Psalm 44

If you have a Bible with you then please turn with me to the 44th Psalm and follow with me as we reflect together on the Word of God.

One of the striking features of the book of Psalms is their unsettling honesty.

Many of the Psalms, as you will know, are straightforward songs of praise, of adoration, of thanksgiving and of petition.

Some Psalms are memorable, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Or Psalm 46, God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble.

Many of the Psalms, the Psalms probably that we know best, are Psalms that speak to us of the greatness of God, the goodness of God, the unfailing faithfulness of God, the promises of God, the kindnesses of God.

But some of the Psalms express perplexity, fears, anguish, discouragements and even hostility and anger to God himself.

In this 44th Psalm, we find one of God's servants expressing his bewilderment with God.

He cannot fathom God.

God seems bizarre to him.

Why are you sleeping, O Lord?

Verse 23, why do you hide your face?

Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?

God seems to have hidden himself and left his people at the mercy of their enemies who are God's enemies.

This is what puzzles the Psalmist.

And maybe that's where some of us are in our lives tonight.

You know what God has told you and told his church about himself in the Bible.

You know all about God's many great and precious promises.

But your experience contradicts your theology.

Your personal circumstances, your family circumstances or perhaps your church circumstances seem to mock God and his promises.

Where is God when you need him?

Now if that's not your experience tonight, or it's never been your experience,

and you're living in a fantasy world,

Psalms like this are inscripturated for us.

Not least to tell us that the believing life is not an even life.

The believing life, if I can use this metaphor,

the believing life is horticultural and not mechanical.

It doesn't proceed by even forward processes that are unhindered.

It's horticultural.

There are times of progress, but then there appears to be stagnation and even regression.

The cold, bitter winds of opposition form.

Life becomes hard.

And this is the reality here.

Life has become hard.

The experience of God's people contradicts their theology.

They would be the first to confess that the Lord is God.

That there is no other beside him.

That he is the living one.

From everlasting to everlasting, the Yahweh, the I am.

They would be the first to say the Lord is rich in mercy, slow to anger, abounding in covenant love.

They could confess it with their lips.

But their hearts and their lives are screaming.

But where are you?

Where are you?

Why are you sleeping?

Oh Lord.

What I want you to notice, just as we begin to consider the psalm as a whole,

is to notice that the psalmist's perplexity did not drive him to despair, but to prayer.

He brought his perplexity, his bewilderment, even his, and I think it might be true to say this,

his anger with God, he brought it to the Lord in prayer.

He didn't sublimate it.

He didn't pretend that all is well.

He didn't think, well, let me just place my circumstances to the side because this is the Lord.

He is deeply honest, unsettlingly honest with God, but he brings it to God in prayer.

And he unburdens his heart and soul before the Lord.

You have behind me and above me an outline of the psalm.

I thought it might be helpful.

I wasn't sure many of you would be overly familiar with the 44th psalm.

And hopefully that will be helpful as we think through.

Briefly touching on the first section and spending more time on verses 9 to the end, verse 26.

Notice, first of all, the spiritual continuity of genuine faith.

And this really is the first eight verses of the psalm.

Look how the psalm begins.

O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old.

And he begins to recite what the fathers had told their children of the mighty acts of God in history.

And he in particular is thinking, you'll notice from the language, about the mighty acts of God at the time of the Exodus.

And the planting of the people of God, God's covenant people, in the land of promise.

With your own hand you drove out the nation.

Remember the seven nations who occupied the land of promise.

But then, that is your people you planted.

You afflicted the peoples.

But then, your own people you set free.

For not by their own sword did they win the land.

Our fathers have told us this, that they didn't gain these victories by their own ingenuity, by their plans, and by their power, and by their might, and by their weaponry.

It was your right hand and your arm and the light of your face.

For you delighted in them.

Our fathers have told us.

You are my king, O God, ordained salvation for Jacob.

Through you we push down our foes.

Through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.

For not in my bow do I trust.

Nor can my sword save me.

But you have, in the past, saved us from our foes.

You have put to shame those who hate us.

In God we have boasted continually.

And if the psalm ended there, we go away happy.

But, verse 9 begins.

But notice just briefly the spiritual continuity of genuine faith.

Here is someone who is saying, Lord, I know you are great.

I know you are powerful.

I know you are the God who is for your people.

Our fathers have told us.

I love that phrase.

Years ago in Cambridge I was speaking to the children.

I would usually speak to them in the morning preparing them for the sermon.

I was speaking that Sunday morning on the inspiration and sufficiency of Holy Scripture.

And I said to the children, how do we know the Bible is the word of God?

