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.
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 I live in disgrace 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.
17 All this came upon us,
though we had not forgotten you;
we had not 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;
you 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.
23 Awake, 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;
rescue us because of your unfailing love.
_________
What jumped out to me from this passage is verse 22 , which is quoted by Paul in Romans 8:36. In fact, the connection between those two passages is what guided and led my thoughts this morning.
Parts of this Psalm is difficult. The psalmist feels as though God is unleashing undeserved suffering upon His people. He claims that they have done nothing wrong on the scale of the suffering that they are enduring. In today’s passage, the psalmist actually accuses God of sleeping on the job.
The attitude expressed in this psalm is very similar to that of Job. Like Job, the psalmist maintains that God is the direct cause of his suffering, and it’s not fair. But also, like Job, the psalmist is under the impression that any suffering he experiences has been directly and intentionally sent by God.
Have you ever felt that way? I have talked to quite a few during my ministry who have started down this road. “Why is God doing this to me? What have I done to deserve this?” This gets into the huge and difficult topic of why God allows suffering. This topic is much larger than can be adequately addressed in this devotion. But regarding this mystery I will say this: In a fallen world, we cannot attribute all bad things to God’s direct action. Sometimes it’s just the result of living in a fallen world. Sometimes it’s the result of the free choices of sinful people, including ourselves. Sometimes it’s the result of intentional action by the forces of spiritual evil. And sometimes, yes, it may be God’s direct action.
The point is that we do not know. But what the child of God does know is that His love is unfailing. The psalmist appeals to that unfailing love in verse 26. And this connects us again to Paul’s citation of this psalm in Romans 8. The point of that section (Romans 8:31-39) is that nothing can separate us from the unfailing love of Christ. Paul lists all kinds of calamities. These do not mean that God’s love has been withdrawn. On the contrary, we are comforted and strengthened as “more than conquerors” because we know that these hardships cannot overcome the love of God in Christ.
And so this is where today’s Psalm led me: I pray that in my suffering, whether from a migraine or something much much worse, that I am drawn not to despair and frustration with God, but rather to a firm reliance on His unfailing love. I pray for the faith to cling steadfastly to that love even when I see no evidence of it in the circumstances of my life. I am also praying for those that I know are going through times of hardship right now, that they too would be comforted and strengthened by God’s unfailing love in Christ.
NOTE:
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