COMMANDED VICTORIES
Key Verse: “You are my King, O God, Command victories for Jacob.” (v.4)
Key Theme: Rehearsing who God was as a cry to what He needs to be again.
Key Descriptives of God: King; Commander;(v.4)
Today, we get into one of the most mysterious of all Psalms, when trying to understand context. Appropriately enough Bible commentators are all over the place with possible scenarios. Was this David or the sons of Korah who are again mentioned in the subheading? Was this Psalm inserted from a much later time period as some believe? It does not seem like it could be in David’s time because verses 9-16 tell of repeated battle losses and other nations scorning them. We never hear of this reality while David is king. Some think that this was speaking of the Babylonian exile period hundred of years later because verse 12 tells of Israel being “sold” as it were into bondage. The problem with that perspective is that verse 9 already complained “You do not go out with our armies” and Israel had no armies during the exile period. So, the bottom line is that context is going to be difficult to establish. Having said that, it is still a very interesting Psalm with valuable nuggets of gold for us.
REMEMBERING WHO HE WAS (v.1-3)
“We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, the deeds You DID in their days, in days of old.” (v.1) The next two verses seem to speak of when they were delivered from Egypt and led into the Promised Land. It is clearly pointed out that this was done not by their strength but “it was Your right hand, Your arm, AND THE LIGHT OF YOUR COUNTENANCE because You favored them.” (v.3) This is, of course, what we have been learning to look at this entire 67-day journey in “The Summer of His Love” and “His face shining upon us”. We are in over our heads except the Lord intervene with His favor on us— but that is not a bad place to be when we know He IS turned towards us, as it is all that really matters. The Psalmist knew that as well and so he is remembering such a time.
DESIRING HIM NOW (v.4-8)
This is where our key verse comes in. “Command victories for Jacob.” (v.4) Whereas, in verses 1-3 he referred to “You DID” (v.1) he now refers to “You ARE.” “You ARE my King, O God.” As I have shared before the point of remembering and magnifying who God WAS is so that you can again see who He IS. This key verse is a 444 passage (Ps. 44:4) and for about 25 years the Lord has spoken to me through that 444 number sequence at very key times. For me, it has also connected to Is. 44: 3,4 and Ezekiel 44:4. It has always been a confirmation He is with me on the particular matter I was involved in or that His glory would be poured out where I was going at that moment or some unexpected favor. For those who get these unique number sequences, it is always significant what you were thinking, or doing, or where you were going when you saw the number patterns. It is to be an encouragement and relational conversation piece with you and the Lord. For me I have often said, as I saw a 444 license tag on the way to an assignment, “Ah He has a commanded victory” for me. Yes, the “for Jacob” part refers to Israel, but it was clearly also substitutionary or inclusive for ME or US and so it is another way the passage can be applied for us. (In other words, the Psalmist was including himself in the “for Jacob” petition).
COMMANDED VICTORIES
The word “Command” used here is TSAVAH in the Hebrew. It also means “ordered” or “appointed”. The word “victories” is that word YESHUA again! The word that besides being Jesus Hebrew name also meant “victory, deliverance, prosperity, salvation, health.” I like it when He has “commanded” that I experience Jesus in any of those definitions of who He is. He is not just the life insurance policy, but He is still Emmanuel (“God WITH us”) in all the needed areas of health, provision, and general troubles. It will lead to doing what verse 8 commends, “In God, we boast all day long”. I love that and it is my favorite “boasting”. It is my favored assignment as well, leading some to believe I am not very realistic and a bit “Pollyannish”. I love that accusation as well.
LAMENTING RECENT DEVASTATION (v.9-16)
The Psalmist now goes into almost unbelievable accusations/allegations against God, “But You have cast us off and put us to shame”, “You have given us up like sheep”, “scattered us”, “You sell Your people for next to nothing”, “you make us a reproach”, and on and on. What makes the timetable for all this particularly hard to discern is verse 17, “All this had come upon us; But we have NOT forgotten You.” Furthermore, through verse 21, he will tell the Lord over and over how this is unjust suffering because they didn’t reap it as a consequence of sin but were innocent of wrongdoing. This is another reason it does not seem like it was in the exile period as Israel clearly had major sins that caused that reality, and prophets warned for years of that consequence.
YET FOR YOUR SAKE, WE ARE KILLED
“Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” (v.23) This is a real keystone scripture for us. Paul quoted this very verse in Romans 8:36. Right after saying in verse 35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword.” Paul then says, “As it is written” and quotes this passage. His verse 37, resonates as well, “Yet in all these things we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through Him who loved us.” He closes the chapter by telling us nothing can separate us from the love of Christ— and that of course is the consolation of all consolations. Not everything bad that happens to us is because we deserve it. There is “suffering for righteousness” and there is being targeted just for being one of His. There is the proving ground for being “more than conquerors”. This is part of the valuable revelation of Psalm 44. Serving God doesn’t translate into the magical absence of trials and of being wrongly treated. The Psalmist went off on a tangent of wrong theology accusing God of having “done” this to them, before finally getting it right with this verse. He vented until he self-corrected and we are allowed to see the process. The assurance that the apostle Paul wanted to make sure we make our “stake in the ground” — is that “nothing can separate us from the love of God.” This is what we build our lives on rather than the perception of rejection that the Psalmist early on was feeling.
AWAKE! ARISE!
As the Psalmist closes out chapter 44, it is all a cry/demand for God to Awake and Arise from “hiding His face”. Nothing ever worse than God “hiding His face” and nothing better than when He “makes His face shine upon us”. In the midst of great challenges, He is doing just that with us in the summer of 2020. As the last verse says in the NLT, “Rise up! Help us! Ransom us because of Your unfailing love.” This is our cry today but also the natural progression of Psalm 44’s message for us. It all starts with “We have heard” and it all ends with “Your unfailing love.” It overrides momentary circumstances and ultimately secures the new realities. Today, Lord, Command victories for our president and for what you have anointed him to do in our nation. Through Your name, we push down “the deep state” enemies and trample the demonic hosts that would rise up against Your justice. Kingdom come!
Written by: Johnny Enlow
Featured Image by chris ganser on Unsplash
67 DAY COUNTDOWN SERIES
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The 67 Day Countdown Series is brought to you by Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow, founders of Restore7 ministry, as well as international speakers and best-selling authors. Among Johnny’s books are The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, Rainbow God, The Seven Mountain Renaissance, Becoming A Superhero, and RISE. Elizabeth serves as CEO and penned Rainbow God: The Seven Colors of Love and God in Every Season.
