Year 5, Day 190: Psalm 44

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

God is indeed King of the universe.  We can say that confess with incredible boldness because we logically believe it to be true.  But as I seem to be saying a lot in these past few days, there is a difference between saying it with our logic and living it out.

Let’s look at Psalm 44 as a test case for this idea.  The psalm begins with the psalmist confessing the works of the Lord.  He speaks about how he has heard the mighty hand of God as he brought the Hebrew people forth out of Egypt and planted them in the Promised Land.  He’s heard about how he uprooted the native Canaanites.  He can confess the great stories from the past that he’s heard about all of his life.  Logically, he knows about the power that the king of the universe commands over creation.

However, as we get into the second half of the psalm we hear the psalmist turning to his own life and his own experience.  The psalmist is in a time of turmoil and trouble.  He’s in a time where life isn’t so great.  He feels like the king of the universe has abandoned him because he’s experiencing some hardship.  It’s a natural place to be.  Haven’t we all been there?  Haven’t we all stopped once and a while and asked God where He is because He seems far off?

That’s what Psalm 44 is all about.  But the reality is that just because God seems far off doesn’t mean that He is.  Just because things might seem hard and difficult doesn’t mean that the King of the universe has abandoned us.  God is indeed King of the universe.  He can bless us with good times and He can carry us through bad times.  Just because we don’t always live a happy life that goes in a good direction doesn’t change who God is.  Nor does it change God’s proximity to us.  He is always king.

Our problem is living that out.  As the psalmist is describing here in this psalm, it is easy to know and confess God’s greatness while being hard to live it out on a day to day basis.  He is always king.  We need to live in ways that reflect this reality more.

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