Little Hannah Knight puts her hand up.

I said, Hannah, my daddy told me.

And everyone laughed.

Except me.

I said, that's a wonderful answer.

That's a glorious answer.

And then I said, but how did your daddy know?

What the writer is saying, Lord, the theology I have concerning you,

the truth I know about you, I have because of the faithfulness of our fathers.

He's highlighting the spiritual continuity of faith.

He's not speaking about borrowed faith.

He is speaking about the covenantal responsibility that fathers in particular have to tell their children about the Lord.

Their fathers told them.

Now church history can be a wonderful source of encouragement.

I think fathers and mothers should be telling their children,

let me tell you about what God has done throughout the ages after the close of the canon of Scripture.

How God raised up men like Irenaeus of Leon and Athanasius of Alexandria.

And then you've got Augustine of Hippo.

And you go right through the history.

Anselm of Canterbury.

You come to Luther and Calvin.

And then the Puritans and Jonathan Edwards and the mighty acts of God in the 19th century.

Charles Spurgeon and our children hear about what God hath wrought.

And our children discover that God is great.

That God is powerful.

That God is glorious.

That God is for his people.

But then comes a difficulty.

Daddy, you've told me all about what God did then.

1859, 1906 in Wales.

1948 in the island of Lewes.

But what about today?

What about now?

What about now?

And so after he highlights the covenantal continuity of faith,

the spiritual continuity of faith,

he comes to the heart of the psalm.

The first eight verses are not the psalmist expressing simply his evangelical credentials.

He is really saying,

Lord, I know there is none like unto you.

I know that.

Your mighty acts in history that my fathers, our fathers have told us of.

Shout that out.

But you have rejected us and disgraced us.

And so from verse 9 to 22,

he speaks about the inevitable perplexity of genuine faith.

He compares the past history with the present tragic state of God's people.

And what perplexes the psalmist,

what anguishes the psalmist,

you can't miss surely the anguish of the language of the psalmist,

is the contradiction between what God did then and what he is not doing now.

Where is God when you need him?

You cannot but be struck by the searing honesty of the psalmist.

Verse 10,

You have made us to turn back from the foe.

Verse 11,

You have made us like sheep for slaughter,

scattered us among the nations.

It's possible,

we're not told,

but it's possible that the psalm is written during the Babylonian captivity,

middle years of the 6th century before Christ.

You've sold your people for a trifle.

You've made us the taunt of our neighbours.

People look at us and laugh.

That's the church of God,

of Yahweh,

Yahweh,

the living one,

who is neither beginning of days nor end of life.

That bedraggled remnant

is the people of God.

You've made us a taunt to our neighbours,

derision and scorn for those around us.

We're filled with shame and disgrace,

saying,

You have made us a byword among the nations.

In other words,

there is public shame and humiliation

to belonging to the covenant people of God.

All day long,

my disgrace is before me.

Shame has covered my face

at the sound of the taunter and reviler,

at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

He is searingly honest with God.

He is acknowledging and recognising

the sovereignty of God.

He knows that God isn't a bit player.

He knows that God is not peripheral to history.

He knows that the hand that ultimately shapes,

determines and styles and progresses history

is the hand of the covenant God of Israel.

He knows that.

And it's that divine sovereignty

that leaves him gasping with anguish and bewilderment.

But that anguish and bewilderment

is inevitable.

It belongs to the very nature

of faith

in a fallen world.

because we are not God.

Because his ways are higher than our ways.

His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

Because we see through a glass darkly.

Because we see partially.

We can't even see around the corner.

Never mind what lies ahead

in the coming week.

Because we see only the reverse side

of the tapestry

with its tangled mints.

and not the side that God is seeing

weaving perfectly

his perfect design

and sovereign will

that is an inevitability

to perplexity

and anguish

in the life of faith.

We can't escape it.

We might want to escape it.

But we can't escape it.

We have to learn to live with it.

This is part of the tension

of being believers

in a yet fallen world

with yet

corruptible bodies

where sin

yet indwells us.

He's perplexed with God.

But he's honest

in his perplexity.

And it's accented

you notice in verse 17

all this has come upon us

though we've not forgotten you.

We've not been false

to your covenant.

Maybe you're thinking

ah he's overstating

the case here.

No he's not.

He's not saying

we're sinless.

He's saying

Lord

we've not forgotten you

but you seem

to have forgotten us.

We've not been false

to your covenant.

Again let me say

he's not saying

we're sinless.

He's saying

Lord

we have been true

to you.

That's why we can't

really understand

why all this

has happened.

