Revering the Word
Psalm 44 Why do bad things happen to believers?
Good morning everyone. We are in Psalm 44 this morning. This is a very interesting psalm. Let's get into it. Let me give you a foretaste of what is about to take place here. So the sons of Kora wrote this song. We've talked about them in the past, but in this particular instance they're going to begin by letting God know they remember how they have been told and have seen God be with them, you know, throughout the desert, throughout the promised land, victories in order to give them the land. But in this particular season of history, they are having a battle that where they got defeated and they're wondering where God is. It's I think it's good and right that they begin by reminding themselves and proclaiming God we've known how you've been faithful. But God, why now? Why are you letting us be defeated now? Where are you God? Why haven't you helped us? Why are our enemies conquering us? And this whole thought then gets brought into the New Testament by the Apostle Paul. And it's a very it brings up many interesting questions and will help us to wrestle with God's sovereignty and man's free will. And what do we do and what do we say when bad things happen? So let's get into it. Verse one, Oh God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us the work that you did in their days in the days of old, you with your own hand drove out the nations. I mean, it's really good that even though they're in this season where God doesn't seem to be giving them victory that they're remembering his faithfulness, then you planted them, you afflicted the peoples, then you spread them abroad by their own sword they did not possess the land and their own arm did not save them, but your right hand and your arm and the light of your presence for you favored them. Now, man, this is just really ministering to me this morning, not necessarily because of what I'm going through, but I just think this is very profound. This writer, the sons of Cora is remembering and even proclaiming to God that, hey, God has done this and that God has provided for us. God, not by our own hand, but by God's will, he gave us victory, by God's will, things took place in our lives and, you know, he ushered us through the desert, he gave us the promise land. We have heard from our fathers who've gone before us about God's faithfulness. And here's the thing, we, in this day and age, we have God's Word, right? And we have seen that, you know, God created Adam and Eve in a desert. We have seen God flooded the earth through Noah, but saved Noah's family. We have seen God bring about a ram and a thicket when Abraham was going to offer up Isaac. And then God provided a replacement. We have seen God part the sea for the Israelites to go on dry ground. We have seen him provide manna and quail. We have seen him bring water from the rock. If you're going through the journey with us, we're just about to enter the promise land in our journey. We're in the book of numbers, so we're not quite there yet. But we now, today, we've seen God do lots of things throughout history. We've seen him bring forth his son. And we've seen his son die. We've seen his son rise again and come back from the dead and show the holes in his hands and the holes in his feet. And it's good and right. We remember that because there are going to be times and seasons in life like this sons of Cora and these guys in this season in history where things might not be working out the way that they would want. And you know what we endure that. We go through life where, you know, it's like, I wish things would happen this way and it's not happening this way. God, how come, you know, someone died? How come my family died? How come I'm going through this hard time? How come I'm being persecuted? Well, maybe sometimes it's because of our own doing. And maybe God's withholding his hand in a moment will see that, you know, they were losing in military battle. And maybe it was partially a consequence of their own sin. Or for whatever reason, maybe God allowed, you know, suffering for a season. But the thing is, is no matter what's happening, it doesn't change what's happened. This is a that's something that God is, you know, I guess put upon my lips. And, you know, I remember it. May you remember it. No matter what's happening, it doesn't change what's happened. You know, I share it this way sometimes if I die today, if I get hit by a truck today and die, no matter what is happening to me right now, it can never change what's already happened in God. All the things God has done, everything I've mentioned and so much more, right? It's all happened regardless of what is happening. So we can't base our faith just on what's happening because life doesn't always turn out. Things aren't always perfect in this life. And part of it is to point us to the next life, to point us to our heavenly reward and even the reward of heaven itself. And that gives us the strength to face difficulty challenges in this life, knowing that we have a promise of eternal life. So we're kind of get to that. But man, I just think that's so important to bring up. And may God bring that to your memory, no matter, nothing that's happening can ever change what has happened. That's why, you know, my faith, my faith in God isn't as much about what is going on right now. I believe God can and does interact with our lives right now. But I'm not, I don't need God to do something. God doesn't have to do something right now in order for me to believe in him. I already believe in him based on everything that he's already done, everything that's already happened. And I don't necessarily expect