March 6, 2017
WHEN GOD LETS HIS SHEEP BE SLAUGHTERED
Psalm 44
Connor Boyd
Central Truth
Unjust suffering does not indicate God's absence or rejection, but rather God's gracious invitation to follow His Son—the Lamb of God who was led to the slaughter for our sake.
Key Verse | Psalm 44:22
Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
(Psalm 44:22)
Psalm 44
Come to Our Help
To the choirmaster. A Maskil 1 44:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of the Sons of Korah.
1
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:
2
you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;
3
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.
4
You are my King, O God;
ordain salvation for Jacob!
5
Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
6
For not in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7
But you have saved us from our foes
and have put to shame those who hate us.
8
In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9
But you have rejected us and disgraced us
and have not gone out with our armies.
10
You have made us turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11
You have made us like sheep for slaughter
and have scattered us among the nations.
12
You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13
You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and scorn of those around us.
14
You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock
2
44:14
Hebrew a shaking of the head
among the peoples.
15
All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face
16
at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.
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!
Dive Deeper | Psalm 44
My life has never been threatened on account of my faith, and, while I have heard and read many stories of martyrdom, I don’t know anyone personally who has been killed for his faith.
The situation in Psalm 44 could not be more different.
The psalmist cries out to God in this song of suffering, during a time when his people are being “killed all the day long” on account of their faithfulness to the Lord (verse 22). God had been faithful to fight for their forefathers in the past (verses 1-3). Why was it that now, despite Israel’s trust in Him (verses 4-8), its military suffered death and defeat? God humiliated them before their enemies and sold them as slaves to foreign nations. He made them “like sheep for slaughter” (verses 9-16). And to make matters worse, the cause of this calamity was not Israel’s sin or covenant unfaithfulness (verses 17-22)! Why, then, were they suffering? Was God asleep? Had He rejected His people (verses 23-25)?
Centuries later, God answered these questions in just three days. For in the death of His one and only Son, He showed us that we were the reason for His unjust suffering. In His burial He showed us that He is not asleep when He lets His sheep go to the slaughter; rather, He allows this so that He might bring sleeping ones to life. And in the resurrection He showed us that unjust suffering, even to the point of death, does not mean He has rejected you, but that He is redeeming others.
Psalm 44 reminds us that whether we endure the hateful words of others or the kind of persecution that results in death, we follow a Good Shepherd who has suffered “like sheep for slaughter.” And because God has already demonstrated His love for us on the cross, we can be certain He will answer the call of faith from His beloved lambs marked for slaughter throughout the ages: “Rise up, come to our help! Redeem us because of Your steadfast love!” (Verse 26) Jesus is coming soon.
Discussion Questions
1. Has there been a time in your life when you have suffered unjustly? How did you respond? How does Psalm 44 inform your future response the next time it happens?
2. The Apostle Paul quotes Psalm 44:22 in his letter to the Romans (Romans 8:36). What point is Paul trying to make by quoting this verse?
3. Paul writes in Colossians 1:24 about “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” What do you think Paul meant by this? Are Christians today still called to fill up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions? How does this relate to Psalm 44?
4. Read 1 Peter 2:18-25. How does this inform our attitude toward suffering unjustly?