Psalms

To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the sons of Korah.

 ¹ We have heard with our ears, O God,
         Our fathers have told us,
         The deeds You did in their days,
         In days of old:
 ² You drove out the nations with Your hand,
         But them You planted;
         You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.
 ³ For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword,
         Nor did their own arm save them;
         But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance,
         Because You favored them.
It was the sovereign plan of the sovereign God.  The worship leaders….. the 'sons of Korah' reflect on the stories that have been passed down as part of their heritage.  Their fathers spoke to them of the amazing thing God did for them and how he moved on their behalf to bring glory to himself.  They came the land promised them and it was clear that it was conquered for them by the God that brought them there.  It was by His hand, His outstretched hand, the light of his countenance on them.  Because he favored them, because they were His chosen race.

So often we forget where we came from.  We came out of bondage from a dark place where all we had was the false hope of false gods.  When the Living God brought us from that place and brought us to the promised land, we too, need to remember.  It wasn't our doing, we didn't fight the battles, we didn't deliver ourselves.  It was the sovereign move a holy sovereign God.  We didn't deserve it, we didn't earn it and can't work to keep it.  We should recognize it as grace and respond to it by growing in obedience and holiness and righteousness.

         
 ⁴ You are my King, O God;
         Command victories for Jacob.
 ⁵ Through You we will push down our enemies;
         Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.
 ⁶ For I will not trust in my bow,
         Nor shall my sword save me.
 ⁷ But You have saved us from our enemies,
         And have put to shame those who hated us.
 ⁸ In God we boast all day long,
         And praise Your name forever.  Selah  
Yes, Selah.  Think about that.  He is our king.  Think of all the aspects and the role a king should and could have on your life today.  Through Him we have victories and deal with our enemies.  We don't trust in our weapons to save us, we trust in our king.  It's in Him we boast and praise His name forever.  His name is Jesus.  Meshiach Nagid….. Messiah the king.

 ⁹ But You have cast us off and put us to shame,
         And You do not go out with our armies.
 ¹⁰ You make us turn back from the enemy,
         And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
 ¹¹ You have given us up like sheep intended for food,
         And have scattered us among the nations.
 ¹² You sell Your people for next to nothing,
         And are not enriched by selling them.
So it seems they thought they had God figured out.  If He is our God and those are our enemies then He will strike them all down and life will be good.  Then, suddenly the enemy routes your army.  How can that be?  Where is God?  How can he allow that to happen?  But wait, didn't we just say that God is sovereign?  Did something change?  No, not at all!  God is still on the throne and even through these times He is working and moving.  Why did this happen?  We don't know.  Maybe the answer lies in the response of the people.  Were they driven closer to God or further away?  If they were driven away their faith was weak and based only on the good things God brings.  That is shallow and circumstantial faith and not a relationship.  If it drove them closer to God, there is a maturity in their faith that is not circumstantial.  It is based on relationship with a God whose holiness and sovereignty are firmly fixed in the mind of the believer regardless of what happens in life.  Whether there was correction of a weak faith or strengthening of a mature faith, God is glorified.

         
 ¹³ You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
         A scorn and a derision to those all around us.
 ¹⁴ You make us a byword among the nations,
         A shaking of the head among the peoples.
 ¹⁵ My dishonor is continually before me,
         And the shame of my face has covered me,
 ¹⁶ Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
         Because of the enemy and the avenger.
Is our success in this world based on what our neighbors think of us?  If the nations look down on us do we feel a failure?  Are we dishonored and shamed in the eyes of the world?  Should that bother us? 

         
 ¹⁷ All this has come upon us;
         But we have not forgotten You,
         Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.
 ¹⁸ Our heart has not turned back,
         Nor have our steps departed from Your way;
 ¹⁹ But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals,
         And covered us with the shadow of death.
Have you ever felt severely broken in the place of jackals?  Have you been covered with the shadow of death?  If we go to those places tomorrow, are we prepared?  Are we packed Spiritually for that trip?  We can only take what is in our heart and soul.  Have we put Jesus Christ right there in the middle?  If we go to that awful place would we have the assurance that He is right there with us?  Do we have that kind of relationship?  Can we so, no matter what, my heart is not turned back and my steps have not departed from Your way.

         
 ²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God,
         Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god,
 ²¹ Would not God search this out?
         For He knows the secrets of the heart.
 ²² Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long;
         We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
God knows our heart.  We could never forget the name of Christ or lift our hands to another god without his knowledge.  He knows our heart, we can hide nothing from Him.  And if we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter, would that not be better than we deserve?  Would that not be an honor to identify with Jesus Christ that way?  If we have died to our self and relinquished all rights to our life and given everything entirely to Him then we should know He may choose to use our life in this way.  There are many stories of martyrdom.  There are many stories of great saints dying horrible deaths.  For His sake we are killed all day long.  We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

         
 ²³ Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?
         Arise! Do not cast us off forever.
 ²⁴ Why do You hide Your face,
         And forget our affliction and our oppression?
 ²⁵ For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
         Our body clings to the ground.
 ²⁶ Arise for our help,
         And redeem us for Your mercies' sake.

The call to awake is the call for God to move on our behalf and to fight our battles.  It is a plea for Him to find favor with us and remove our affliction and oppression.  We are face down in the dust.  We can go no lower.  We can be humbled no more with breath still in our lungs.  This is the posture of a someone who has truly surrendered to God.  There is nothing but up or out.  God will fight our battle and raise them up or God will kill them and take them out.  That can be our attitude in our tough battles in life.  We stand in Christ.  We can do no better then to find our selves face down before Him.  He can raise us up for His purpose and glory.  Or, He can choose to take us out of this world, for his glory.