Then in verses

23 to 26

we notice

the familial boldness

of genuine faith.

Awake.

Why are you sleeping

oh Lord?

Rouse yourself.

Do not

reject us

forever.

The first imperative

comes with a shock.

He's commanding God

to awake.

He's not saying

Lord

will you

please

come to me

and

help me

to perhaps

understand

why this has happened

and why you're doing

what you're doing

or not doing

what you're not doing.

He says

awake.

There are four

imperatives

four commands.

Awake.

Stop sleeping

on the job.

Rouse yourself.

Do not

reject us

forever.

That's the

familial boldness

of authentic

genuine faith.

remember in the

in the boat

our Lord Jesus

is crossing

Galilee

and a storm

breaks out

and

he's asleep

in the stern

of the boat

and the disciples

come

terrified

by the wind

and the wind

they were seasoned

fishermen

but they were

terrified

and they say

wake

Lord

do you not

care

that we're

in danger

of perishing?

You see

there are times

when it seems

as if God

has

gone away

and what

you have here

is this

familial

boldness

of genuine

faith.

You find the same

thing

in the book

of Habakkuk

Habakkuk 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

O Lord

how long

shall I cry

for help

and you will

not hear

or cry to you

violence

and you will

not save

why do you

make me see

iniquity?

Why do you

idly

look at

wrong?

