Where Is God? - The One Year Book of Psalms

Psalm 44:20-26

20If we had turned away from worshiping our God

or spread our hands in prayer to foreign gods,

21God would surely have known it,

for he knows the secrets of every heart.

22For your sake we are killed every day;

we are being slaughtered like sheep.

23Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep?

Get up! Do not reject us forever.

24Why do you look the other way?

Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression?

25We collapse in the dust,

lying face down in the dirt.

26Rise up! Come and help us!

Save us because of your unfailing love.

This psalm asks some hard questions: Where is God in our suffering? Why isn’t he doing anything? Doesn’t he care about us anymore?

This psalm no doubt echoes the thoughts of other Old Testament figures such as Job, who innocently endured terrible suffering, or Joseph, who was repeatedly wronged even though he honored God. It also expresses the sentiments of Jeremiah, who was nearly killed as he prophesied truth to a rebellious nation. And certainly it captures the feelings of millions of believers through the centuries. The truth is, sometimes it’s downright dangerous to trust in God.

But the apostle Paul helps put things in perspective: “What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later” (Romans 8:18). It’s not over till it’s over. Bad things happen to good people, but through it all “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God” (Romans 8:28). It may not always seem that way. In fact, later in Romans 8, Paul quotes Psalm 44:22: “We are being slaughtered like sheep” (verse 36). But ultimately our enemies can never take away our most valuable possession—God’s love for us.

So if bad things are happening to you, it doesn’t mean God has stopped loving you. On the contrary, “God blesses those who are persecuted because they live for God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs” (Matthew 5:10).

God His own doth tend and nourish;

In His holy courts they flourish.

From all evil things He spares them;

In His mighty arms He bears them.

CAROLINA SANDELL BERG

Fascinating Fact

One of the great pioneers of hymn singing in the early church, Bishop Ambrose, was working on a commentary on Psalm 44 when he died. Just as he reached verse 23, exhorting God to wake up, Ambrose “fell asleep” and awoke on the other side of eternity.

Notable Quotable

“It is mercy to us, that when God might punish us for our sin, he doth make our correction honorable, and our troubles to be for a good cause—’For thy sake.’ ”

DAVID DICKSON