(1) God's Faithfulness Rehearsed with Confident Affirmation of His Unceasing Faithfulness (v 1-8 )
(2) The Adversary's Misdeeds Ardently Poured Out to God with Truthful Self-Examination (v 9-22 )
(3) God's Intervention Humbly Sought (v 23-25 )
This psalm is a contemplative poem that teaches the theology of biblical prayer in the face of severe persecution of the faith. It encourages the severely tried heart of the Christian to pray even more fervently and not to faint. It begins with a rehearsal of God's past faithfulness with confident affirmation of God's continued faithfulness (v 1-8 ) The Christian continues with the adversary's misdeeds ardently poured out to God with truthful self-examination (v 9-22 ) and finally God's able intervention is humbly sought. (v 23-25 ) (Summary Statement)
Our Lord Jesus, the greater David, comforts all His saints throughout the ages who faced trials, persecutions and afflictions for the faith, with a lesson on the power of importunate prayer with these words in Luke 18:1-8 "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"
When afflictions are heaviest, faith also must be strongest, it is mathematically a proportional relationship. Unless the strongest faith is sought, the Christian can falter under the most severe weight of afflictions. The psalmist showed to us his confidence in a covenant keeping faithful God. When we cannot see the hand of God, we must by faith see His unfailing love for us.
Remember how Jesus' comforted Peter by His interceding prayer in the thick of spiritual warfare with the evil one attacking incessantly to stumble him in Luke 22:31-32 "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." Jesus' power is greater than Satan's, therefore, brethren, take heart.
Have you been afflicted? Are you in some kind of trial of faith? This psalm is especially for your edification.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The power of God's Word to give to us strong faith must not be under estimated. The psalmist sought to remind his own heart and those standing with him in their afflictions of His wondrous works of deliverance (v 1 ).
The crossing of the Jordan river when Israel traveled from Shechem to Gilgal involved the miraculous drying up of the river. By faith, the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant stepped into the rushing waters. They saw God's intervening hand in providing a dry path for their crossing "planting" them in the Promised Land (v 2 ). The first battle was at the city Jericho. It was taken not with the arms of flesh, no swords were drawn. But by the divine resonance of their shouts of faith, the impregnable walls came tumbling down. The lethal weapon that defeated the enemy was (1) God's invisible right hand (2) His invincible arm (3) the glorious light of His countenance (v 3 ).
Here God is addressed as King. He commanded deliverance for Jacob. Why Jacob? It shows forth how undeserving Jacob was, being a usurper and a blatant liar - an outright sinner with no merits to boast. The psalmist acknowledges His God as the omnipotent King who leads in battle from victory to victory. The LORD of hosts is King (v 4 ). When David faced the Philistine giant Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:44-46 ".the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands" (v 5-6 ).
Psalms 44:7-8 "But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah." What words of triumph exclaimed! The Philistines fled in fear when they saw their ablest warrior beheaded by a lad. Pause and consider how God can use most unlikely instruments and take comfort. "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" (1 Corinthians 1:27 ). With God on our side, we are majority even though we may be alone in our afflictions! Therefore take comfort, my dear brethren.
Elisha the prophet spoke of God's provision of food for the starving people of Samaria besieged by the Syrian army. How was the victory gained?
2 Kings 7:6-7 "For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life."
The psalmist poured out his troubles to God. It is interesting to observe the covenant name of Israel's God "YHWH"is not used at all. This is seen in psalm 42 , psalm 43 and now 44. It is as if to say that Israel is estranged from her God. The afflictions of the psalmist is a national lament for in verse 9 he spoke of God not fighting for Israel and in verse 10 of her army's defeat. In the renewal of God's covenantal promises to Israel before they entered the Promised Land, it was included also the curses of God for their disobedience as a warning (v 11-14 ). Deuteronomy 28:25 "The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth." It is unsettling for such defeat points to sin in the camp. The psalmist could not understand, he uttered his confused state when he surveyed his present circumstance (v 15-16 ).
The psalmist admitted the afflictions point to their sin and yet with self-examination, he truthfully confessed that his people "has not dealt falsely" against God's covenant. He further examined his own action and that of Israel and confessed that he has not turned from walking in God's way and His will (v 17-18 ).
The psalmist felt that he is surrounded by the Adversary (dragon) with no escape and death, defeat is imminent yet it is but faith tells him it is but a shadow of death (Psalm 23:4 , v 19 ).
He confessed that He has obeyed the first three commandments and he asked God to search his heart for idolatry was the Achilles' heel of Israel (v 20-21 ).
There is so much injustice in which the psalmist recorded that his people had been suffering, is there no vindication with God. The passivity of the sheep and their use in sacrifice make them metaphors of persecution and martyrdom, Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (v 22 ).
The Assyrians besieged city of Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah, the king of Judah. Sennacherib, the Assyrian king sent a letter to ask Hezekiah to surrender. Based on Assyrian military strength, Judah is no match, besides surrounding neighbours have been already defeated. Hezekiah received the letter, read it and went into the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD (2 Kings 19:14 ). This was Hezekiah's prayer.
2 Kings 19:15-19 "And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only."
2 Kings 19:30-36 "And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh."
God is able to defend His own name by His mighty power. The people of Judah waited upon their God.
The biblical notion of "awakening" captures the notion of either rousing oneself or being aroused in order to take action. Such calls to action are usually accompanied by urgency and intensity, here the biblical poet issues an urgent appeal to God to respond to their plea for justice. It is the prayer of the psalmist that the silence of God be broken by swift intervention (Dictionary of Biblical Imagery). Will our prayer not be heard, is the psalmist's heart cry. Certainly God hears and will act swiftly, we may not see the hand of God but we can trust the heart of God to take care of His people bought with the greatest sacrifice, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ!
