Black Sheep

Psalm 44

“It is for your sake we are killed all day long" (44:22).

Psalm 44 is the "black sheep" of the Psalter, a lament psalm with no resolution… or so it seems.

The poet begins by recounting Israel's past victories and the means by which his ancestors drove the Canaanites out of the land—"not by their sword" but by the strength of God's almighty arm (44:1-4).

So...Israel went out to battle again, counting on God to fight for them: "Not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me..."

...and suffered historic, humiliating defeat (44:5-28). It was a slaughter (44;11). They bit the dust; their bellies were dragging the ground (44:25). Georgia Tech vs. Cumberland College. 222-0.

All this came about although Israel had not forgotten God, nor had they been false to His covenant (44:17).

What gives?

Ah! A flash of insight at the point of greatest perplexity: "It is for your sake we are killed all day long" (44:22). The battle is more than local. We're part of the struggle of "the kings of the earth … against the Lord and his Anointed" (Psalm 2:2). We suffer the slings and arrows of the evil one because we're on the Lord's side.

Paul cites this psalm and spells out our "defeats": tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword. (I would add sickness, sorrow, disappointment, pain and loss.) Nevertheless, he insists, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us"  (Romans 8;37).

Though we get overrun now and then, there is this assurance: "Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (Romans 8:38,39). Some days we’ll lose; some days we’ll lose BIG. But no matter. We are loved with everlasting love!

The psalmist saw this: "Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!" (44:26).

David Roper