Today we will read Psalm 44 but we’ll focus on verses 17-22:

17 All this has come upon us,
    yet we have not forgotten you
    or 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 haunt of jackals
    and covered us with deep darkness.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
    or spread out our hands to a strange god,
21 would not God discover this?
    For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Because of you we are being killed all day long
    and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

I love the honesty of the Psalms. I think that’s why the people of God, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, have always believed that reading and praying the Psalms consistently is a great spiritual virtue.  The daily office that I read from for my own devotional life is in many ways built around the Psalms.

As Christians, we should be reading the Psalms consistently and daily within our own devotional life.

Today’s Psalm is an excellent example of why the Psalms matter.  The Psalmist (this is not one of David’s, he wrote many of the Psalms, but not this one) is upset and frustrated at how things seem to be playing out. The people are fighting against their enemies. And it seems as though God has forgotten them.

In fact, it seems almost as though God is against them.  It seems as though nothing is going their way. 

Ever felt like that?  Ever felt like everyone and everything was against you? Ever felt like no matter what you would do, it seemed to be frustrated on every side? 

Ever seemed like no matter what you did, you couldn’t win?  That’s how the Psalmist feels today.  Nothing is working, nothing is right, nothing going as it should.  Everyone is against them.

And you know what?  They will still hold on to God. Even though things seem like it seems like they are at their wit’s end, they will still hold on. God has delivered them in the past. God will deliver them now.  They will hold on, even though it makes no sense.

Because that is faith. That is what faith means. It means to believe, to have hope, to hold on, even when it seems like nothing good can come of it. They hold on to God. Because they have faith. 

Today, that’s a great lesson for us. Maybe it seems like everyone is against you; nothing works right, nothing is right.  Hold on, anyway.  Have faith. God has this. God has you.  Hold on to Him.  He will make a way. 

He always has. And He always will.

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