06/20/16 Still Trusting?

READING: Psalms 40-45

Sometimes, life is filled with despair. Tears are our “food day and night” (Psalm 42:3), and we struggle to trust God. Still, though, we can put our trust in Him and “praise Him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 43:5). 

It’s Psalm 44 that’s most challenging along these lines, though. The psalmist knows that the Divine Warrior had always been the source of the Hebrews’ victories; all their might meant nothing without God’s blessing and power: “It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them . . . I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame” (Psalm 44:3, 6). 

But, as the psalmist wrote his words, God’s people had been defeated by their enemies. God apparently no longer went out with their armies, and His people had been “devoured like sheep” (Psalm 44:11). What’s most perplexing is that the Hebrews fell in the battle though they had not been living in rebellion; “all this came upon us, though we had not forgotten you; we had not been false to your covenant” (Psalm 44:17). For whatever reason, God allowed them to be led to the slaughter in the battle. 

All the people could do was plead with God for His help: “Rise up and help us; rescue us because of your unfailing love” (Psalm 44:26) — and that’s the lesson we must learn here. Victory in spiritual warfare isn’t always immediate, nor does God’s timing always make sense. The Warrior sometimes seems nowhere to be found, and still we must turn to Him. He alone is the ultimate victor, sovereign over even the battles we seem to lose. Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:36-39).

ACTION STEPS: 

• This one is difficult: pray for faith to trust God even if He doesn’t always respond to you in your faithfulness.    
• Thank God for His Word that speaks even to situations that make little sense to us. 

PRAYER: “Help me trust you, God. Always.”    

TOMORROW’S READING:  Psalms 46-50