Two Roles of God Toward His People: Psalm 44
“1) O God, we have heard with our ears, Our fathers have told us The work that You did in their days, In the days of old. 2) You with Your own hand drove out the nations; Then You planted them; You afflicted the peoples, Then You spread them abroad. 3) For by their own sword they did not possess the land, And their own arm did not save them, But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, For You favored them.” Psalms 44:1-3
“9) Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor, And do not go out with our armies. 10) You cause us to turn back from the adversary; And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. 11) You give us as sheep to be eaten And have scattered us among the nations.” Psalms 44:9-11
Psalm 44 is a contrast of two very different stories of God dealing with His people. The first part is about the conquest of the land under Moses and Joshua. God showed up among His people in miraculous ways and delivered nation’s into their hands as they were obeying Him and seeking to walk with Him.
The second part of this Psalm is very different. God had abandoned His people and turned them over to the nations for discipline. They were being defeated. God seemed far away.
This Psalm captures the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28 that records the blessings of Israel walking with God and the curses on them when walking away from Him. The contrast is very different.
God does not deal in these same ways with ungodly nations. His people are under a different covenant with Him.
In a sense, the same is true for the believer and the unbeliever today. God promises to be a loving Father to His own people according to Hebrews twelve. That includes incomprehensible blessings for abiding in His presence and disciplining His sons and daughters when they walk away from Him.
Here is the problem that both David and many Christians today fall into; they look at the way unbelievers live with few apparent consequences, and then try to be like them. But as soon as they head down that road, God shows up as a loving Father. His goal is to reel them back into His favor and blessings.
At some point in their rebellion, they move from favor to discipline. A backsliding Christian can try to live in sin like the world, but not without consequence. It catches up with them very quickly. God keeps His favored ones on a very short leash.
This is the backdrop of many of the Psalms that explain why it’s futile to envy the ungodly. They are not part of the same Covenant relationship with God.
Satan is their god. He seems to give them fun and pleasure, but at some point he turns on his own to steal, kill and destroy. When things turns, it gets very tragic and ugly for the ungodly. They can suffer greatly.
That why David said he had to stop and consider their end. He had to review the whole story. He had to read the last chapter of the ungodly. He concluded that His God was awesome.
Walking with God is dynamic. What do I mean by that? He is always working in and on behalf of His own. He never abandons us, but He does deal with us according to our ways and relationship with Him in the “now.”
If we walk in the light as He is in the light, there are incredible blessings. If we walk in darkness, He runs interference and seeks to draw us back close to Him. He is always present with us.
Like David, I now pity the unbeliever and the ungodly. They know nothing of the glory of walking with our God. They cannot call Him “Abba Father.” They do not have the inner abiding Holy Spirit. They cannot walk or live in signs and wonders. They know nothing of the fruit of the Spirit or new life in Christ.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
“1) O God, we have heard with our ears, Our fathers have told us The work that You did in their days, In the days of old. 2) You with Your own hand drove out the nations; Then You planted them; You afflicted the peoples, Then You spread them abroad. 3) For by their own sword they did not possess the land, And their own arm did not save them, But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, For You favored them.” Psalms 44:1-3
“9) Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor, And do not go out with our armies. 10) You cause us to turn back from the adversary; And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. 11) You give us as sheep to be eaten And have scattered us among the nations.” Psalms 44:9-11
Psalm 44 is a contrast of two very different stories of God dealing with His people. The first part is about the conquest of the land under Moses and Joshua. God showed up among His people in miraculous ways and delivered nation’s into their hands as they were obeying Him and seeking to walk with Him.
The second part of this Psalm is very different. God had abandoned His people and turned them over to the nations for discipline. They were being defeated. God seemed far away.
This Psalm captures the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28 that records the blessings of Israel walking with God and the curses on them when walking away from Him. The contrast is very different.
God does not deal in these same ways with ungodly nations. His people are under a different covenant with Him.
In a sense, the same is true for the believer and the unbeliever today. God promises to be a loving Father to His own people according to Hebrews twelve. That includes incomprehensible blessings for abiding in His presence and disciplining His sons and daughters when they walk away from Him.
Here is the problem that both David and many Christians today fall into; they look at the way unbelievers live with few apparent consequences, and then try to be like them. But as soon as they head down that road, God shows up as a loving Father. His goal is to reel them back into His favor and blessings.
At some point in their rebellion, they move from favor to discipline. A backsliding Christian can try to live in sin like the world, but not without consequence. It catches up with them very quickly. God keeps His favored ones on a very short leash.
This is the backdrop of many of the Psalms that explain why it’s futile to envy the ungodly. They are not part of the same Covenant relationship with God.
Satan is their god. He seems to give them fun and pleasure, but at some point he turns on his own to steal, kill and destroy. When things turns, it gets very tragic and ugly for the ungodly. They can suffer greatly.
That why David said he had to stop and consider their end. He had to review the whole story. He had to read the last chapter of the ungodly. He concluded that His God was awesome.
Walking with God is dynamic. What do I mean by that? He is always working in and on behalf of His own. He never abandons us, but He does deal with us according to our ways and relationship with Him in the “now.”
If we walk in the light as He is in the light, there are incredible blessings. If we walk in darkness, He runs interference and seeks to draw us back close to Him. He is always present with us.
Like David, I now pity the unbeliever and the ungodly. They know nothing of the glory of walking with our God. They cannot call Him “Abba Father.” They do not have the inner abiding Holy Spirit. They cannot walk or live in signs and wonders. They know nothing of the fruit of the Spirit or new life in Christ.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
