Slaughtered yet Loved

Psalms 44:20‭-‬23

If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!

...............

On first glance, this Psalm appears to be a simple cry for help. The psalmist is clearly in the depths of despair, feeling abandoned by God. There is a familiar pattern we see in many of the laments. The structure of the poem breaks down like this:

A recounting of God's past faithfulness (v. 1-8)
An accusation of God's present rejection (v. 9-22)
A plea for God's future deliverance (v. 23-26)

Granted, no painful crisis is simple, and pleading for God's intervention is not all that simple either. We are reminded again of the importance of remembering God's real intervening actions in times past. We are reminded that great men and women of faith had times of real doubting and even voiced honest accusations in prayer to God. God can handle our honesty, and that is often the path of reflection that reconnects us to our merciful Savior in the midst of deep pain. He empathizes with our weakness and temptations because he too bore them in Christ.

But compared to other Psalms, this does not appear to break new ground or reveal anything new about who God is or what he has accomplished. That is, until you recognize how this Psalm is quoted by Paul in Romans 8. Let's focus there for a moment:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

"For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35‭-‬39)

This passage in Romans is one of the richest promises in all of Scripture. The assurance and permanence of the love of Christ is described with absolute certainty, no matter the circumstance. And here we find that the more we grasp the depths of Psalm 44, the more rich and relieving this promise becomes.

That must have been Paul's intention. His Jewish audience should have been familiar with this painful Psalm and the emotions it would invoke. And despite the sense of rejection the persecuted Roman Christians felt, God had not fallen asleep or forgotten his precious children. Nothing, absolutely nothing in all creation, could separate them from the love of God now fully revealed in the finished work of Christ.

Lord, help me to bring my crisis to you in honest prayer. I am weak and short-sighted. Help me to see and believe that you remain faithful even in this hard time. And I know this is true because you have offered your Son who has conquered death and now lives in me. All I have and all I will ever need is found in you:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31‭-‬32)

Motivated by God's Sovereign Care

Luke 12:4-7, 32-34

"I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows....

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

.................

God is sovereign.

The Bible attests to this in many places, both explicitly or implicitly. He is sovereign over the grand design of human history, over the forces of nature, over the free moral agency of mankind, and even over the schemes of our Enemy. His sovereignty is both general and particular, impacting the vast span of the universe and the meticulous details of birds, hairs, food, and clothing, as described in this chapter of Luke.

There are at least two responses to the biblical claim that God is sovereign - Fear or Trust.

This passage connects God's sovereignty and our response in a couple of ways. The first is in the passage about persecution (v. 1-12). Jesus claims that God is sovereign in eventually judging the earth - bringing all secret things to light and determining the eternal fate of every soul based on whose kingdom they belong to. We are commanded to respond to this truth in reverent fear of our Judge. But the passage quickly turns to a reminder of God's care over the particulars of sparrows' breath and numbers of hairs. As the passage continues, we see that our response to this particular care will drive our response to persecution. If we ignore or forget God's sovereign care, we will fear others and ultimately be judged as lacking faith. But if we meditate of this sovereign care and respond with obedient trust, we will face our enemies without fear, knowing that our sovereign God will provide the words to say and ultimately guard our souls, even if our bodies perish.

Jesus teaches a parallel message linking our response to God's sovereignty and material possessions in verses 13-48. Again we are reminded of God's meticulous care over animal and plant life, so that we also will live without anxiety and respond in trust. Luke differs from Matthew in placing this passage between two additional admonitions against covetousness. The parable starting in verse 16 is meant to illustrate this truism from verse 15:

And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15)

By putting the "anxiety" passage in this context, Luke is furthering his Gospel's emphasis on generosity, and he is connecting our response to God's sovereignty with our response to material possessions. The degree to which we trust God to care deeply for our basic needs is also the degree to which we will be "rich" toward him and treasure Him above anything this world can offer (v. 21).

Lord, help me to dwell deeply on your meticulous care for me, and let that drive me to trust and obey with my life and my possessions. Help me to fear you more than any man, but to find great assurance that your care will motivate me to speak your name without shame and give of my possessions generously - for this is the kind of life that testifies to your glory, sovereignty, and personal care. Amen.

Have No Fear

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Matthew 10:26

So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

...............

This chapter appears worlds away from the common experience of American Christians. Jesus gives directions for his Twelve apostles to go out for an itinerant ministry of healing and teaching. He then gives his second teaching discourse, focusing on the eventual persecution to be faced by the early church. Let's first consider the potential causes of fear in the persecuted believers, then we will look at the command to "have no fear," and the motivating reasons that can keep us from fear in the face of trials.

(1) The Potential for Fear in the midst of Persecution.

Jesus sends out his followers and says that our experience in the world will be like "sheep amongst wolves." We are surrounded by fearful dangers, a world that is essentially in opposition to the claims of Christ and His kingdom. We are told to "beware of men" who will drag believers into court, make false accusations, and deliver some to death. The history of the early church which we now know is filled with these kinds of stories. And, the unfortunate reality is that this kind of danger continues to face believers all over the world. (Check out www.persecution.com for a clear picture of this present reality).

This chapter carries a heavy tone about it, and it should be clear to the reader that this persecution is a heart-breaking byproduct of the universal curse of sin which has infected every person on the planet. Our world is broken, from the actions of nations to the inner thoughts of the smallest child. We carry in us the very image of God (Gen 1:26-27), but it has been torn and tattered through generations of self-worship (see Rom. 1 for a rundown of the effects of sin on the world).

Topping off all this human wickedness, Jesus comes with a sword (10:34), perhaps an allusion to the intrinsically offensive character of the call to repentance. My own speculation is that the "sword" is something like a scalpel, and that the household dissensions caused by the gospel can be likened to the pain of surgery. The Physician has entered a wounded humanity with a message that is sharper than any two-edged sword, which divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, "discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12). It is only through such pain that healing and salvation can come.

What courage do we have in ministry in the midst of this broken and dangerous world?

(2) Motivations to Have No Fear

Jesus does not leave us in despair concerning the persecution that will surely come to his followers. Verses 26-33 especially give us a list of reasons to "have no fear" in our ministry to those around us.

Justice will eventually be done. "For nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be revealed" (10:26). We are to have no fear in our trials because we know the truth that God is judge and will bring everyone to account for their every word and deed. All injustice will be uncovered at the final judgment. We can have real courage in the face of persecution because we know that God is just and will vindicate his adopted children.

Our enemies cannot kill the soul. "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (10:28). We are to have no fear in our trials because we know the truth that our souls are eternally secure, preserved by the almighty hands of our Maker and Redeemer. Rather, we are to have a proper fear of God, who can kill the soul as well as the body. This may be yet another allusion to the Justice that will be done, when God will bring eternal condemnation on His enemies, sealing the rebellious fate they have deserved.

God's children are valuable to Him. "Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" (10:31). Verses 29-31 have been an encouragement to many believers over the centuries. And, while we should never allow the concept of human value to morph into some man-centered religion (as if Jesus died for us only because of our great value), there is a real comfort here in knowing that my heavenly Father likes me! He loves me! The Fatherhood of God is not incidental to our relationship with Him; it is fundamental. And, just as earthly fathers allow trials and challenges to come into the lives of their children, they still remain fathers, and (the good ones at least) will never leave their post as protectors and saviors (see Ps 121 for a reminder of God's character in this respect).

I pray that you and I will not be ashamed of proclaiming the Word of God in a dangerous world, because we know these three unchangeable truths: Justice will be done, our enemies cannot kill the soul, and we are valuable children in the arms of the most loving Father imaginable.