Psalm 44: 1 – 26
Making the ‘Cast’
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, Bbecause You favored them. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
We read in the Gospel of John 6:37, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
The meaning of ‘cast’ is to throw with force, cast out - expel from a community or group; To turn or direct; To assert in relation to someone or something or cause to be associated: ‘Don't let him cast aspersions on your character.’ ‘The results cast doubt on our hypothesis.’
Stop and think about what is said here. The Lord's integrity is at stake. He must keep His promise. The Lord cannot lie. The Lord said what He meant and meant what He said!
The lord promises in John 6:37 that anyone, that means ‘ANYBODY’, who comes to Him will not be turned away. The Lord Jesus didn't stipulate any exclusions. The Lord didn't make a list of people who don't qualify to come to Him. Anyone may come to Jesus!
The Holy Son of God Jesus didn't say that He'd only receive people who've made a commitment to Him, forsaken the world or departed from a past life of sin. No, rather, Jesus didn't place any exclusions, limitations or restrictions on coming. Clearly, the Lord said, ‘him (her) that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out! We are told in God's inspired Word that the Lord will ‘NOT CAST AWAY’ anyone who comes to Him for salvation.
Our Lord Jesus however said in John 5:40, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Our Master and King Jesus ‘DIDN'T’ say “YE CANNOT COME”; but rather, “YE WILL NOT COME.” The Scriptures plainly tell us why they wouldn't come to Jesus to be saved. John 3:20, “For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” The Bible teaches that unrepentant sinners WON'T come to the Lord.
Thus, if a person sincerely comes to Jesus to be saved, Christ will save them as He ‘PROMISED’. The very fact that they are coming to Christ to be saved is clear evidence of some degree of repentance in their heart. A person comes to Christ because they have had “a change of mind”.
We read in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 19 verse 15, “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.”
We will note in today’s scripture study our Precious Holy Spirit we declare twice about how no believers will be ‘cast’ out of His presence but for us the ‘great’ news is that He will never ‘cast’ us out.
To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the sons of Korah.
The word ‘maschil’ means ‘understanding’. It has been variously interpreted as meaning, ‘a teaching Psalm’.
The basis of the Psalm, which is a lament because God has allowed them to be defeated in warfare, is as to why God has failed to fight on their side and give them victory as He had done in past times. It claims that the people have been faithful to God’s covenant, and yet that despite that God has failed to help them so that they find themselves in extremities. And it ends with an appeal to God to reverse the situation. It was regularly sung because such occasions kept reoccurring. It is thus an assurance that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
In a similar way it contains encouragement for us when we cannot understand why God allows us to endure trials, even though we have not specifically failed Him in any way that we can recall, for it demonstrates that such circumstances have often come on the people of God in the past and must therefore be expected. It is the common experience of God’s people. It is not so much therefore that we have outwardly failed to observe His covenant, as that we have allowed our faith to fall to a low level, as with the church at Ephesus which had lost its first love (Revelation 2.1-6), so that we have been needing a jolt to get us back to truly trusting in Him.
The Psalmist first calls to mind how it was God Who gave His people victory when they initially took possession of the land of Canaan.
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:
The people (‘we’) call to God and describe what they have learned from their fathers in the past, of how God had acted for them in days of old. Each year at their festivals these things would be recalled and read out to them as a reminder of God’s graciousness in the past, and especially so at the end of the seven-year cycle. Exodus 23.14-17, “14 “Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: 15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); 16 and the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field. 17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.”
It was the responsibility of every father to make his family aware of YHWH’s deliverance of His people from Egypt at the Feast of the Passover (Exodus 12.26-27, “26 And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’?” So, the people bowed their heads and worshiped.”
2 You drove out the nations with Your hand, but them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.
On the one hand He had driven out the nations with His hand, on the other He had planted and established His own people in their place. On the one hand He had afflicted the peoples, and on the other He had spread His own people abroad throughout the land.
The picture is possibly of a tree which is firmly planted, and then grows and spreads out its leafy branches. The idea of His people being ‘planted’ is a common one in Scripture (Exodus 15.17, “You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which You have made for Your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.). It is applied in Isaiah 61.3 to those who will be restored to God by the coming Anointed Prophet, ‘that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of YHWH’, Matthew 15.13 where those who are not of the Father’s planting will be rooted up, “ But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.”
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.
And it was God Who had done it. For it was not by their sword that they took possession of the land, nor as a result of the exercise of the strength of their own arm that they were saved. Rather it was God’s right hand, and His arm, and the fact that He was looking on them with love and favor, that was responsible for their success.
The thing that stood out to them in their history was the amazing way that time and again God had openly acted on their behalf when they themselves were in dire straits.
The Psalmist allots the supreme Kingship to God and calls on Him to act as their King and deliver His people. This was part of a King’s responsibility. He points out that he is putting all his trust in Him.
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.
Addressing God as ‘my King’, he calls on Him to exercise His divine power and ‘command’ deliverances for Israel (Jacob). Once God has done that he has no doubt that through Him and His mighty power His people will be able to ‘push down’ their adversaries, as a wild ox pushes down its foes with its horns, and that through His Name they will be able to trample on those who rise against them, as the wild ox tramples its foes beneath its feet.