Destruction

and violence

are before me

the law

is paralysed

justice

never goes

forth

the wicked

surround

the righteous

justice

has been

perverted

and you're

asleep

in the

job

you're idle

you're passive

you're inert

I wonder

if you've

ever

been

that bold

with God

maybe you're

thinking

well

this was

out of

place

this was

just a step

too far

this was

this was

really

not how

a creature

speaks to

the creator

this is

not how

a redeemed

forgiven

sinner

speaks to

the one

who at

infinite cost

has

redeemed

them

why do you

think it's

in the

Bible

in part

it's to

confront us

with the

anguished

nature of

genuine

faith

I think

sometimes

we still

believe

the lie

of the

serpent

that if

we were

really

men and

women of

faith

boys and

girls of

faith

we would

always be

trusting the

Lord

a smile

would always

be in our

faces

life with its

hardships we would

take in our

stride

difficulties would

come and we would

just sail through

them

people would

say how has

your week been

praise the

Lord

it's been

glorious

and you're

thinking

are you

serious

how kind

the Lord

is to

give us

psalms like

psalm 44

to show us

that even

the pen

men of

God

the pen

men of

God

those men

raised up

by God

to pen

the Holy

Scripture

could be so

searingly

honest

with God

awake

awake

why are you

sleeping

oh Lord

rouse

yourself

do not

reject us

forever

be real

with God

be honest

with the

Lord

but then

fourthly

and this

really is

the burden

of my

heart

this evening

notice the

supportive

theology

of genuine

faith

the psalmist

almost without

knowing it

gives two

clues

that first

help to

explain the

churches

and his

desperate

perplexity

and second

that help

believers

to stand

firm

and not

turn

back

number

one

notice

what he

says

in verse

22

yet

for your

sake

we are

killed

all the

day long

we are

regarded

as sheep

to be

slaughtered

now Paul

quotes those

words

you will

know that

in Romans

Romans 8:36

8 verse

36

in the

middle of

that

glorious

chapter

where he

expounds

for us

the

privileges

and blessings

that belong

to those

for whom

there is no

longer any

condemnation

because they

are in

Christ Jesus

he speaks

of the

blessed

ministry

of the

Holy Spirit

he speaks

of God's

electing

purpose

he speaks

of God

being for

his people

and not

against them

he speaks

of God

not sparing

his own

son

but delivering

him up

for us

all

how will

he not

then with

him freely

give us

all things

he speaks

of Christ

being at

the right

hand

of the

majesty

on high

interceding

for us

and then in

the midst

of that

he says

ah

let me

quote to

you these

words

he doesn't

say that

Psalm 44

yet for

your sake

we are

being killed

all the

day long

we are

regarded as

sheep to

be slaughtered

and when

you read

through

Romans chapter

Romans 8 · chapter mention

8

you are

struck by

this

surprising

turn

in the

flow

of

the

blessings

that the

apostle Paul

is expounding

and explicating

and you think

well why is it

there

why is it

there

it was there

to tell

these Christians

in Rome

that what

they were

suffering

was not

God's

punishment

but battle

scars

for the

saviour's

sake

and that's

what the

psalmist

doesn't yet

get in

the

the hinterland

of redemptive

history

he sees

but dimly

in

shadow lands

if you like

yet for

your sake

we are killed

all the

day long

why has all

this come

upon us

he's actually

told us

for your

sake

the church's

trials and

sufferings

were battle

scars

they were

not signs

of God's

anger

or punishment

they were

battle

scars

in the

cause

of the

kingdom

of God

in this

world

you see

the subtext

of Psalm

44

is

Genesis

3

what Paul

was speaking

to the

children

about

that

divinely

instituted

cosmic

conflict

between

the seed

of the

serpent

and the

seed

of women

now there

are times

of course

when the

trials of

the church

is the

result of

unbelief

and disobedience

and rebellion

and faithlessness

but there

are times

when it's

because

we are

standing

against the

world

the flesh

and the

devil

and all

hell

is being

let loose

upon us

I wonder

how many

people

looking at

Job

would have

concluded

this

there is

a righteous

godly

man

not many

I would

think

not many

when God

unites you

to his

son

he

initiates

you

in union

with him

into a

cosmic

conflict

and we

need to

reckon

with the

reality

of the

devil

our

warfare

is not

with flesh

and blood

ultimately

but with

principalities

and powers

with the

hosts of

wickedness

in the

heavenly

places

for your

sake

we're killed

all the

day long

you almost

feel the

Lord

would want

to pause

the psalmist

and say

do you

get it

do you

get it

even out

of your

own lips

why this

has come

upon you

you are

sharing

in an

anticipatory

prototypical

way

in the

sufferings

of your

saviour

the

promised

messiah

Jesus

Christ

but then

secondly

do you

notice

the

psalmist

ends

his

complaint

with a

confession

of faith

he finishes

the psalm

rise up

come to

our help

redeem us

for the

sake of

your

chesed

not latin

but hebrew

chesed

your covenant

love

your unfailing

pledged

in blood

covenant

love

where does

he ultimately

rest his

hope

in the

chesed

of yahweh

in the

covenant

love

and in the

covenant

faithfulness

of god

and what

those closing

words say

to us

is that

in the

deepest

extremities

of our

lives

personal

extremities

familial

extremities

congregational

extremities

we are to

rest the

weight of

all that

we are

on the

character

of god

and on

the grace

of god

as he has

pledged it

to us

in his

covenant

love

in jesus

christ

you see

this

ultimately

is the

triumph

of faith

not that

life is

easy

and sweet

and uncomplicated

and unhindered

and even

but that

we say

lord

in the

midst of

all the

perplexities

and bewilderments

and trials

and troubles

i want to

tell you

this

my hope

rests

on your

steadfast

love

on your

pledged

and promised

covenantal

secured

love

that's

where my

hope

rests

i can still

remember

the day

i think

i was about

23 years

of age

but i remember

the day

i was preparing

a bible study

for a

house group

in

falkirk

in central

scotland

i was a

student at

edinburgh

university

studying

theology

i'd been

asked to

go along

and the

passage

i'd been

given

was the

second half

of romans

Romans 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

and i have

a default

when i'm

preparing

john calvin

is my

default

calvin says

it must be

right

well i don't

mean that

but i always

go to

he's my

go to

and i

remember

yet

reading

these

words

calvin

is commenting

on the

faith

of

abraham

abraham

god

had

promised

abraham

a son

and an

heir

who would

be the

one

in whom

the covenant

promises

of god

would continue

but the

years

passed

no heir

or son

appeared

and paul

says

against

hope

abraham

believed

in hope

he trusted

god

and then

calvin

wrote

these

words

thinking of

abraham

as the

years

passed

when his

circumstances

seemed to

contradict

god's

promise

calvin

wrote

all things

around us

are in

opposition

to the

promises

of god

he promises

immortality

we're

surrounded

with

mortality

and corruption

he declares

that he

counts as

just

we're

covered

with

sins

he

testifies

that he

is

propitious

and kind

to us

outward

judgments

threaten

his wrath

what

then

is to

be done

calvin

asks

we

must

with

closed

eyes

pass

by

ourselves

and

all

things

connected

with

us

that

nothing

may

hinder

or

prevent

us

from

believing

that

god

is

true

!

