Awake, why sleepest thou, Lord? arise, cast [us] not off for ever.
The psalm has just pleaded the nation's faithfulness through disaster. Now it turns and speaks to God with startling boldness, as though He were asleep while His people die. Two questions follow at once: how can God sleep, and who may pray like this?
The closing verses belong to a faithful remnant — the few in Israel who stay true — at a time when God has set the nation aside. One writer walks through the psalm to this appeal:
Psalm 44 gives a full and vivid picture of the state of the nation, as it stands in the conscience of the remnant… Verses 9-16 recount their present state. They are cast off and scattered… Yet they have in no way swerved from their integrity. On the contrary, it is for His sake they are killed all the day long, and counted as sheep for the slaughter. Verses 23-26 contain the appeal to God to wake up and redeem them for His mercies' sake. Why should He forget them for ever? We still have God, not Jehovah, in this psalm; for they are outside.
So they call on Him as God, not by the covenant name Jehovah. They are outside, and the psalm's language shows it.
God does not sleep. The word describes how His silence looks from the ground:
In the Psalms God is looked at as asleep, and the cry is, "Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?" That is, He is not stepping in publicly to act in the earth. The world seems to run its course without Him, and the dream goes on. But one of these days He will awake, and when He awakes it will be to the judgment He has commanded, and then the dream will pass away.
One writer marks these closing verses as the psalm's last section:
The fourth and last section of the Psalm is one intense cry for deliverance. All hope of any success or victory on their side is gone. If deliverance is to come it must be the fruit of God's redeeming mercy. It must be His work alone. They fully realize this now.
They have only two things to lay before Him — how bad it is, and how good He is:
They appeal to God to awaken on their behalf, and not to cast them off for ever. They plead their own deep need and His exceeding grace. They are in affliction and oppressed, bowed down and crushed; but with God there is help and loving-kindness.
One writer places this cry in a day of distress still to come:
In that day of deepest distress the little flock of godly ones will have occasion to trust completely in Immanuel. He truly will be with them, though His delivering power may seem to slumber. There will then be those who cry out in the language of a prophetic Psalm: "Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?"
Here the commentators differ. Some note where Paul stops when he quotes this psalm in Romans 8:
There the apostle stops, because a child of God could not now say the next words of the psalm. The Father loves him as He loved His Son. But those words could be the cry of a Jewish remnant, who do not know the Father, nor the blessing of the redemption the Son has finished.
Others hold that the underlying principle still fits believers under prolonged pressure:
But the same principle is good for the Church now… Being given up like sheep for the slaughter for Christ's sake is among the things that cannot separate us from the love of Christ… If there is no guilt on the conscience, the discipline may still be for correction. We must bow to it, and wait on God for His explanation and deliverance. Israel, in Psalm 44, humbles itself and keeps praying… Let us look for deliverance only from Him. Let us not turn aside to seek it elsewhere.
- Cast off — The speakers are a faithful few, scattered and set outside. They call on God, and not on Jehovah, the covenant name.
- Asleep — God's "sleep" means He is not stepping in publicly to settle the earth's affairs. The world seems to run its course without Him.
- Emptied — Every hope of rescuing themselves is gone. Deliverance must be His work alone. They plead only their deep need and His grace.
- Awakening — His delivering power may seem to slumber for a time. But one day He will awake, and He will awake to judgment.
- Applied — Paul quotes the psalm's suffering in Romans 8, but not this cry. Commentators differ on whether a believer may use these words. All agree on one thing: we look for deliverance from God alone.
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, [and] forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
Suffering has dragged on, and the people still cling to God. So they end the psalm with two questions He has not answered: why the turned-away face, and why their trouble seems unnoticed.
The psalm pictures God as though He were asleep and looking the other way. One writer explains what that sleep stands for.
The Psalms picture God as asleep, and the cry is, "Awake! Why are You sleeping, O Lord?" That is, He is not publicly stepping in on the earth.
The second half of the verse moves from what they feel to what they conclude about God.
But feeling that the Lord was hiding His face from them, they assume He is forgetting their affliction and oppression. Faith shines through now and then in all these struggles. Even so, experience has such a loud voice that it often clouds faith. Their soul was bowed down to the dust, their body clinging to the ground. How hard it is for us to find grace to rise above our circumstances!
The "why" here is not idle. It is an argument, and it ends in a plea.
Must there not be, then, a limit to this sorrow? Can He forget forever? When their enemies are His enemies, and for His sake they are being slaughtered? Can the hiding of His face continue, and their affliction stay as if unknown to Him? Now, with all their strength gone, they cry to Him to arise and for His mercies' sake to redeem them.
Paul quotes this psalm's words about suffering in Romans 8. That quotation settles what the hidden face does not mean for the remnant — the faithful few left in Israel.
