A Sweet Past, a Sour Present…Why Lord? – Ps 44

This psalm is so abrupt.  It starts out so warm and friendly.  The sons of Korah are recalling the days of old when God did his mighty miracles to settle Israel in the land.  The stories from old had been passed down to them and they were recalling them.  It’s so good because the stories give honor to God and not the might of men:

“For they did not take the land by their sword–their arm did not bring them victory–but by Your right hand, You arm and the light of  Your face, for You were pleased with them” (Ps 44:3).

History often twists facts to make men bigger than the story.  But Israel was faithful in passing down the stories in a way that did not highlight their military conquests but rather God’s power.

And as this psalm sweetly remembers all the wonderful things God did for the generations past.  It abruptly changes.  And I mean abruptly (Ps 44:9-14).

But You have rejected and humiliated us;
You do not march out with our armies.
 You make us retreat from the foe,
and those who hate us
have taken plunder for themselves.
¹You hand us over to be eaten like sheep
and scatter us among the nations.
You sell Your people for nothing;
You make no profit from selling them.
You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors,
a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us.
 You make us a joke among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.

Now if the Israelites had been walking in sin, it would have been understandable.  But they feel like they haven’t (Ps 44:17-22):

All this has happened to us,
but we have not forgotten You
or betrayed Your covenant.
 Our hearts have not turned back;
our steps have not strayed from Your path.
¹But You have crushed us in a haunt of jackals
and have covered us with deepest darkness.
If we had forgotten the name of our God
and spread out our hands to a foreign god,
wouldn’t God have found this out,
since He knows the secrets of the heart?
²² Because of You we are slain all day long;
we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.

Then the psalmists pray (Ps 44:23-26):

Wake up, Lord! Why are You sleeping?
Get up! Don’t reject us forever!
Why do You hide Yourself
and forget our affliction and oppression?
For we have sunk down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.
Rise up! Help us!
Redeem us because of Your faithful love.

And there at the end, just like we have seen in so many psalms of David and now from the sons of Korah, there is a remembrance of the goodness of God:

Redeem us because of Your faithful love.

They still remember the character of God even when the feel like they have done nothing wrong but are suffering anyway.  Their faith is still in Him.

With this I am reminded that we truly believe about God is not proven when times are good, but when times are not and it seems like God is somehow absent (even when he isn’t).