May 4, 2015: Psalm 44

We encourage you to read this devotion three times a day.  Start in the morning and reflect upon the morning reflection question. Then in the afternoon, read it again and reflect using the noon question for reflection.  For the evening, take time to ponder how this has resonated with you in the day and reflecting using the evening question.  We offer a prayer with each devotion for you to pray or we invite you to pray what is in your heart.

 

Psalm 44

¹ We have heard with our ears, O God,
    our ancestors have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
    in the days of old:
² you with your own hand drove out the nations,
    but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
    but them you set free;
³ for not by their own sword did they win the land,
    nor did their own arm give them victory;
but your right hand, and your arm,
    and the light of your countenance,
    for you delighted in them.

⁴ You are my King and my God;
    you command^[a] victories for Jacob.
⁵ Through you we push down our foes;
    through your name we tread down our assailants.
⁶ For not in my bow do I trust,
    nor can my sword save me.
⁷ But you have saved us from our foes,
    and have put to confusion those who hate us.
⁸ In God we have boasted continually,
    and we will give thanks to your name forever.Selah

⁹ Yet you have rejected us and abased us,
    and have not gone out with our armies.
¹⁰ You made us turn back from the foe,
    and our enemies have gotten spoil.
¹¹ You have made us like sheep for slaughter,
    and have scattered us among the nations.
¹² You have sold your people for a trifle,
    demanding no high price for them.

¹³ You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
    the derision and scorn of those around us.
¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations,
    a laughingstock^[b] among the peoples.
¹⁵ All day long my disgrace is before me,
    and shame has covered my face
¹⁶ at the words of the taunters and revilers,
    at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷ All this has come upon us,
    yet we have not forgotten you,
    or been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our heart has not turned back,
    nor have our steps departed from your way,
¹⁹ yet you have broken us in the haunt of jackals,
    and covered us with deep darkness.

²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God,
    or spread out our hands to a strange god,
²¹ would not God discover this?
    For he knows the secrets of the heart.
²² Because of you we are being killed all day long,
    and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

²³ Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
    Awake, do not cast us off forever!
²⁴ Why do you hide your face?
    Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
²⁵ For we sink down to the dust;
    our bodies cling to the ground.
²⁶ Rise up, come to our help.
    Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.

Reflection:

The thing that really jump out at my about this Psalm today. It is ok to tell God what you think. When you are hurting and in pain it is ok to bring those feelings to God. The Psalmist felt abandoned and he told God. He told God of his fear, his pain, and his suffering. He came to God as he was that day, and we can too. There are going to be times in our lives when we struggle with doubt, have questions, feel abandoned, and gernerally are down. God knows this, understands and encourages to turn to God in those times. Jon Ortburg compared faith and doubt to the night and day. We can’t have daylight without night and we can’t have faith without moments of doubt or questions. But, in the end the sun always rises and daylight is restored. We may go through periods of night, but the sun will return. I believe our faith will be stronger than our doubts and we will overcome.

Reflection Questions

Morning:  what are you feeling about God today? Take some time and be honest

Midday: How have you see God at work today?

Evening: When have you had questions or doubts? How do you feel looking back at those times?