my life to be gravy and I don't expect my life to be a hundred years. It may be, it may not be. I don't have that expectation. And I don't think we should. I think, I think we're thankful for how God is interactive in our lives. And I do believe in general, he gives greater favor and blessing to those who obey him and follow him and believe in him. But it doesn't mean that everything's going to work out in this life. And I think that's a better way to live life is to trust God and everything that he's already done. Alright, verse three, the second half, and their own arm did not say them by your right hand, your arm and the light of your presence, you favored them. So God favored Israel and did bless them. You are my king, oh God, command victories for Jacob. Through you, we will push back our adversaries. Through your name, we will trample down those who rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, nor will my sword save me. And you know, they were in a season of history where they had enemies and there were battles. And man, they really needed God to come through for them. And it'd be really rough to, you know, see God provide for you in the past, but then now you lose military victory and people lose their lives. Verse seven, but you have saved us from our adversaries and you have put to shame those who hate us. In God, we have boasted all day long and we will give thanks to your name forever. And that's the right attitude. We just boasted God all day long all the way to heaven and then in heaven, hallelujah. And we give thanks to you. But listen, this is where this whole thing changes. Yet you have rejected us and brought us to dishonor because of their military defeat and do not go out with our armies. You're like, God, you're not even helping our armies anymore. You cause us to turn back from the adversary and those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. They've taken our spoil. You give us as sheep to be eaten and have scattered us among the nations. You sell your people cheaply and have not profited by their sale. You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those around us. You make us a byword among the nations. He's really saying, God, you know, where are you? We've been getting crushed. We are a laughing stock among the peoples. All day long, my dishonor is before me and my humiliation has overwhelmed me because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger. Man, they're really in a distraught situation and receiving defeat. And God, where are you? All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten you. Now that that's the right word. Even though there's seasons in history where God allowed his people to be forsaken or maybe where you feel like you're forsaken, you feel that way. Ultimately, those who have faith won't be forsaken because we'll be in his presence in heaven. And it says here, and we have not dealt falsely with your covenant. Now, this is where I feel like the Psalmist might be, could be wrong. You know, there's people who are wrong in the Bible, meaning, you know, there are people who are part of God's family, who said things, proclaimed things, did things that were wrong. They sinned or, and when he says we have not dealt falsely with your covenant, I kind of question that, right? There were many times where Israel was unfaithful to God. So he's almost acting so they don't deserve any of this. And he says, our heart has not turned back and our steps have not deviated from your way. You know, maybe they were faithful in this season in history, but we've seen so much unfaithfulness of Israel all throughout history that I think it would probably have been better if that he acknowledged, you know, their own heir. But you know what, let's take it this way for a moment. There may be times that we're doing it right, and we are honoring God, and we still feel like we're facing difficulty hardship persecution, even though we are honoring Him. So I think that could be, you know, the lesson that we need to learn today. It says verse 19, "Yet you have crushed us in a place of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God, or extended our hands to a strange God, would not God find this out?" He's saying, you know what, we haven't done that. We haven't worshiped strange gods. We haven't forgotten the name of our God. You would know God if that were true. So he really seems to be believing that they are in a position of honoring God right now, and they're still being defeated. And what do you do with that, right? You're honoring God, but yet you feel like you're under heavy difficulty, and God has not provided. For He knows the secrets of the heart, meaning God knows whether we've been faithful or not. Now listen, this is where the New Testament gets brought in. But for your sake, we are killed all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. Now I want to get back to that in a moment. Let's finish the Psalm, there's only four more verses. Arouse yourself, "Why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake and do not reject us forever. And why do you hide your face and forget our affliction and our oppression? For our soul has sunk down into the dust, our body cleaves to the earth, rise up, be our help, and redeem us for the sake of your loving kindness." It's kind of interesting, so it's, I don't know, almost 6 a.m. in the morning. And here we're talking about, you know, God, where are you? And you know, you've forgotten our affliction, and it's just pouring rain. I don't know if you can hear that. There's a little bit of lumbling in the sky as well. But it's coming down really hard right now, kind of interesting, right? In