him, but we must also suffer with him. I’m going to skip down a little bit. Because within this passage, there are many of the things that the psalmist was describing.

Here we have this overwhelming assurance and comfort of the God whom we serve and what the God whom we serve does for his people. In verses 28 through 30, we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose, and those who he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom he predestined, he also called, and these whom he called, he also justified, and these whom he justified, he also glorified. What’s the point that Paul is making? Our God has done this for us. Now, certainly he’s not eliminating human agency in this. He’s not eliminating faithfulness on our part, but he’s talking about our process from being to a sinner to now becoming a child of God has all occurred because of who God is and what God has done.

And it’s much the same argument that the Psalm is making. Our God delivered our people out of Egypt. He gave us this land, and now we have assurance that our God will continue to be with us. That’s the argument that Paul is making. Here is what our God has done. He saved us, he justified us, and he’ll glorify us. But we have this matter of what Christians at that time were experiencing. Verse 35. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Well, tribulation or distress, or persecution or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. Just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. Why does Paul mention all of those things if they were not things that Christians were experiencing?

Why mention the tribulation and the distress and the persecution and the famine and the nakedness and the peril and the sword. Why mention all those things to his readers that those are not real things that the Christians of that day were going to experience. Just as the psalmist could say, here is what we have experienced. You, O God, did not go with us. You did not go with our armies. You defeated us. You sold us into slavery. And so when Paul says in verse 36, for your sake we are being put to death all day long, we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. He is not simply saying, It is because of our allegiance to Christ that this is happening. He is also saying, God, you have allowed it.

5. The World Is in Rebellion Against God

For your sake, we are being put to death. For your sake, we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. Now here comes a question we must grapple with. Why? What is the answer? I think the Psalms may provide part of the answer. We think back to Psalm 2 and in verse 2, that wonderful psalm about the anointed. And yet, what are the nations doing? The nations are raging against the Lord and his anointed one. And so maybe even there we have this setting of faithful people living in a context in a time where there is this struggle between good and evil. There is a struggle between Almighty God and yet the powers of the world. And if you want to talk about Satan and the powers of darkness, and of course in the control of the nations, they are arrayed against God.

And who’s caught in the middle? Well, God’s people. And so maybe that could be a part of the answer to Psalm 44. Yes, they have been defeated. Yes, God allowed it to happen. Yes, God did not go and win the victory for them on that day. But what would it tell them? It would remind them, perhaps. Here is the setting in which we live. Here is the world in which we live. The nations rage against God and his anointed one. And so God’s people are going to suffer because the world has turned itself against God. I think Paul alludes to that. You go back again to verse 33 of the same chapter, Romans chapter 8. Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.

That idea of one who brings a charge implies that there is someone who has authority on this earth. Someone who might be bringing charges against God’s elect. And yet the point of Paul is making, of course, is, well, ultimately God is the one who’s going to justify. But then he says in verse 34, who is he who condemns? Again, implying that there is someone with authority on this earth who would try to condemn those who are following Christ. But the point being, of course, that they ultimately cannot condemn you. Because it is Christ Jesus, who has died, yes, rather, who was raised, is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. There’s illusion also in verse 38 when it talks about those things that could not separate us from the love of God, when he talks about principalities, powers, things present, things to come.

Perhaps that’s a part of the answer. That as we suffer, and we wonder even in our own lives, why does it seem like it’s becoming harder and harder and harder to be a faithful Christian in the world in which we live today? Why does it seem like persecution and tribulation are increasing all the time if we serve this great God who has justified us and who will glorify us in the end? Why is this happening? Because this is the world in which you live. God is overall, yes. God is in control, yes. But the world is in rebellion. And these powers of darkness are arrayed against him. And his people have suffered, and his people will suffer as a result of that. Which then brings us to the second and perhaps ultimate reason or answer to the question of why.

6. God Wants Us Stronger in Faith: I Am Convinced

Why would God allow so much? And perhaps the answer is because God wants us to be stronger in faith than we are now. If you’ll recall again, that is what the people of Israel in Psalm 44 ultimately had to come to. They cried out to God, asked him to arouse himself, to wake up, to see their danger. And ultimately they said, Redeem us for the sake of your own loving kindness. When you read the concluding verses of Romans chapter 8, it’s the same idea. But in these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. And I’m going to pay particular emphasis, attention to a phrase in verse 38. For I am convinced. What does that mean? I am convinced that this was Paul’s faith. He doesn’t say in this case, not that I’m not discrediting inspiration here at all, but he doesn’t say the Lord God told me this or God revealed this to me.

He says, I am convinced.

And yet he knows who God is. He knows what God has done and what God has promised he will do. And so Paul says, I am convinced. That in itself is a statement of faith. I believe this is what is true. It’s not a blind faith. It’s a faith that’s convinced because of who he knows God to be and how God has acted in times past. And so he says, I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creative thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And there’s your answer. Why are we why, for his name’s sake, are we slaughtered?

Conclusion

Perhaps so that we can be convinced. That if things were just perfect in this life, if there were never the struggles and the trials and the persecution, and the experience of the forces who are rayed against God, then how strong would our faith be? But perhaps it’s in those times when it seems like Satan has become oh so strong, and the world is becoming darker and darker and darker. And God’s people suffer. And yet we think of who our God is, and we think of what our God has done, and we think of what our God has promised, and that we can come back with Paul and say, I am convinced that none of these things, none of these things can possibly separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Would you pray with me at this time?

Our Father, we come before you this day. And we, Father, do recognize and acknowledge just how great and powerful you are. Father, we acknowledge what you have done for us. Father, even as our brother and the Apostle Paul wrote of what you have done for your people. That Father, you do, in fact, cause all things to work together for good to those who love you, to those who are calling according to his purpose. For Father, those whom you foreknew you have predestined to become conformed to the image of your Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And so, Father, as you have called those who are in your Son, you have called us to be justified. And those whom you have justified, Father, we believe that you will ultimately glorify us with your Son.

But Father, as we note the things that occur in this world, the trials and the tribulations, and so maybe, Father, even we may ponder and wonder with both the psalmist and the apostle, that for your sake we are put to death all day long, and we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. So, Father, we would pray that our faith would grow, that we would have the faith of those who lived long ago, who would call upon your loving kindness with the assurance that, yes, Father, you will deliver, and that we would be convinced too, that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from your love, which is in your Son.

And it’s in his name that we pray. Amen.