Fact and Feeling

Scripture Reading: Romans 8 and Psalm 44

              When Paul wrote, “For you sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered” (Romans 8:36), he was quoting Psalm 44:22. But when you read that line in the contexts of both Romans 8 and Psalm 44 you discover Paul and the Psalmist strike starkly different tones.

              The 44th Psalm is a plaintive prayer, a petition borne out of a sense that God had abandoned His people. The Psalmist writes as if God had fallen asleep (v.23) and forgotten about His people (v.24). He presents evidence for his charge: Persecution against God’s people is being successful. Their enemies have managed to scatter them (v.11). They are mocked by the world (vs. 13,14). They have fallen into a disgraceful state (v.15). Then there is the particular statement Paul quoted, “they are led like sheep to the slaughter” (v.22). In the mind of the Psalmist, this is all evidence that God had forsaken His people.

              Paul, on the other hand, comes to a completely different conclusion, although the circumstances are similar. The experience of Paul and the early church and the Psalmist and the Old Testament people of God were so similar, Paul thought it justifiable to use the same language and quote from Psalm 44. But Paul doesn’t see persecution as a sign of God-forsakenness. He comes to the exact opposite conclusion. He makes several key points in chapter 8:

·       The future glory of God’s people far outweighs any present suffering (v.18).

·       All things work together for good (v.28).

·       God gave us His Son. He will give us everything else we need (v.32)

·       Nothing can separate us from God’s love (v.33)

What gives Paul confidence and assurance of God’s care that the Psalmist seemed to lack? Why was Paul bold in proclaiming “nothing can separate us” while the Psalmist feared God had abandoned them? The difference was Paul’s understanding of the gospel. Read Romans 8 again and pay attention to how Paul weaves the gospel into his confident, positive assertions. “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all…” is the reasoned ground of Paul’s bold confidence. He is sure of God’s present care and future glory because of His past actions in the death and resurrection of Christ.

              The Psalmist was walking in the shadows. Paul had entered the full light of the New Covenant. Both expressed their experience with the same words. They were like sheep being led to the slaughter. But they lived their experience with a different outlook. And the difference in outlook was shaped by their understanding of the gospel.

              It is not that it would be wrong for us to pray Psalm 44 the way the Psalmist prayed it. It may be how we feel when we experience extreme trial and suffering. If we feel that way, we should be honest to God and say so. But we must also let faith arise in our hearts. We must turn again to the Cross and the empty tomb and by faith declare that these sufferings now can’t compare to the glory that will be then. We must proclaim by faith that nothing can separate us from the love of God. And that faith can’t be built on the sandy ground of mere wishful thinking. It must be established on the hallowed, solid rock of the Cross and the empty tomb.