Psalm 44
A Psalm of the Sons of Korah
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A Psalm about Confusing Times
A Psalm about Hard Times
A Psalm about the Righteous Suffering
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"Why God?"
"I don't understand."
A Psalm of Questions
A Psalm of Emotions
The raw emotions and distressing thoughts
begin in
verse 9.
Starting with that verse,
the sons of Korah
express their
frustration
because even though the Jews are following God,
they are experiencing defeat.
The
Sons of Korah
begin this psalm
with
wholehearted praise and worship to God.
Verses 1-3
Praises for past victories of the Jewish people.
Verses 4-8
Praises for future victories of the Jewish people.
Verses 4-8 are rooted in faith and trust in God.
Verses 1 - 8
are beautiful and inspiring.
The Sons of Korah
are showing forth
their dedication to God and respect for God.
The song below
sings the first 8 verses of this psalm.
Next, we read
Verse 9,
and the mood
changes.
~ ~ ~
Beginning in verse 9,
the Sons of Korah begin to think about
and dwell on
their Present Problems.
Their
Current
Situation
is Full of Trouble.
I understand the sudden change.
I myself have been
in difficult and confusing situations,
where I was praising God and
feeling uplifted and strong.
Then
suddenly,
thoughts of my challenges pulled me down into despair.
-
At such a time,
I have been praising God and speaking Scriptures
and
all of a sudden,
some disturbing thoughts
about my current situation
overwhelmed my mind.
All of a sudden,
my emotions began to free fall.
The disturbing thoughts
began to expand.
I was emotionally sinking.
In Psalm 44
verses 9-22,
the sons of Korah
talk of
their
current situation.
At verse 9,
the psalm turns to
upsetting thoughts and emotions.
New King James Version
But You have cast us off and put us to shame,
And You do not go out with our armies.
10 You make us turn back from the enemy,
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
11 You have given us up like sheep intended for food,
And have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell Your people for next to nothing,
And are not enriched by selling them.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scorn and a derision to those all around us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations,
A shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 My dishonor is continually before me,
And the shame of my face has covered me,
16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
Because of the enemy and the avenger.
The next verses let us (the readers) know
that
these people have not abandoned God.
They do not have
unrepentant sins.
This does not mean they never sin.
It does mean that
they are working to
better and better
obey God.
They are practicing righteousness.
As 1 John 2:29 says,
If you know that HE is righteous,
you know that
everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
And
1 John 3:10 says,
In this
the children of God and the children of the devil
are manifest:
Whoever does not practice righteousness
is not of God
nor is he who does not love his brother.
Psalm 44
verses 17-19
say,
All this has come upon us;
But we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
Nor have our steps departed from Your way;
19 But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals,
And covered us with the shadow of death.
In Deuteronomy 28, Moses was instructed by God to tell the people that...
God will give blessings if they obey him.
God will give cursings if they disobey him.
Deuteronomy 28
is still true for them during the days of the sons of Korah.
Yet,
just like in the book of Job,
we all suffer at times.
Sometimes we suffer when we have done nothing wrong.
Our suffering can be very confusing.
We need to teach these truths to believers today.
Many people turn away from God during suffering.
Many people make
slippery slope
decisions
during suffering.
Near the bottom of the page
- the next to last section -
there are tips for dealing with times of
Suffering.
Also see our
In some psalms such as Psalm 74 and Psalm 79,
the Jewish people were being punished
for their unrepentant sins and attitudes.
-
In this psalm,
the people are faithful to God.
If we had forgotten the name of our God,
Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god,
21 Would not God search this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
Obvious Answer is Yes.
22 Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?
Arise! Do not cast us off forever.
24 Why do You hide Your face,
And forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
Our body clings to the ground.
26 Arise for our help,
And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.
The psalmists ask...
Why God?
That is a natural question to suffering.
The sons of Korah are thinking
these kinds of thoughts...
These terrible things are happening.
We feel confused.
We feel all these negative emotions.
WHY are we suffering?
The Bible addresses suffering
but it does not give us all the answers
as to WHY we suffer.
We must learn to accept that suffering is a part of life.
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Important Note:
We will suffer less
if we are trying to obey God.
But nothing we do can stop all suffering.
" Arise "
Verse 23 and verse 26
call out to God to
ARISE!
I have posted
several pages about the call to God to
Arise.
When I am down, I go to the pages listed below
to feel more uplifted.
Consider visiting our pages:
The last Hebrew word in Psalm 44
is
Hesed
which can be spelled in English several different ways
such as Checed.
In the
New King James Version,
this Hebrew word is translated
Your Mercies.
It can also be translated as
goodness, or love, or lovingkindness.
When I was in seminary,
one of my professors loved talking about
the Hebrew word
"Hesed."
It appeared to be his favorite topic.
He talked in warm and awe-inspiring tones
about the full meaning of
God's Hesed.
God's Hesed can be defined as:
Unfailing love, continuous love,
strong love,
powerful love, abounding love,
everlasting love
It is a merciful love.
It is a personal love implying personal involvement with us.
Mercy = Steadfast love = Hesed
God's love is a love that will not let us go all the days of our life.
God loves us.
God pursues us.
God woos us.
Every day God gives
unbelievers
the opportunity
to accept Jesus as
Savior and Lord of our life.
The Hesed of God should provoke genuine gratitude.
is a famous psalm
that features this Hebrew word.
In the midst of trouble,
pray
openly and honestly
to God
and re-dedicate yourself to him.
Read and speak God's Scriptures.
For example Morning Scriptures - Here
And a page on
Psalm 71:16 on gaining spiritual strength - Here
Listen to
inspiring music.
For example - Here
Listen to songs of God's love for you.
For example - Here
If you feel surrounded by trouble - Here
Intentionally, surround yourself with godly activities.
I read a comment by someone about Psalm 44.
The comment about the psalm was...
"When I read Psalm 44, I am Gloriously Bewildered."
Suffering IS bewildering.
My comment is
After you and I have read this Psalm
and allowed
our own emotions to have a full voice....
May we end this psalm, strong in the Lord.
May we end this psalm
in a peaceful place with God.
May we decide to steadfastly love our Glorious Lord.
And may we trust God and just say,
"I am Gloriously Bewildered."
Amen
Jump to the top of - Psalm 44
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