Bible Study - Psalm 44

Today we look at another psalm of the Old Testament, Psalm 44.
Psalm 44 is one of those psalms that is never used in the Lectionary (the assigned readings)  for the 3 year or 1 year series of readings that we use in our worship services. Yet it talks about an issue that we still struggle with today, at times, and is worth studying, as is every other part of Scripture.

Psalm 44 was written by “the sons of Korah” - who are identified in 1 Chronicles 6:22, 31 and 2 Chronicles 20:19, 21, as famous singers in the house of the Lord. The psalm begins as the psalmists remember what their forefathers had taught them about how God had “freed” them from slavery and “planted them” in the promised land (Psalm 44:1-2). (See also Exodus 15:17. Note the emphasis also on the children being taught by their parents, and fathers especially teaching and answering questions of their sons and grandsons in future generations. See also passages like Exodus 10:2, 12:24, 13:8, and Proverbs 1:8ff. Such teaching and hearing are very much needed, still today, along with what we learn in school and church and Sunday School.).                                                            

Israel’s enemies were also defeated, and this was done not by the “sword” and the “arm“ of the Israelites, but by the “right hand” and “arm” of God Himself, as “the light of His face” shone on them (Numbers 6:24-26) and He “delighted” in them (Psalm 44:3). The psalmist also knows that God is his “King,” and that “foes are pushed down“ only “through God’s Name,” not by Israel’s ”bows” and “swords” (Psalm 44:4-6). (See also Exodus 3:14-15 and Psalm 20:7.) The psalmists therefore “boast in God continually,” and “give thanks to His Name, forever” (Psalm 44:8).

And yet, in v.4, the psalmist also asks, in a way that is called an imperative - a strong wish, almost a command: “Ordain salvation for Jacob,” save Your people, the sons of Jacob!  Why would the sons of Korah ask for this? They knew God’s help in the past, but now they were not sure they were seeing it in the present time. Read on in Psalm 44:9-16. We don’t know the exact situation or circumstances when these verses were written, but it seemed as if God had now “rejected and disgraced” His people (v.9). “Foes” were defeating and “scattering them among the nations” (v.10-11). God’s people seemed unimportant and not valuable to Him (v.12). Others were “taunting” and “reviling” and “shaming” God’s people (v.13-16). It was as if God had forgotten about them, they thought.

They couldn’t figure this out because they felt that they had “not forgotten God” or been “false” to Him or “departed from His ways” (v.17-18). If they had forgotten God or worshiped false gods, God would have known, “for He knows the secrets of the heart”
(v.20-21). But they knew better about themselves, they thought. God was “asleep” and needed to “wake up” (v.23). He was “hiding His face now from His people, and they were feeling very “beaten down” in their lives (v.24-25).

Have you ever felt this way? You trust God and yet everything seems to be going wrong. God seems far away from you and your problems, even when you cry out to Him. You pray: “Rise up, O God; come to our help!” (v.26) And you still don’t seem to find answers.

Finally, the sons of Korah just had to trust God and His ways, though they did not understand His plans. They knew God had loved them with a “steadfast love” and that He would still “redeem” them in His own way and time, if they would wait upon Him. The sons of Korah also wrote psalms like Psalm 42, which said, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God” (Psalm 42:5,11).

They wrote Psalms 45-49, including Psalm 46, from which Martin Luther wrote his great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” And they wrote Psalms 84-85 and 87-88, which said, “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you” (Psalm 84:12). The sons of Korah did make it through, in faith, by God’s grace. And we can, too.

In fact, Paul, inspired by God, quotes from Psalm 44  in a great chapter of comfort and hope for New Testament Christians in Romans 8. He quotes Psalm 44:22, where the sons of Korah and fellow Israelites felt they were “being killed all the day long, like sheep to be slaughtered” (Romans 8:36). Paul applied those words to Christian people who have many troubles and challenges in life and can even be persecuted on account of being followers of Christ and His Word. He reminds us that the sufferings of this life are not worth comparing with the joys and glories of heaven (Romans 8:18). He also reminds us that even when we are overwhelmed and don’t know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and prays on our behalf to help us follow God’s will (Romans 8:26-27).

Paul also reminds us that whether we can see it or not, “for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). We may never find all the answers we want, but we trust God’s mercy and promises, shown us most clearly in Jesus and His saving work and His willingness to die for us.

And Paul reminds us that Jesus our Savior, as our risen Lord, is interceding for us, and that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, even if we face “tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword… or anything else… ”(Romans 8:34-39). The answers and the hope are all in Jesus. This is true even if we or the sons of Korah or anyone else is not quite as good as he or she pretends to be, as we will hear in next week’s psalm, Psalm 38, another psalm of David. The Lord’s continued blessings and strength, whatever you are going through, too. See His love for you, too, in spite of your challenges.