Remember when David was driven out of Jerusalem when his son Absalom staged a revolt? His most trusted adviser Ahithophel rebelled and took the side of Absalom. David must have thought, humanly speaking, it is doom for him. Ahithophel being his trust adviser knew all of David's weaknesses. Yet David committed his plight to God. This is recorded in 2 Samuel 15:31 "And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." God answered David's prayer immediately. For in the next verse, God provided the answer in the man Hushai, 2 Samuel 15:32-34 "And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the mount, where he worshipped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head: Unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me: But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel."
What was David's chief preoccupation in the deepest moment of despair? He worshipped God, waiting on the LORD to show him the way. May we learn the lesson from David in the darkest moments of despair to continue to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
David humbled himself before the LORD, 2 Samuel 15:30 "And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up." The psalmist testified in verse 25 "For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth." The psalmist submitted in an uncomplaining spirit to God, humbling himself restraining his mouth hoping in God, giving to his enemy his cheek bearing exceeding reproach. It is a most difficult control of the will, not to murmur against God in adversity and not to retaliate when sorely provoked, yet most needful. For the quiet spirit distinguishes the Christian from the uncouth ways of the world. The Christian's response to adversity is different from that of the world. He does not run to and fro to different people of influence and status with his complaints, often making things worse and quarrelling with the will of God for his life. Instead in his afflictions, he keep silence before men and retired into privacy of prayer with God.
When Job was sorely afflicted, he "arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return hither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. He acknowledged the Sovereignty of God in his life amidst the calamities that came upon him, he humbled himself to the dust and let God be God and acknowledged that God can as the potter do what He pleases with the clay. So he putteth his mouth in the dust, he humbled himself, if so be there may be hope. He was not presumptuous with God. He did not demand that he ought to be given this or that from God but was subdued in humbleness to God with an unpresumptuous hope. (Job 1:20-21 )
Jesus informed us before His second coming, the true faith will be scarce on this earth. The Apostle Paul by his example encourages Christians living in these last hours of gospel age in his last words to his spiritual son Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12-14 "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." We are not surprised when we read in the papers the ordination of gay priests and women bishops in the church.
The psalmist pleaded for deliverance based on God's mercy. Our God is an All-Merciful God. When his children cry to him, will He not hear? He has heard and help is underway. Although we may not yet see God deliverance, based on God's character - His mercies' sake, He will vindicate His oppressed and afflicted people. As Jesus said instructed His children, men ought always to pray, and not to faint, in face of severest persecution of faith. The persevering, fervent prayer of the Christian does avail much, taking God at His Word - Revelation 2:25 "But that which ye have already hold fast till I come", we live to see His glory! Amen.
Words & Music: Phil-ip P. Bliss, 1870. Bliss wrote this song af-ter hear-ing Dan-iel Whit-tle re-late the fol-low-ing in-ci-dent from the Amer-i-can ci-vil war:
Just before [Will-iam Te-cum-seh] Sher-man be-gan his fa-mous march to the sea in 1864, and while his ar-my lay camped in the neigh-bor-hood of Atlanta [Georgia] on the 5th of Oc-to-ber, the ar-my of Hood, in a care-ful-ly pre-pared move-ment, passed the right flank of Sher-man's ar-my, gained his rear, and com-menced the de-struction of the rail-road lead-ing north, burn-ing block-houses and cap-tur-ing the small gar-ri-sons along the line. Sher-man's ar-my was put in ra-pid mo-tion pur-su-ing Hood, to save the sup-plies and larg-er posts, the prin-ci-pal one of which was lo-cat-ed at Al-too-na Pass. Gen-er-al Corse, of Il-li-nois, was sta-tioned there with about fif-teen hun-dred men, Col-o-nel Tour-te-lotte be-ing se-cond in com-mand. A mil-lion and a half ra-tions were stored here and it was high-ly im-port-ant that the earth-works com-mand-ing the pass and pro-tect-ing the sup-plies be held. Six thou-sand men un-der com-mand of Gen-e-ral French were de-tailed by Hood to take the po-si-tion. The works were com-plete-ly sur-round-ed and sum-moned to sur-rend-er. Corse re-fused and a sharp fight com-menced. The de-fend-ers were slow-ly driv-en in-to a small fort on the crest of the hill. Ma-ny had fall-en, and the re-sult seemed to ren-der a pro-long-a-tion of the fight hop-eless. At this mo-ment an of-fi-cer caught sight of a white sig-nal flag far away across the val-ley, twen-ty miles dis-tant, up-on the top of Ken-e-saw Mount-ain. The sig-nal was an-swered, and soon the mes-sage was waved across from moun-tain to moun-tain:
"Hold the fort; I am coming. W. T. Sher-man."
Cheers went up; every man was nerved to a full ap-pre-ci-a-tion of the po-si-tion; and un-der a mur-der-ous fire, which killed or wound-ed more than half the men in the fort-Corse him-self bei-ng shot three times through the head, and Tour-te-lotte tak-ing com-mand, though himself bad-ly wound-ed-they held the fort for three hours un-til the ad-vance guard of Sherman's ar-my came up. French was obliged to re-treat.
Ho, my comrades! see the signal waving in the sky!
Reinforcements now appearing, victory is nigh.
Refrain
"Hold the fort, for I am coming," Jesus signals still;
Wave the answer back to Heaven, "By Thy grace we will."
See the mighty host advancing, Satan leading on;
Mighty ones around us falling, courage almost gone!
Refrain
See the glorious banner waving! Hear the trumpet blow!
In our Leader's Name we triumph over ev'ry foe.
Refrain
Fierce and long the battle rages, but our help is near;
Onward comes our great Commander, cheer, my comrades, cheer!
Refrain