All this has happened though we have not forgotten you. We have not violated your covenant. Our hearts have not deserted you. We have not strayed from your path. Yet you have crushed us in the jackal’s desert home. You have covered us with darkness and death. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread our hands in prayer to foreign gods, God would surely have known it, for he knows the secrets of every heart. But for your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep. [Psalm 44.17-22]
Okay, there is something here most who are serving the Lord don't want to hear.
The Psalmist says a bunch of bad stuff happened even though "we" have not forgotten "you" (the Lord).
You know what? This was evidently written during the time that Israel and Judah had completely betrayed God and and were being conquered and removed from the Promised Land by foreigners. We must pay attention that the timing of these Psalms has then inserted right in the middle of God's people constantly "following the ways of Jeroboam." Those ways of Jeroboam were idolatrous!
So, it is apparent that the author of this Psalm may have been part of a group that had not betrayed God in following in the sins of Jeroboam! But they suffered right alongside their fellow countrymen who did betray God!
Bible history proves that God deals with individuals, but also, with nations. In other words, sometimes repentance (a topic visited often by me lately) is more than just personal! There comes a time when nations, as a whole, need to repent.
Although the Body of Christ exists in the USA (or any other nation in the world), is it right that we think we are immune to God's judgment on our nation for rampant sin (abortion, faithlessness, homosexuality, greed. lust, etc...)? Both the short and the long answers to this question are: NO!
You see, the Psalmist who penned the words above had certainly NOT betrayed God, but suffering came anyway. Why? Because, holy and sanctified as he was, he was still part of the nation upon whom God threatened judgment if they, as a nation, did not repent (which they did not).
And what's more, these words are precisely what Jesus said on the Cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" It was because Jesus had come to earth and became one with the people - Yes, He was Holy, He was sanctified, but He suffered for all the world's sin because He had made Himself part of humanity. This is deep!
Jesus did not sin - but Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to death... Why? Because only His suffering could bring eternal salvation. But the death He suffered WAS NOT HIS OWN!
The Psalmist quoted above was experiencing suffering that was not his own.
If our nation experiences severe judgment from God, all of us will suffer together. The purpose becomes clear then that those who claim to know God - the faithful - serve themselves and their nation well to advise repentance! Jesus did precisely that!
Wow. What a revelation for Independence Day in the USA - the day that signifies our national autonomy.
Father, I think more than ever, I am seeing that the message of repentance is not only personal but national in its necessity. Help me to make Your message known in my home and my nation.
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