“Did we deserve this?”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Monday, January 23, 2023

Psalm 44 (Forward, p. 86) CEV p. 581

As I read over the central part of this psalm I could not help being a bit dismayed, and more than a bit incredulous. The psalm has the nerve, the audacity to claim that he and his people have done nothing wrong. He maintains that they have always been faithful to God and have not erred or strayed one little bit:

“All of this has happened to us, though we didn’t forget you or break our agreement. We always kept you in mind and followed your teaching…We did not forget you or lift our hands in prayer to foreign gods” (verses 17,18,20).

Oddly, this doesn’t sound at all like the Israel that is revealed elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures. Indeed, their ‘track record’, as described there, is pretty spotty, pretty ridden with sin and backsliding.

And yet, that notwithstanding, there an important lesson or application here. Many people over the years have felt themselves to be the victims of circumstances far removed from any deserving on their part. Here I think of people who have lost their jobs because of corporate downsizing or mergers, or people who have had their savings eroded away by changes in the interest rate or the investment market, or people who have lost homes or loved ones because of random attacks or natural disasters or sudden and unexpected disease or illness. They too, like our psalmist and ‘his crew’ might well be expected to say, “What have I done to deserve this?”

But here’s where our application or lesson comes in. This disgruntled crew, for all their complaining, for all their alleged undeserving, for all their grievances against God, have not yet given up on Him. They still remember, with great fondness, God’s past intervention on their behalf. And, perhaps based on that, they well neigh expect Him to do so again.

To me, this is a rather important message and example for us, for us to continue on in faith, in trusting Almighty God, even when things aren’t going our way, and yes, even when He seems absent or distant or unresponsive. Our psalmist and his crew were willing to continue on in their trust in God, and so too should we. Amen.

Forward notes: “Why have you hidden your face and forgotten our affliction and oppression?” (verse 24)

“When I teach about the Bible, I like to say that every human emotion can be found in the Bible. More than that, every human emotion can be found in the psalms. I love that these texts—the songbook of King David—express human joy, adoration, anger, love, and deep sorrow. The early monastics used to recite all 150 psalms every single day through the Divine Office; later, this was spread out over the course of a week. 

“My favourite psalms are deeply sad. At the stripping of the altar every Maundy Thursday, we recite together Psalm 22, which begins with the words, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Jesus himself cries out these words upon the cross. Today’s psalm likewise captures someone who feels abandoned and forgotten by God. The last verse reminds God of the promise to be steadfast in love. What comfort we can find in Christ himself who knows the feeling of God-forsakenness in the midst of suffering.”

MOVING FORWARD: “What’s your favourite psalm? Share it with us at #ForwardDaybyDay.”