Psalm 44

A Basic Outline
What We’ve Heard About You, 1-3
…we have heard with our ears
…(source) our fathers have told
…(content) the deeds You did
…(when?) in the days of old
…(what?) You drove out nations…You planted
…You afflicted…cast them out
…not gain possession..by sword nor by their arm..it was your hand/arm/light
…because You favored them
Conviction & Request, 4
…You are my King (conviction)
…command victories (request)
Reason for Request, 5-8
…through You we will push…trample
…for I will not trust in my bow…sword
…You have saved…and have put to shame
…in God we boast…and praise
Confusion Over Righteous Suffering, 9-22
.You’ve allowed suffering, 9-16
…You have cast us off…You do not go out
…You make us turn back
…You have given us up like sheep
…You sell Your people
…You make us a reproach
…You make us a byword
…My dishonor is continually before me
.But we’ve been faithful, 17-21
…All this…but we have not forgotten You
…Our heart has not turned back
…But You have severely broken us
…If we had forgotten…
…Would not God search this out?
.Yet we’ve suffered for Your sake, 22
…Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long
Request in midst of confusion, 23-26
…Awake… Arise…
…Why do You hide Your face..?
…Arise…redeem us for Your mercies’ sake

What sticks out?
The difference between what You’ve done in the past and what You’re doing now. Verses 1-3 rehearse Your past provisions. 4-8 expose the truth the Psalmist’s heart about You. Vs9-22 raise the confusion about Your silence at the time of writing.
The enemy is winning. We don’t see Your help. By not acting on our behalf, You make us a byword. We’ve trusted in You. “Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long.”
Righteous suffering…what’s behind it? Why? There is no answer at the end of the Psalm just a request for help.
What difference does this make?
At a minimum, I’m not alone when I suffer as I follow the Lord. This isn’t unique to me. I’m not the first and likely won’t be the last. Nor am I the first to experience confusion at my circumstances. Nor am I the first to experience unanswered prayers…silence.
If Scripture is inspired then the inclusion of this Psalm is profitable for me. Perhaps one lesson is that I’m to keep calling out to You even when You have me thoroughly confused. Perhaps that determination to continue to turn to You, in spite of Your silence, is an act of great faith… and I know my faith is pleasing to You.
Your ways are higher than my ways. You are righteous. You are trustworthy. You’ve proven it again and again. So I will hold this course even as I see no relief ahead.

What sticks out?
“…redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.”
What difference does this make?
The Psalmist makes request that reaches beyond the improvement of his own circumstances… for the sake of Your mercy. “The reputation of Your mercy is on the line here… Act for the sake of Your mercy’s reputation.
May my prayers aim this high. May I get down on my knees for the sake of something bigger than myself. May I love the way I am loved.