Psalm 44: Regarded as Sheep
Regarded as Sheep
Psalm 44
As it is written, “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Romans 8:36 NKJV
We love a happy ending. We love to hear of Job’s restoration after his loss and suffering. We look at the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and rejoice at God’s mighty and miraculous deliverance. And we should! What hope many a believer has received that God wondrously works on behalf of His people.
But 40 years of suffering? A lifetime spent in bondage? Counted as sheep to be slaughtered? We don’t like to contemplate that.
Jeremiah spent over 40 years warning his people to repent because God was sending the Babylonians to capture them, and they ridiculed him and abused him. Before the Exodus, there were many Israelites who died while in bondage still looking for the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham. Throughout the ages, God’s people have suffered chains, imprisonment, ridicule, rejection, and death.
But this reality must be confronted. What if, God, in His infinite wisdom, is giving His child difficulties that will not be resolved during their lifetime? This is a hard place to find one’s self. We would rather have deliverance than sustaining grace. Rescue and relief rather than suffering for righteousness’ sake. The resurrection power without the sharing in His sufferings.
Today’s psalm, Psalm 44 ends in ambiguity. The Lord has broken them. They are scattered, rejected, taunted, scorned, and are like sheep for slaughter. They are being killed all day long. In their anguish they cry out desperately, “Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse Yourself!” (Psalm 44:23)
There are situations of this life that we will not see the resolution we longed for, the healing we desired, or the answer we prayed for. In this sin-cursed world there is brokenness that will not be fully undone this side of eternity. Ligon Duncan says to believers, “Take comfort from the fact that the sufferings of this life are the worst you will ever endure. If you know Christ and have come to him in faith and repentance, then your suffering has an end. The trials of this life are the worst things you will ever endure.”
For believers, we can anticipate that there is coming a day when all will be made right. Our tears will be washed away. What has been broken will be made new. And for now, we can look to our lowly Savior. He has gone before us in our suffering. As His sheep are at times led to the slaughter, so the Lamb has tread the path first.
Suffering rejection? “He was despised and forsaken by men” (Isaiah 53:3). Grieving? He was a “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (53:3). Suffering, afflicted, distressed? “We ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted “ (53:4). Feeling crushed this morning? “He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him” (53:5). He was oppressed, afflicted, led like a lamb to the slaughter, cut off from the land of the living, put to grief and crushed, experienced anguish of soul, and poured out Himself to death bearing the wrath of God (53:5-12). There has never been nor will there ever be suffering like that. And in all that, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried” (53:4).
Let’s rest in the comforting truth that He carries His lambs in His bosom and gently leads them on every path He has ordained for them(Isaiah 40:11). So that, even when we are “covered with the shadow of death” (Psalm 44:19), we need not fear for our Shepherd is with us.
The Light of Your Face
44:1-3 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.
Let’s pray:
▫️We would continue to delight in and remind ourselves of His past mercies and deliverance on our behalf and on behalf of His children throughout the ages.
▫️We would not trust in ourselves to endure this trial, but we would rest on His arm and His right hand to uphold and sustain us.
▫️We would see more of Him as we suffer. His presence would be our comfort and the light of His face would upon us in our dark hour.
Through You and Your Name
44:4-8 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. Selah
Let’s pray:
▫️The Lord would remain King of our lives and our affections as we walk a road we never anticipated and never wanted.
▫️The Lord would push down our foes of discouragement, doubt in His love, feelings of abandonment, and despair, and we would be reminded of His great love with which He loves us and that He chastens those He loves.
▫️He would provide ways we can boast in Him and give thanks to Him even though we are not seeing the answer to our prayers that we desired.
Like Sheep for Slaughter
44:9-16 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.
Let’s pray:
▫️When we feel rejected and disgraced, we would be restored to sweet fellowship with our Savior.
▫️When we are overwhelmed, He would uphold us by His righteous right hand and when we pass through the waters, He would be with us; And through the rivers, they would not overflow us. When we walk through the fire, we would not be scorched, Nor would the flame burn us (Isaiah 43:2).
▫️When it feels the enemy is close at hand, we would fix our gaze on what is unseen and eternal and our hearts would have courage.
You Have Broken Us
44:17-22 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.
Let’s pray:
▫️We would continue to pursue knowing God and His character and His ways, and we would not forget Him or His promises to us.
▫️Our hearts would not turn back, and our steps would not depart from His ways.
▫️In the shadow of death, we would not fear for He is with us, His rod and His staff would comfort us (Psalm 23:4).
▫️We would confess any waywardness, as He knows the secrets of our hearts.
▫️When death draws near, we would take hope that even if we are “counted as sheep for the slaughter,” we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us, and nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:36-39).
Come To Our Help!
44:23-26 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!”
Let’s pray:
▫️The Lord would rise up and come to our help!
▫️He would redeem our lives from this pit we are in.
▫️His steadfast love would abound toward us and we would no longer feel like He had hidden His face from us, or rejected us in our suffering.
▫️We would rejoice because we have a God who neither slumbers nor sleeps, and He will come to our aid (Psalm 121:4).
▫️He would deliver us, but even if He chooses to not deliver us in this lifetime, we would trust Him.
May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.Photo credit to bonvoyagepictures
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