Remembering Dishonor and Redemption by Grace

Psalms 44:1-26
To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the sons of Korah.

1 We have heard with our ears, O God,
Our fathers have told us,
The deeds You did in their days,
In days of old:
2 You drove out the nations with Your hand,
But them You planted;
You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.

3 For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword,
Nor did their own arm save them;
But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance,
Because You favored them.
4 You are my King, O God;
Command victories for Jacob.

5 Through You we will push down our enemies;
Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor shall my sword save me.

7 But You have saved us from our enemies,
And have put to shame those who hated us.
8 In God we boast all day long,
And praise Your name forever.

Selah

9 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.

17 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.

20 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.

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.

This reflective song of the sons of Korah the Levitical priests is one remembering the people’s dishonor and God’s works of grace to them.  It is a picture of eternal salvation by His predetermined work to be done for us in the Messiah, which no man is capable of earning such favor for himself in God’s eyes.  They sang of past workings of the LORD to deliver them in battle from their enemies as a remembrance passed down in the scriptures by their fathers.  God had driven out the ungodly using them that He might make a land and nation of His people by His choice.  It was God’s right hand of power which by grace fought and won the battles for them; it was not their effort or working which brought them deliverance and such goodness.  God favored them (grace) and so delivered them as their King and Conqueror.  Therefore, they did not trust in their armies or temporal power to win the battles, and neither should we (2 Corinthians 12:9).  Our victory is entirely in His name and not our own.  We do not set up governments and rulers by our will or work, God does, and for His sovereign and unseen purposes (Romans 13:1).  Our victory is still only in His (1 Corinthians 15:57) Anointed.  Since He saves us, we should follow suit with the psalmists here by boasting in His work alone and give praise to Him for it all!  Dwell on that, selah.  God’s people of old had been seemingly abandoned at times, as recalled in the second part of this psalm, due to their sins of self-reliance and serving things as if their gods instead of the Living God only.  He gave them up to their wandering as lost sheep for a time, scattering them through the ungodly nations surrounding them.  Those nations mocked and derided them in return for their belief in a God who seemingly abandoned them.  Such dishonor and its shame covered the people with a darkness and heaviness because of the enemy and avenger who retaliated for their being formerly conquered as God’s people entered their promised land and drove them out.  Yet in all these troubles, the sons of Jacob did not forget their Lord God.  Some kept their heart in step with His word still.  They knew that God searches and knows our hearts (1 Chronicles 28:9, Romans 8:27, Revelation 2:23) if we forget Him or serve another.  He has the key to the secrets of all our hearts.  Yet they were killed all day long as sheep destined for the slaughter (Romans 8:36), but still there is hope in redemption (Romans 8:37-39) because of the victory of His love for all His children whom He chooses and calls (Romans 8:28-30).  God truly does not sleep, but arose (Acts 10:41-42, 1 Corinthians 15:20) to show He does not cast off His people who are truly His (Isaiah 43:13).  The psalmist priests here asked why God had seemingly hidden His face from them and forgotten their suffering, and asked for help and redemption out of the abundance of God’s mercy.  We have done this in the Messiah Jesus, and have the assurance of continued help and deliverance from our enemies (2 Corinthians 1:10)!  We sing this song from a redeemed perspective now as we reflect on our salvation by grace alone in God’s work alone (John 6:29) as we recall our dishonor of sin and redemption by grace.  Amen.