Paul quotes it as evidence of what belongs to the remnant (verse 22 with Romans 8:36). The Holy Spirit recognises these words as the portion of the accepted remnant, the voice of the Spirit in their mouth. So they were evidence of anything but their rejection. And so the testimony of evil becomes the evidence of acceptance. It secures the faith of those on whom the evil falls when it comes... The sufferings written here are the evidence that God accepts those on whom they fall, just when their faith might be shaken. So "out of the eater came something sweet": "we are more than conquerors."
So how should God's people act in a day like this?
In a day of failure it is fitting for God's people to bow under the Lord's correcting hand. They look past all secondary causes. They recognise that God Himself has allowed them to become a reproach and a byword.
Paul stopped his quotation short of these closing verses. One writer explains why.
There the apostle stops. Turn to the psalm, and the next words are ones a child of God could not speak today, since the Father loves him as He loved His Son. A Jewish remnant could speak them, though — people who do not know the Father, or the blessedness of the Son's finished redemption. Such might add, "Awake! Why are You sleeping, O Lord? Rouse Yourself! Do not reject us forever. Why do You hide Your face?" — but this is not the language of the Christian, who knows the freedom Christ has given.
Every word of this psalm is spoken to God, and it ends by appealing to Him.
The psalm sets before God the present sorrowful condition of the godly remnant, along with their faithfulness and constancy, for it is an address to Him all the way through. It closes with a most earnest appeal to the Lord... Will He disregard such an appeal? Oh no.
The next psalm supplies what this one asks for, and it comes as a Person.
In that psalm the godly have heard from the fathers how God delivered His people long ago. Their faith looks to God to arise for their help... Psalm 45 presents Christ as the answer to their cry to God for help. He is the One through whom deliverance will come.
- Hidden, not absent. The hidden face means God is not stepping in openly on the earth. It is not a sign that He has rejected His people.
- Feeling, not fact. They feel the face hidden, so they assume He is forgetting. Experience has such a loud voice that it clouds faith.
- Limit, not forever. The question is a plea: can He forget forever, when it is for His sake they are being slaughtered?
- Accepted, not rejected. Paul uses this psalm to show that the suffering itself is evidence of acceptance — "we are more than conquerors."
- Answered, not ignored. God will not disregard the appeal. The next psalm brings in Christ as the One through whom deliverance comes.
For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
Psalm 44 ends with people lying flat in the dust, beaten and scattered, asking why God stays silent. This verse raises two questions: what brought them so low, and what right do they still have to ask God to rise?
The psalm moves from remembered victories to present ruin. One writer traces the people's state, the reason for their suffering, and the appeal the psalm ends in:
They are cast off and scattered. Yet they have in no way turned aside from their integrity. On the contrary, it is for His sake that they are killed all day long, and counted as sheep for the slaughter. (Note: the moment Messiah was rejected, this began in principle: compare Romans 8:36.) Verses 23-26 contain the appeal to God to wake up and redeem them for His mercies' sake. Why should He forget them for ever? We still have God, not Jehovah, in this psalm; for they are outside.
They did not choose this position for prayer. Trouble pressed them down there — body on the ground, soul in the dust. One commentator draws the honest lesson:
They feel that the Lord is hiding His face from them. So they assume He is forgetting their affliction and oppression (v. 24). Faith does shine through now and then in all these exercises. But experience has such a loud voice that it often hides faith. Their soul was bowed down to the dust, their body clinging to the ground (v. 25). How hard it is for us to find grace to rise above our circumstances!
They have nothing left to bring but two things: how deep their need is, and how great His grace is:
(vv. 23-26) They appeal to God to awaken on their behalf, and not to cast them off for ever. They plead their own deep need and His exceeding grace. They are in affliction and oppressed, bowed down and crushed. But with God there is help and loving-kindness.
Lying in the dust is not proof of guilt here. Their argument is that the attack falls on God's own side:
Must there not, then, be a limit to this sorrow? Can He forget for ever? Their enemies are His enemies, and it is for His sake that they are being slaughtered. Can the hiding of His face continue, and their affliction go on as if He did not know of it? Now, with all their strength gone, they cry to Him to arise and for His mercies' sake to redeem them.
Does such a prayer get through? One writer has no doubt:
The Psalm closes with a most earnest appeal to Adonai [the Lord]... Will He disregard such an appeal? Oh no.
The answer is not only relief. It is a Person, presented in the next psalm:
A song of the Beloved, in which Christ is presented in answer to the appeal of the godly in Psalm 44. He is seen in His moral perfection; as the One mighty in battle; and finally as the King reigning in righteousness, with restored Israel pictured as a queen.
They ask God to rescue them from their enemies. One writer says they asked for less than they truly needed:
Verse 26 is another plea for God to delay no longer in answering their obvious distress. Why He is silent when they are so oppressed seems too hard for them to understand. "Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!" No doubt they little realise their need. They need more than redemption by power. They also need redemption by blood, found only at Calvary.
