One task that I’ve attempted to practice regularly at different times throughout my life is journaling. And at times I’ve done alright so that I have a few different notebooks and binders around filled with journal entries made up of prayers, stories, struggles, and other things going on in my life. However, one thing about journaling was a surprise to me, namely, that it was/is easier for me to journal during difficult times than it is when things are going well.

Maybe this is just an oddity for me but when things have been difficult and struggles have been great, those have typically been good seasons for journaling. I can fill pages of notebooks when things are really difficult. However, when great things happen, I am a bit lax in journaling. And I think it’s probably because there is a release in writing. There is something about writing your struggles, heartaches, and agonizing questions that brings even the smallest comfort to your soul. They may not be the most enjoyable journal entries to read and my grandchildren might one day think my life was only filled with heartache if they read them, but there is something about expressing lament that I find comforting.

However, I don’t think I’m in bad company here, for at least a third of the Psalms are psalms of lament as the author aches, hurts, cries out, and questions God as to why things are happening. In this psalm, all of those things occur as the psalmist walks with the Lord (via his pen) through his thoughts about his current situation so that the reader is able to eavesdrop on his thoughts. And I think this is a helpful thing for us because as we eavesdrop, if you will, on the psalmist’s lamenting and questioning before the Lord we are able to see an example of Christian living before us and gain insight for our own lives. Therefore, this morning I want us to see a few things we can learn as we look at the psalmist’s writing in this particular psalm.

The psalm divides pretty easily into five sections that are shown by the paragraph breaks in our pew Bibles. They are: 1-3, 4-8, 9-16, 17-22, and 23-26. In each of these sections, even if it is ever so slight, there is a transition of thought or events transpiring in the story, and each teaches us something. In summary, this psalm reflects an author looking at a time of defeat for the Israelites, wondering why it has happened, and pleading with the Lord to show himself as their Divine Warrior.

Thus, as aforementioned, I think we can learn much from the psalmist’s writings, as it typifies in many ways that through which the Christian goes. It is quite similar to circumstances we all go through, have gone through, or are going through right now. Therefore, I want us to examine what the psalmist does in this psalm this morning and see what we can learn.

The first of these lessons is that …

It is right for us to look back on God’s past works of faithfulness and imitate the faith of his people in those circumstances.

The psalmist does this in the first three verses, writing, “O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old: you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free; for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.”

In his present situation, the psalmist is reflecting on the stories that have been passed down from his Israelite fathers as to how the Lord delivered them from Egypt and drove out the Canaanites before them so that they could take the land. He is remembering the past work of the Lord and his faithfulness toward his covenant people. And, as has been said, that is a right thing to do for we are commanded to imitate the faith of those who came before us. Specifically the author of Hebrews writes to his readers, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7).

We are not necessarily supposed to read biographies of the saints who lived before us so that we can imitate everything they did, attempting to be some kind of mini-Luther or mini-Calvin for example. What we are supposed to do, however, is to imitate their faith. We are to look back and remember how such men walked in faith as God displayed his great power and covenant faithfulness toward them.

Thus, for example, in a day in which I know of a number of pastors who are greatly concerned as to how to aid local churches in molding themselves to be more in conformity to God’s standards, worried that they might fail, and no doubt tempted to resort to that which might bring instant results (even if not in line with the Scripture and their convictions), we need to remember Jon Hus. When Jon Hus did lose his life for fighting for truth, he held onto the hope that God would reform his church, saying as he was about to be burned at the stake that today they were burning a goose, but in a hundred years they would hear a swan sing and they would not be able to silence him. And they (and we) need to remember Luther who wrote to Melanchthon amidst his worries, “Christ knows whether it comes from stupidity or the Spirit, but I for my part am not very much troubled about our cause. Indeed, I am more hopeful than I expected to be. God, who is able to raise the dead, is also able to uphold his cause when it is falling, or to raise it up again when it has fallen, or to move it forward when it is standing. If we are not worthy instruments to accomplish his purpose, he will find others. If we are not strengthened by his promises, where in all the world are the people to whom these promises apply?”¹ And that same Martin Luther said at another time in regards to how the reformation had succeeded as it had, “I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s Word: otherwise I did nothing. And when, while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my Philp and my Amsdor, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a Prince or Emperor inflicted such damage upon it. I did nothing. The Word did it all.”²

Now, again, we do not necessarily remember the Lord’s work through saints in the past so that we can imitate the saint’s every action but so that we might imitate his faith in the Lord’s faithfulness and be strengthened for our own faithfulness in life.

That seems to be what the psalmist does in our text this morning, for he doesn’t simply reflect on how his fathers served the Lord in these ways as their king but that they too served the Lord in that manner and give thanks to him. He writes in verses 4-8, “You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob! Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever.”

God had pushed down foes through them. They realized they couldn’t trust in themselves but the Lord, and he had proved himself faithful and gracious toward his people. Thus, the psalmist rightly declares his allegiance to the Lord and thanks him. It is indeed a right thing to remember the Lord’s work through those who came before us so as to remember his faithfulness and power and to imitate their faith. However, the psalm takes a turn here and teaches us another lesson.

Simply because we are walking in like faith to those who came before us does not mean that God will grant us the same results that they knew

Notice the change in the psalm at verse 9. The psalmist has recounted God’s faithful working with his fathers, had written of how he and his peers had followed in their footsteps, but then shares with us that the results had been utterly different. He writes, “But you have rejected us and disgraced us and have not gone out with our armies. You have made us turn back from the foe, and those who hate us have gotten spoil. You have made us like sheep for slaughter and have scattered us among the nations. You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them. You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face at the sound of the taunter and reviler, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger” (vv. 9-16).