the midst of affliction, in the midst of, you know, pouring rain, God, where are you? God, how come? God, why aren't you coming through for me? Very interesting. Now, I mentioned that verse 22, "But for your sake we are killed all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." Now, this is directly quoted by the Apostle Paul, and it's inferred to in other areas as well. But where it's directly quoted is in Romans chapter 8. Let me get there. All right, listen to what it says here. "Who will separate us from the love of Christ?" It's a question Paul had. Romans 8.35, "Will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?" Now, I want you to think about this. People were heavily persecuted in a New Testament. I mean, Peter was killed. The Apostle Paul was killed. Every apostle, there's record of them being killed for their faith. I were eventually abandoned like John to the island of Patmos. But people go through hard times and believers who believe in Jesus, sometimes they're gonna die of peril or sword. They may go through famines in life, right? But that doesn't mean that God is unfaithful. And then Paul, this is what he says, "Just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long. We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." So he quotes directly the psalm that we're covering this morning because he's using it as an explanation that, "Hey, listen, as a Christian, you may go through very difficult times." And that doesn't mean that God's unfaithful. Listen to what he says next then. "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced." Now, what does it mean that we conquer? Does that mean that we rise up victorious in this life? Well, we may. We may have that God's favor and blessing and we may receive some kind of victory in this life. But I don't think that's what he's talking about. He's like even if we are put to death, even if we go through tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, all these things, God is still God and He's still for us and He's got heaven awaiting us. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to calm nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Hallelujah. So even in difficult times God is still there and He's got a promise for us and heaven and His love is going to usher us into His presence one day. Keep your faith even when life seems to not be going your way. I think that's so important. You know, I've thought about this many times is that think about the unfaithfulness of God's people when they got deported to Babylon and as a result of their unfaithfulness, Nebuchadnezzar came in and took over Jerusalem and deported the people. Now was every person unfaithful to God? Every Israelite? Whether or none that are faithful but yet they all experienced the persecution of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians and people then, you know, even children, right, got deported and ended up having to live in Babylon where they were there for 70 years before they were able to come back. Well, think about this. How many people in 70 years died? You know, how many lots, right? I mean, most of the people died. Almost everybody that Nebuchadnezzar came and took over was already dead by the time that they were able to go back 70 years later. So people, you know, say innocent people died or, you know, now none of us are innocent because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But, you know, people who weren't unfaithful still had to suffer in that season of history and that can happen today. Like, you know, good people who love the Lord and are faithful to Him have bad things happen and people die and tragedies still occur. And, you know, I think it's really important to understand this because if you take a hard determinism stance and you combine that with an improper theology, meaning, okay, let's go with this. God is good. God controls everything. God is good. God controls everything. So therefore, when bad things happen because God controls everything, God did it. Well, if God did it, then God must not be good. So this is where a lot of people get to. They say, well, God controls everything, knows everything and God is good. But He, a lot of bad things happen in this life. So then it's God's fault. So now I'm going to hold it against God. And I think there's some issues there. I think there's some much greater mystery to this than what we know. And, you know, in this season in history that we're talking about in this Psalm, you know, God's been providing, but now there's a military battle where they lose and they feel like God's forsaking Him. So they're starting to say, God, like, where are you? Why are you not providing for us? Well, if you don't think that everything has to work out like gravy in this life, and when you already listen, everyone's going to die, unless Jesus comes back and takes us home through the rapture before we die. Otherwise, everyone's going to die. And if you don't have a realistic expectation that in this life, there's going to be pain suffering, difficulty and death, then you're going to be misinformed and misaligned and feel like God's not faithful when bad things happen. Listen, I believe that God is all powerful. And he can do everything, but I don't believe he always does. So I believe that, you know, I've explained it like this. And listen, you don't have to take my explanation. You don't have to believe it. There's things that we don't know. I'm just going to give you my explanation. And the best way that I can understand God's sovereignty and his ability to control everything, but yet not always doing so is, you know, back in the day when I was young, and I've never