One writer applies this verse to Christians suffering with no known sin to blame:
If there is no conscious guilt, the discipline may still be for correction. We must bow to it, and wait on God about it for explanation and deliverance. Israel, in Psalm 44, humbles itself and keeps on praying. Let us look for deliverance only from Him. Let us not turn aside to seek it somewhere else. This could be applied to trouble in a meeting. A violent man is interrupting and trampling on the saints — what can they do? There may be no known sin there. What can they do but lie in the dust and wait for God's deliverance?
- Dust as position. Cast out and crushed, they are face down with nothing left of their own strength to offer.
- Dust as honesty. Their feelings say God has forgotten. Faith is still there, but experience shouts louder.
- Dust as plea. They bring two arguments only: their deep need and His grace. The enemies attacking them are His enemies.
- Dust answered. God does not brush the appeal aside. Psalm 45 answers with Christ — mighty in battle, reigning in righteousness.
- Dust today. In trouble we did not cause and cannot mend, the path is the same: stay low, keep praying, and look for rescue from Him alone.
Rise up for our help, and redeem us for thy loving-kindness' sake.
The psalm ends with people who have run out of arguments. Their armies have failed and their soul lies in the dust, so they ask God to get up and rescue them — not for their record, but for His love.
The verse is the last line of a psalm that traces a nation's fall from remembered victory to present ruin. One writer sets out its whole shape, and notes which name of God the psalm uses, and why.
Psalm 44 gives a full and vivid picture of the state of the nation, as it stands in the conscience of the remnant. They had heard with their ears. Faith rested on the memory of all the great deliverances God had worked long ago. He had put them in possession of the land by His power, not theirs (v. 1-8). Verses 9-16 describe their present state. They are cast off and scattered... Yet they have in no way turned away from their integrity. On the contrary, it is for His sake they are killed all the day long, and counted as sheep for the slaughter. (The moment Messiah was rejected, this began in principle: compare Romans 8:36.) Verses 23-26 contain the appeal to God to wake up and redeem them for His mercies' sake. Why should He forget them for ever? We still have God, not Jehovah, in this psalm; for they are outside.
The prayer does not say "redeem us because we deserve it." The reason it gives is God's steadfast love — the older translation the writers quote calls this His "mercies." That choice of ground marks the Psalms as a whole.
What is remarkable in the Psalms is that they constantly appeal to the mercy of God. They always put it before His righteousness. It will be like this with Israel in that day. It is this that marks them out: "God prepares their heart"; for they must come in under mercy, according to Romans 11.
One writer points out that the word "redeem" holds far more than the people asking it realise.
Verse 26 is another plea for God to no longer delay an answer to their evident distress. Why He is silent when they are so oppressed seems too difficult for them to understand. "Arise for our help, and redeem us for Your mercies' sake." No doubt they little realise this: they need not only redemption by power, but redemption by blood, found only at Calvary.
By the closing section they have tried every other way and failed.
The fourth and last section of the Psalm is one intense cry for deliverance. All hope of any success or victory on their side is gone. If deliverance is to come, it must be as the fruit of God's redeeming mercy. It must be His work alone. They fully realise this now.
One writer reads Psalms 44 and 45 as a pair: a cry, then a reply. The reply is a person, not just a change of circumstances.
Still, in the middle of all the trouble of soul this caused, faith cries, "Arise for our help, and redeem us for Your mercies' sake." (v. 26.) Psalm 45 gives the answer to this cry. It brings in the Messiah, who brings deliverance from enemies, and whose kingdom lasts for ever and ever.
One writer draws out what this psalm means for Christians when trouble drags on and they can point to no sin.
The same principle is good for the Church now. From this point of view it is beautiful to see that Psalm 44 appears in Romans 8. Being given up like sheep for the slaughter for Christ's sake is among the things that cannot separate us from the love of Christ. The heart might fail under long pressure, but the Spirit says the love of Christ is unchanged. Israel, in Psalm 44, humbles itself and keeps praying: "Our soul is bowed down to the dust … Arise … for Your mercies' sake." (vv. 25, 26.) Let us look for deliverance only from Him. Let us not turn aside to seek it elsewhere. This might apply to trouble in a church meeting. A violent man is interrupting and trampling on the saints — what can they do? No known sin may be there. What can they do but lie in the dust and wait for God's deliverance?
- Bowed. The verse is the last line of a cast-off, scattered people, with every human resource spent.
- Ground. They plead God's mercies, not their record. The Psalms put His mercy before His righteousness.
- Redeem. They ask for rescue by power. The deeper need, one writer notes, is redemption by blood at Calvary.
- Answer. The next psalm gives the reply: the Messiah comes as deliverer and King.
- Wait. When pressure drags on, look for deliverance from Him alone. Do not seek it anywhere else.