We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what You did in their days, in days long ago… But now You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go out with our armies. (Psalm 44:1, 9)
I’m always amazed when I think that the Israelites sang psalms like this one in worship. It is so different from the songs we typically sing today. I love the songs we sing today by the way…but there is something unique and honest about singing this psalm…
You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations.
You sold your people for a pittance, gaining nothing from their sale.
You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us.
Alleluia…Alleluia…
Well actually the Alleluia part is not in Psalm 44 but you get the picture. Can you imagine singing this song this Sunday?
Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse Yourself! Do not reject us forever.
Why do You hide Your face and forget our misery and oppression?
Quite a song. It makes me wonder… Are we missing some of the passion…some of the honesty…some of the struggle of faith in our Christian life today? Are we “too positive”?
I think the New Testament does give us a greater sense of hope and certainty than what the Old Testament believer had. The OT believer looked forward to God’s redemption and deliverance. We can look backwards to the cross. The OT believer saw God’s greatest act of love and power in the Exodus. We see it in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus we can echo with the apostle Paul (who quoted Psalm 44:22)…
As it is written, “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:36-39).
So we are in a different position today…a position of grace…with a greater reason to rejoice. But Psalm 44 is still instructive to us. It reminds us that the road of faith is not always easy. That sometimes hearing about God’s great works when you are suffering under the weight of present trials and turmoils is not always comforting. “Where are You now, God? I need Your help now not stories about what You did in the past.” And that God invites us to wrestle with Him, to pour out our hearts to Him, to call out to Him, Rise up and help us, redeem us becaues of Your unfailing love!
It could be that the struggle is part of the growth and that singing about it reminds us that we are all on the same difficult journey together. Only now we know for certain…because of Jesus…that nothing in the journey can separate us from God’s love.