The ‘name’ was expressing the full attributes and character of the One named. It may be that, as YHWH is nowhere mentioned, the ‘Name’ referred to Is ‘King’.
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
He is not prepared to trust to any weapon of his own, neither sword or bow, for he knows the power of his enemies, but his trust will be in God, Who has in the past saved His people from their adversaries, and has put to shame those who hate them. Thus it is in God that they have boasted all the day long, and it is their intention to give thanks to Him for ever. Their whole confidence is in Him. (It is this that makes it so surprising to him that they have faced defeat at the hands of their enemies).
‘Selah’ may have been a pause in the music, possibly indicating ‘think of that’, or a signal for a special blast of music signaling the importance of what has just been said.
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.
At some stage they have received a resounding defeat at the hands of their enemies, and that this has shaken the king’s confidence in God (verse 15). This would suggest that it followed a long period when they had been triumphant in all their battles. But now there had been a reverse, and it seemed that God appeared to have washed His hands of them and brought dishonor on them.
In his view their defeat could only mean that God had not gone with the army into battle and had not given them the strength to face the enemy. The result was that they had fled before the enemy, leaving them to take what spoil they would.
It could be that their problem had been overconfidence, and not waiting on God before they decided on their action. We must always be careful not to run ahead of God. Or there may have been some lesson that God wanted to teach them. It had certainly made them think.
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.
As a consequence the enemy had been able to slaughter them, like sheep are slaughtered for food, and had been able to take many captives who had been scattered among the nations. This suggests that they had been fighting an alliance of nations. Alternately it many signify that so many had been taken prisoner that the surplus was sold on as slaves to other nations.
And what has God gained by it? Absolutely nothing. He has sold them for nothing and is no better off than He was before. In this we find a clue to what has happened. Their faith in God had become based on the assumption that God blessed and delivered them because it was to His benefit, rather than because they were truly living in accordance with His will. Seeing themselves as His prized possession they had allowed the keen edge of their dedication to Him to diminish claiming He would still look after them whatever they did.
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.
The consequence of what has happened is that their enemies are gloating. Their neighbours are reproaching them (‘Where is your God?’). They are scoffing at them and deriding them. They had made such boasts in their God that their neighbors saw what had happened to them as demonstrating their folly. They had become a byword, among the nations, who were shaking their heads at them because of what they saw as their foolishness in making such a big thing of their God.
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.
And it especially reflected on the king. He was shamed by what had happened, and the dishonor of it was with him all day long. He could not get over it. And the shame reflected on his face covered his whole being. He was totally ashamed from head to foot. For all around him he heard those who reproached him, and even reproached God, because of the avenging enemy who had so dealt with them. Their utter defeat was hard to face.
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.
What is most puzzling to the Psalmist is that he can think of no reason why it has happened. They have not forgotten God (they have fulfilled all their responsibilities), as far as they are aware they have not dealt falsely in His covenant (they have obeyed what they saw to be its precepts), their heart has not turned back from Him nor have they ceased walking in His way. Why then has He so sorely broken them in the waste places (where jackals live) and covered them with such deep gloom?
There is an indication of complacency here. When men begin to think that their lives are exemplary it is usually a sign of spiritual complacency. Those who walk in His light are constantly aware of sin (1 John 1.7-10, “7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”). Thus, this may very well explain exactly what had happened. By it He may have been saying to them, ‘you say I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and do not know that are wretched; miserable, poor, blind and naked’ (Revelation 3.17).
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.
The Psalmist now admits the possibility that in a sense they have forgotten what God is, that is, they have forgotten ‘the Name of God’. He does it in the form of a question. If they have done so, or if they have worshipped a strange god, will not God search it out? Will He not be aware of what they have done? For after all He knows the secrets of the heart.
And his answer is, yes, that is what has happened. That is why some of His people are even now facing constant sacking and are still being killed like sheep for the slaughter. It is clear now that God does have something against them. They have left their first love. They are no longer truly glorying in Him as their Sovereign Lord as they should. Verse 22 is cited in Romans 8.36 where the aim is to bring out that even though God loves His people, He still allows them to go through times of trouble.
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.
He now calls on God as their ‘Sovereign Lord’ to awaken out of sleep, and act on their behalf. He asks Him to arise so that they may not be cast off forever. This is not a rebuke but a recognition that God may act when He will. He does not really think that God is asleep, but simply behaving as though He were. The change from ‘God’ to ‘Lord’ (adonai) may indicate a recognition of the need for a new change of heart. They have been neglecting His Lordship.
Remembering how he had previously described the light of God’s countenance as having been turned towards His people at the conquest (verse 3), he asks why He is not doing the same now. Why does He now hide His face from them? Why does he forget their affliction and oppression? The enemy are still active in the surrounding countryside, and that they are at the very end of their resources, for the soul bowed down to the dust, and the body cleaving to the earth are indications of total defeat. Thus, their only hope is in their God.
And so he prays that their Sovereign Lord will now rise up and give them aid, and will for the sake of His own covenant love (Exodus 34.7-8, “keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation. So, Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.”) now redeem them. Their whole hope is in Him and they are looking to Him.