I've

never

forgotten

those

words

they

were

electric

to me

when I

first

read

them

you know

what he's

simply

saying

not

bury

your

head

in the

sand

but

he's

saying

when

your

circumstances

seem

to

mock

god

and

his

promises

place

them

alongside

who

god

is

you

see

that's

what

our

lord

jesus

christ

did

when

he

endured

the

desolation

and

curse

of

the

cross

he

is

the

prototypical

man

of

faith

and

yet

perfect

man

of

faith

as

he

was

his

life

was

engulfed

with

darkness

he

is

the

one

ultimately

that

Isaiah

Isaiah 50:10

50

verse

10

points

to

when

it

says

that

when

we

walk

in

darkness

and

have

no

light

I

don't

know

what

that

means

I

occasionally

know

what it

is to

walk

in

darkness

but

to

have

no

light

no

pinprick

of

light

I

remember

a friend

of mine

once

saying

to me

he

envied

the

lampposts

of

Glasgow

because

they

had

light

he

felt

darkness

just

shrouded

him

and

it

was

for

our

saviour

darkness

enshrouded

him

engulfed

!

And

he

said

why

why

why

have

you

forsaken

me

but

he

said

more

than

that

didn't

he

he

said

my

God

my

God

why

have

you

forsaken

me

the

sense

of the

fatherhood

of God

had been

eclipsed

but not

the

personal

pronoun

was it

Martin

Luther

who

said

genuine

Christianity

is all

about

personal

pronouns

you

see

you

and I

have a

saviour

who

knows

by

personal

experience

spiritual

darkness

we

have a

saviour

who

knows

from

experience

the

deep

sense

of the

absence

of the

presence

of God

we

have a

saviour

for whom

all the

lights

went out

there

wasn't

a

pinprick

of

comfort

in

the

cosmos

not

a

pinprick

but I

want to

say

this

even

as

the

face

of the

father

of

Jesus

Christ

was

hidden

from

him

even

as

the

righteous

wrath

of

God

was

being

poured

out

upon

him

I

have

little

doubt

that

the

father

was

saying

to

the

hosts

of

heaven

and to

his

son

if

ever

I

loved

thee

my

Jesus

tis

now

for

even

in the

cross

as the

darkness

engulfed him

he

never

never

let

go

the

my

my

God

if

ever

I

love

thee

my

Jesus

tis

now

the

life of

faith

in

Jesus

Christ

is a

life

of

perplexity

sometimes

the

perplexities

are

few

and

slight

sometimes

they

are

many

and

engulfing

and

the

psalm

ends

with

no

answer

did

you

notice

that

there's

no

quick

fix

at

the

end

oh

let

me

tell

you

psalmist

let

me

tell

you

actually

I'm

about

this

and

I'm

about

that

you

get

that

in

the

book

of

Habakkuk

in a

sense

where

the

prophet

begins

!

by

saying

Lord

rouse

yourself

wake

up

why

have you

deserted

us

and forgotten

us

and the

Lord

somewhat

explains

his ways

with his

servant

but not

here

not

here

sometimes

there are

no answers

this side

of glory

sometimes

we'll have

to wait

for the

answers

but we

wait

in faith

maybe

with many

tears

maybe

with

Satan

subtly

!

insinuating

into our

minds and

hearts

curse

God

and die

do you

think he

cares

look

what's

happened

to you

look

at your

hopes

that are

smashed

curse

God

and die

just

forget

him

Lord

redeem

us

according

to your

covenant

love

that's

where faith

places its

anchor

you see

the great

thing about

faith is

not its

quality

but its

object

the reformers

were always

using two

little words

to highlight

what true

faith is

extra

nos

you better

laugh

to finish

it's

outside

of ourselves

the glory

of faith

is not

its

quality

because

the quality

of faith

rises

it falls

it comes

and it

goes

one day

you could

climb a

mountain

and leap

a wall

and the next

day you can

hardly get

out of bed

but the glory

of faith

is not

its quality

but its

object

Jesus

Christ

who knows

what darkness

is

and who is

at the right

hand of God

interceding

forms

so

be of

good cheer

be of

good cheer

God

loves you

he will

never

deserve

you

you may

yet

have to

die

many

deaths

!

please God

they will

all be

for Jesus

sake

let us

pray

father we

bless you

tonight

that our

salvation

even our

very lives

is hid

with Christ

in God

we thank you

Lord

that

troubles

may disturb

us

harm us

hurt us

even at

times

overwhelm

us

that they

can never

separate us

from your

love

we want

to be

better than

we are

we want

to trust

you

Lord

even in

our

tears

because you

are the

God who

spared not

your only

son

but delivered

him up

for us

all

bless this

congregation

for good

Lord

enrich their

life

together

bless above

and beyond

all

his

and the

congregations

asking

Paul's

ministry

may those

who serve

and labour

with him

do so

in humility

in concord

bless this

congregation

Lord

enrich it

with your

presence

and the

empowering

ministry of

the Holy

Spirit

and we

ask it in

our

Savior

Jesus

Christ

name

Amen