Arise and Redeem Us! (2)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 44.9-11
But You have cast us off and put us to shame,
And You do not go out with our armies.
You make us turn back from the enemy,
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
You have given us up like sheep intended for food,
And have scattered us among the nations.

Sing Psalm 44.9-11, 23-26
(Faithfulness: Great is Thy Faithfulness)
Ah, but for now in dishonor we languish. Our armies quail while our enemies boast.
We are as spoil to our foes who despise us; God has forsaken those He loves the most.
Refrain vv. 23-26
Rise up, awake, O Lord! Hide not Your face from us,
See our affliction, our suffering and pain!
See how our soul is sunk down with oppression;
Rise up and help and redeem us we pray!

Read Psalm 44.9-16

Preparation
1. How would you describe the mood of this psalm? Which words in these verses lead you to think that?

2. What seems to be the occasion that prompted the writing of Psalm 44?

Meditation
We begin our contemplation of Psalm 44 in the middle, because here is where we find the occasion for the writing of this psalm. In Psalms 42 and 43 the sons of Korah were feeling downcast and disquieted because they considered that God had forgotten them. Here they are speaking on behalf of the whole nation. As God had cast out the pagan peoples of Canaan (v. 2), so now He had cast off His own people (v. 9). Why?

Several terms in these verses call us to slow down and think: put to shame (v. 9); turned back (v. 10); given up, scattered (v. 11); sold for nothing (v. 12); reproach, scorn, derision (v. 13); byword, a shaking of the head among the peoples (v. 14); dishonor, shame (v. 15); reproach and reviling (v. 16). Take a few moments and meditate on each of these. What feelings do you experience as you do? Would you want to continue feeling that way?

This is not what God intended for His people (cf. Deut. 4.5-8).

Something had gone wrong in Israel – or was about to. Keeping in mind that this psalm was probably composed when Solomon was king, it’s difficult to see how it fits those outwardly glorious times (cf. 1 Kgs. 10). Were the sons of Korah speaking prophetically here? Offering a psalm to use for a later time in Israel’s history?

Or did they, like Asaph, see something in the soul of the nation that caused them alarm?

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Cast off and ashamed. Sometimes this is caused by others. Sometimes it is self-inflicted.

A situation recorded in the book of Joshua illustrates the second cause. Before the victory at Jericho the people were told, “by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD; they shall come into the treasury of the LORD” (Josh. 6.18, 19).

So, of course, someone decided that God wasn’t serious about this, or perhaps didn’t really mean what He said – in the same slithery way the serpent said to Eve, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen. 3.1). Unbeknownst to the rest of the crowd, Achan “took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel” (Josh. 7.2).

And given their stunning victory at Jericho, the people got cocky and decided their next skirmish would be a simple one; so they sent just a few soldiers and were completely routed with the loss of 36 men. Not actually because they were cocky, but because there was sin in the camp.

God addressed this sin plainly: “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.” (Yes, God said “stuff”.) “Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you” (Josh. 7.11, 12).

These people were experiencing being cast off and ashamed, and it was self-inflicted. Could we be guilty of allowing our own disobedient souls to go there sometimes?

God didn’t like sin in the Old Testament, or the New Testament. And He still doesn’t like it: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal. 6.7). And the good news? “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Gal. 6.8). Obedience can also be self-inflicted.

Let’s contemplate that!

Reflection
1. Have you ever heard yourself saying in your soul, “Has God indeed said…?” What should you do at that moment?

2. Did you contemplate each of the terms we listed? What did you learn from that contemplation?

3. How can contemplation like this help to make us more inclined to obey God, and less inclined to sin against Him?

There is here described such a change as showed not only that God had ceased to exercise towards them his accustomed favor, but also, that he was openly adverse and hostile to his people. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on the Psalm 44.9

Closing Prayer: Psalm 44.12-16
As you pray these words, contemplate the state of the Church in our world today. Have we become a scorn, a derision, and a byword? Have we dishonored ourselves? Wait on the Lord in silence over these verses, praying slowly and contemplatively. Repent as the Lord leads.

Sing Psalm 44.12-16, 23-26
(Faithfulness: Great is Thy Faithfulness)
Sold into sin and reproached by our neighbors, You do not profit from our woeful state.
Shame and dishonor o’erwhelm and consume us; mocking and scorn for our sin is our fate.
Refrain vv. 23-26
Rise up, awake, O Lord! Hide not Your face from us,
See our affliction, our suffering and pain!
See how our soul is sunk down with oppression;
Rise up and help and redeem us we pray!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.