9 Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor,
And do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
11 You give us as sheep [d]to be eaten
And have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell Your people [e]cheaply,
And have not [f]profited by their sale.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a derision to those around us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations,
A [g]laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And [h]my humiliation has overwhelmed me,
16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.17 All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You,
And we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
And our steps have not deviated from Your way,
19 Yet You have crushed us in a place of jackals
And covered us with the shadow of death.20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
Or extended our [i]hands to a strange god,
21 Would not God find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord?
Awake, do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You hide Your face
And forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul has sunk down into the dust;
Our body cleaves to the earth.
26 Rise up, be our help,
And redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
Oofta, sometimes it feels like that. Sometimes, we feel like we’re going all the right things, and God still isn’t paying attention. Now, we don’t know when this was written, and we do know there were (lots of) times Israel definitely did NOT keep God’s covenant, and they were chasing hard after “strange gods”. Yet if we take this at face value, it seems really harsh. So let’s unpack some things, and find the truth of the matter.
First, God doesn’t sleep, so we know this is more about the writer’s perspective. God wasn’t sleeping, He hadn’t rejected Israel, and He hadn’t forgotten their affliction and oppression. But it sure looked that way to the writer, and possibly to everyone else in Israel and the surrounding nations. It reminds one an awful lot of Job, and we know God was watching the whole time.
Whatever we feel, whether we feel lost or alone, abandoned or forsaken, God is there. Our feelings are fickle, and they can betray us. When it seems hopeless, we need truth. God said he will never leave us or forsake us. God sent his own Son to die in our place, so that He could rescue us, who were lost. We might be going through a test, or God might be using this time to teach you something.
I don’t know why the people of Israel felt rejected, and I don’t know your exact situation. Only God knows the “why” in every situation, but we know God is faithful. Just like the writer of this psalm, we can come to God and pour out our heart. Ultimately, he could have said, “forget this, God isn’t listening, let’s go find another God”. But he knew God was their source of help, even though it was really, really hard to feel any hope.
Never give up on God, because he’ll never give up on you, and he understands exactly what you’re going through. When you weep, he’s right there with you, and when your heart is filled with anguish, his heart breaks with yours. Keep holding on to him, He is your ever present help, even if you can’t see it at this moment.