Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+044
Psalm 44 (ESV)
17 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from your way;
19 yet you have 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 spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
24 Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; come to our help!
Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!
REFLECTION:
- Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
- What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage? What is your emotion as you read this word or phrase?
- The psalmist was puzzled and in agony. He begged God to “rise up and help us.” Psalms like this one let us know that we are allowed to feel abandoned and alone in our relationship with God and actually say that to Him, all the while hoping to return into right relationship with Him. What about you? What is one bad thing that happened to you recently that you didn’t deserve? Did you feel God was sleeping, just as Jesus’ disciple felt (Mk 4:35-38)? What did you do to wake God up? How does this experience impact your faith in God’s justice and love?
- Ask God to help you understand His ways and give you peace when you are waiting for His voice.
PRAYER:
Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.
HYMN:
Psalm 44 – www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywmdsAgL5gQ