They had imitated the faith of those who had come before them, but they were experiencing great suffering, not victory. This is a good lesson for us. Just because you’re attempting to walk in a relationship of faith and trust toward God does not mean that he will always intervene in your circumstances so as to vindicate you in this life.

That is, just because you’re walking in faith doesn’t mean that God will ensure that the world knows your righteousness by making you prosper in every way. Now, I recognize that this goes against an entire train of thought in many minds that if you simply walk in faith you will have health, wealth, and a good life in general. In fact, even this past week I had a conversation with someone who spoke along those lines. But the Scripture simply refutes that thought, which William will elaborate on (I’m sure) in the coming weeks as he leads us through the book of Job. But it is present in this text as well. In fact, this text says the exact opposite. It assures us that …

Because the world is at war with God, living holy lives will guarantee that we suffer in this world

You might be tempted to think here that the reason the psalmist’s situation is different from his forefathers is because he has all kinds of sin and has forgotten the Lord and walked after idols even as we saw in the book of Judges. However, that is simply not the case in this text. Listen, rather, to the psalmist’s words in 17-22, “All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way; yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart. Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

The psalmist specifically says that he would expect this if he had forgotten the Lord or spread out his hands to a foreign god, but that was simply not the case. He and the people had not forgotten the Lord and had not been false to the covenant. They had walked according to his commands, and yet now were being crushed and humiliated.

But why? This is a question that is not necessarily answered clearly in this text, but there is a key. The author writes in the last verse of that section we just read, “Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” Thus, we see that their suffering is for the Lord’s sake or because of the Lord. Yet this still might not make it very clear. However, we have the blessing of the New Testament in which Paul quotes this verse in one of the most amazing chapters of Scripture: Romans 8.

In this chapter Paul tells us that we must suffer with Christ if we are going to be glorified with him and that after the Fall the world was subjected to futility, held bondage in sin so that it is in rebellion to God. Thus, it is in that context that he quotes Psalm 44:22, writing, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:35-37).

Do you see? Paul asks whether suffering and tribulation in this world will separate us from Christ, and looking at verse 37 we see that the clear answer is, “No.” “But why?” we might ask. The answer? It is because of what is written in Psalm 44:22, namely, that we are being killed all the day long and regarded as sheep for the slaughter for God’s sake. Suffering in this world will not separate us from God because one of the key reasons we are suffering is because we live in a world that is in rebellion toward and at war with God. One of the reasons we are suffering is precisely because we are united with his Son, his King, his Christ: Jesus, our Lord. One of the reasons we suffer is because God is making us more like his son even as we live in a world that we are tempted to love and hold tightly with our hands, that is in rebellion to God. One of the causes of suffering is to conform us to his Son by tearing out of us that which belongs to a world in utter rebellion against him. So, does such suffering mean God has abandoned us? No, rather, it is a reminder that we are his and that he is working to make us more like him. That is what Paul sees in Romans 8. And if you’re in a situation where you think that your specific suffering doesn’t clearly show how it’s working for good, Paul reminds us of one blessing that applies to all of us, namely, that it highlights just how glorious eternity will be. For Paul writes in Romans 8:18 that the sufferings of this world is not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be reviled to us.

So, stop for a moment and try to ponder the weight of your suffering in this moment: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Paul says that it doesn’t even weigh enough to get to be on the same scales as the glory to be revealed. So, he who knows greater suffering in this life no doubt better understands what an amazing statement that is. Indeed, not only does the Lord not lead us to think we can avoid all suffering, he guarantees suffering to the one who belongs to God living in a world that is in rebellion toward God. And by that suffering he makes us more like his Son and allows us a glimpse of the glory of eternity that is to come.

So, what do we do in the midst of faithfully living the Christian life when we are in the midst of such suffering? The psalm ends with an answer.

In times of suffering we can cry out for deliverance and trust the Lord to do that which he has said

The psalmist’s answer in the end is not to ignore his suffering and say, “Oh well, I just better learn to love it.” No, rather he cries out for the Lord to deliver him and the people from their situation. He writes in 23-26, “Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!”

I think this can be a pattern for us in our suffering. It is certainly not wrong to cry out to the Lord to free us from our current situation of suffering. In fact, we are encouraged as James tells us to pray in such times. However, we must simultaneously trust that the Lord will do what he has said, namely, make us more like his Son and ultimately aid us to overcome this world and dwell with him as a friend of the King. This seems to be what Paul did. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul recounts being given a thorn in the flesh for which he cried out for the Lord to remove three different times. Yet in the end the Lord left it, and Paul said to the Corinthians that it was the Lord’s work to keep him from exalting himself. So it might be in our current situation. Let us cry out for relief and freedom from our suffering if we are in the midst of it, but let us also trust that the Lord is making us more like his Son so that he might present us blameless before him on that great day when we will see the Lord as he is. Let us therefore walk in obedience in all occasions.

As we come to the table this morning, let us remember the Lord’s work for us through his Son, determine to imitate the faith of many who have walked in obedience to that Lord, realize suffering will be ours, and determine to trust God in a life of obedience even as we cry out for the day in which we will be free from such heartache. May our coming to the table be a declaration of such trust and obedience. Amen.

¹ Martin Luther, Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, Vol. 18 of Library of Christian Classics, ed. Theodore G. Trappert (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1955), 146-7.
² Quoted by John Stott in Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth Century (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 25.

TRIBULATIONS, TROUBLES, AND TRUST AS A CHRISTIAN

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