been a hockey fan, really. But I still remember the referee who's in charge of that ice rink and what goes on there can call the fouls and the penalties and that fouls penalties and that kind of thing. Well, they also have something to say about those who fight. And you know, back in the day, the referees would let them fight a lot more. They'd let them go for a while. And nowadays, I think they break it up much quicker. But the referee had some discretion. But the referee didn't make them fight. He didn't make them fight. He just sometimes stayed his hand and said, All right, you guys want to knock yourselves out? Go ahead. I'll give you 30 seconds to, you know, punch yourself, punch each other, and maybe that'll make you feel better. Now, he could have just broke it up, right? The referee could stop it right away. But sometimes he chose not to. He chose just to let them let their own will, even their own negative will, you know, fight for a while. And that's how I understand God today. It's not that God, yes, if he wants to orchestrate something he can, he can do whatever he wants. But I think many times in this life, he said, listen, I've given you Jesus. I've given you my Holy Spirit. And I've also given you free will. And now I want to see what you're going to do with it. Are you going to obey me? Are you going to follow me? Are you going to use your free will to love me? I'm going to interact with your lives. There's sometimes I'm going to provide. But there's sometimes that life's going to happen. And I just am allowing it to happen. And it's not like you can't, it's not my fault. I'm not creating the bad things that are evil in the world. The other thing to look at this, there's so many things. But this is called Satan's world that he has some dominion in this world. Now, yes, God Trump Satan, but he's still on the loose and bad things still happen. The Bible also says you will reap what you sow. So think about that. The Bible says you'll reap what you sow. So that means that based on your behavior, sometimes some things are going to happen, whether good or bad based on your behavior, that alone allows for free will in the sense that God is saying, okay, go at it in this life, live your life, choose to honor me. And there's probably going to be a better life for you and better things are going to happen because you're going to report you so. So God put in that provision that that happens, we reap what we sow. So, but does that mean that we always reap what we sow? Meaning, let's say we did right all the time. Does that mean that only good's going to happen to us? No, you know, sometimes there's going to be famine, nakedness or sword. So, I think this brings up so many interesting questions. But the Apostle Paul refers to this passage in Psalms today and says, we face death all day long. We are like sheep led to a slaughter because the New Testament people were going to face extreme hardship and difficult times and they could be tempted to think, well, this means God's unfaithful, but he's saying, no, God's with you to the end. He's going to usher you into his heavenly home. So, endure and trust God even though bad things are going to happen in this life. And when we know that, when we already know that, now we're prepared in this life that something bad might happen and we can still trust God in the midst of it because hallelujah, he's going to take us to heaven. Now, this whole message could be used by someone who has a different view of eschatology than me and believes that as a result of this, we're going to face the tribulation and we're going to go through all the difficult things of the tribulation, but that doesn't mean that God's unfaithful. Well, I could see how someone could use that logic to justify that belief and even if we did, let's just say we did go through the tribulation. God ultimately would still be faithful. Don't take the mark of the beast. And you know what? God's still going to usher us into his heavenly home as long as we remain faithful during the tribulation. But I think there's a great distinction here. There's a very significant distinction. What the Apostle Paul was talking about in Romans 28 was hardship persecution in this life, but what's happening in tribulation is God's wrath. And we are promised over and over and over in the Bible to be saved from the wrath of God. And the wrath of God comes in to the book of Revelation earlier, way earlier on in the tribulation, already in the sixth seal, it's called the wrath of the Lamb. And the church is God's beloved. It's his bride. And although that doesn't mean the church won't go through. Listen, people in the church age are going to die. They're going to be killed for their faith. They're going to have bad things happen. They're going to go through famine and all of that. But those are the things of life. What they're not going to experience, I believe in so many others do too, is the wrath of God. And the tribulation is the wrath of God. I believe when those seals are being opened and death and wars beginning to break out, this is God's seals, his preordained time on the earth that he's established. And I believe it's God's wrath. And we're going to be saved from it. But I have no problem believing that the church and people like us are going to face difficult times on earth and that we need to just be faithful to God all the way to the end. So, hallelujah. May we have a realistic expectation in this life that praise God, I've seen his favor. But I'm prepared. Lord, help us to be prepared. Even if difficulty comes in this life, may we keep our faith in you all the way to the end. Hallelujah. And God bless you all. [BLANK_AUDIO]