Rev. Don Campbell

Psalms 43-45, 49, 84-85, 87

THOUGHT FOR TODAY, April 24, 2019

“LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S BELLY”

These psalms repeatedly take us from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat, sometimes in the same psalm, as is the case in Psalm 44. The song begins with “O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old” (v.1). This theme continues through verse eight. Verse nine begins with that fateful word “but.”

“But you have rejected us and disgraced us and have not gone out with our armies. You have made us turn back from the foe, and those who hate us have gotten spoil. You have made us like sheep for slaughter and have scattered us among the nations. You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them. You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face at the sound of the taunter and reviler, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger” (vv.9-6).

The composers believed with all their hearts that all of this had come upon them in spite of their faithfulness to God (vv.17-22). Absolute innocence can never be claimed by any generation, whether in the Old Testament or the New, but verse 22 seems to support their claim that their sufferings were for righteousness sake and not like the sufferings of the generation of those whose carcasses fell in the wilderness: “Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” Paul quotes this verse, clearly applying it to suffering for righteousness sake (Romams 8:31-39).

Perplexed by the perception that God had hidden his face, they sang, “For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love” (vv.24-26). While our idiom “lower than a snake’s belly” generally refers to someone of low moral character, we use it here to describes the feelings many of us have shared at one time or another with the sons of Korah. Even the Son of God cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

CONNECTIONS

1. Paul said, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). We have not experienced the depth of Paul’s sufferings, but when we feel perplexed, persecuted, forsaken, or struck down, what solace can we find in verse 11 through chapter five, verse 10?
2. A much different theme is found in Psalms 84 and 85. What is the promise of 84: 11-12? What is the promise in 85: 12-13?