August 18

August 18

Unfailing Mercy

…we may trust in the unfailing grace of God to redeem us and help us from even the consequences which we deserve.


Psalm 44
…
9 But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies.
10 You made us retreat before the enemy, and our adversaries have plundered us.
11 You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold your people for a pittance, gaining nothing from their sale.
13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us.
15 My disgrace is before me all day long, and my face is covered with shame
16 at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me, because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.
17 All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant.
18 Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path.
19 But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals and covered us over with deep darkness.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?
22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
24 Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?
25 We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.
26 Rise up and help us; redeem us because of your unfailing love.

Ina previous commentary on this Psalm we learned that the Psalmist was going to act in faith trusting God to act in his life as he had in the lives of his ancestors. In our present text we learn the real background to his profession.

In this portion of the Psalmist’s lament we learn he and his nation feel deserted by God. He even had the audacity to say he believed the judgment was undeserved. He says :

17 All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant.

However, he says one single thing which must at sometime be on the lips of any one of us, “redeem us because of your unfailing love.”

There are times in the lives of every one of us that we are well aware of the sins and failures of our pasts. However, these are the times when we may trust in the unfailing grace of God to redeem us and help us from even the consequences which we deserve. That is true of individuals, communities and nations.

2 Timothy 2:13
(Today's New International Version)
13 …if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.