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Psalm 44 reminds me of the account of Job. The wording of the first line is reminiscent of Job's humble confession to the Lord after having the face-to-face for which he had asked, "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5a). The author of the psalm contends that Israel had kept the laws of God, that they had worshiped him alone, and that they had not turned away from him, in much the same way that Job contended throughout his discussions with his friends that he was a righteous man and that he had done nothing to deserve what was happening to him.
The biggest difference that I see between the psalmist and Job is that Job did have his face-to-face with the Almighty, resulting in a much more humble and contrite man. The psalmist, on the other hand, ends with a plea for Yahweh to wake up, to do something, to help them.
Most of us will never have a face-to-face encounter with
the Almighty like Job did, and that is probably something for which we ought to be grateful. We are more like the psalmist who acknowledges the
great deeds of Yahweh but wonders why he does not see those deeds happening on behalf
of his people right now, today.
As we walk through difficult times we learn to trust Yahweh on a deeper level
than we have before, we cry out to him for help, courage, and his sustaining
power. Our encounters with God are heart-to-heart rather than face-to-face. And when we do finally “see” God we are changed at the heart level, walking away from the process with a greater trust in God's love and
grace. These moments, in which God reveals himself to us in greater detail, are
always awe-inspiring. We, like Job, get to say, “I had heard of you, but now I
see you. You are great, and I am small.”
It is in these moments that true
gratefulness digs deep roots into our souls and grows us into more humble and
gracious people.
