Day 141: Psalms 44:19-23
Psalm 44:19 But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death. 20If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god, 21Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. 22Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 23Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever.
Almighty God, we are broken and falling apart. Our enemies have prevailed against us for a season. We feel abandoned and forgotten as if we had turned our backs on you. But we have not turned our backs on You. We have not forgotten You. With all this trouble, we have sought You even more. Oh, when will You come and deliver us? When will You rescue us from our foes? How long, O Lord, must we suffer under the oppression of those who hate us, who mock Your name?
We are not the first ones to be in this situation. Job faced these trials, though he had faithfully sought You. Your Word even tells us that righteous Lot’s soul was vexed by sinful men (II Peter 2:7-8). We could speak of the rebellions against Moses, the meekest of men, by his own family (Numbers 12:1 – 3). We could speak of the oppression of Joseph, of David, Elijah, or the weeping prophet Jeremiah, or even our Lord Jesus, who was led as a lamb to the shearers, yet He opened not His mouth (Isaiah 53:7).
It brings us some peace, some comfort to know that we are not the only ones who have been mistreated and attacked by others though we have done nothing to earn their attacks. Indeed, except for our Lord Jesus, all of us have some sin. It is only Your kindness and grace that gives us life. But we have trusted You to save us and forgive us. We have leaned upon Your grace and favor. We have sought to follow You and now we feel forgotten. You know our hearts. We cry out with the saints underneath the altar in heaven, O Lord, how long? (Revelation 6:10).
Growing in Prayer 