Give Glory To God, For His Unfailing Love

O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name. Psalm 44:8

I’ve heard people say things like, “I don’t think God is even out there.” Trust me, He hasn’t gone anywhere, and He has promised that He’ll never abandon us.

Sometimes, David felt far from God. Once, he asked Him, “Not to forget him?” Other times, he asked God not to abandon him. In his heart, though, he knew God wouldn’t leave him.

For the Lord loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will die. Psalm 37:28

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Remembering family history can evoke three reactions: excitement, embarrassment, or boredom. The history of Abraham’s family, the Israelites, reveals anything but boredom.

O God, we have heard it with our own ears—our ancestors have told us of all you did in their day, in days long ago: Psalm 44:1

God kept the promise He made to Abraham concerning Abraham’s descendants. As His chosen people, God went before them to help them inhabit the land of Canaan.

You drove out the pagan nations by your power and gave all the land to our ancestors. You crushed their enemies and set our ancestors free. Psalm 44:2

The Psalmist continued to brag on the Lord as he gave God glory. He enjoyed not only hearing about how God fought for them, but he also liked sharing the story with others.

They did not conquer the land with their swords; it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory. It was your right hand and strong arm and the blinding light from your face that helped them, for you loved them. Psalm 44:3

God, Israel’s Founding Father

What a great history of a family that became a nation founded by God. The Psalmist said their ancestors kept these stories alive as they continually gave God the glory. He continued with.

You are my King and my God. You command victories for Israel. Only by your power can we push back our enemies; only in your name can we trample our foes. Psalm 44:4-5

The attitude of this Psalm changed after the Psalmist said the following. “O God, we give glory to you, and we praise your name.” So, why did the Psalmist’s attitude change?

Perhaps he wanted to bolster the faith of his readers. He spent the first part of this Psalm recalling God’s past faithfulness in driving out enemies and establishing Israel,

The date of the writing of this Psalm likely dates to a time when the nation experienced some distress. It may have been during the Babylonian exile or some other conflict.

Just as quickly as the Psalmist offered glory to God, he completely turned and blamed the Lord. Just as God had rescued Israel in the past, He accused God of doing the opposite.

But now you have tossed us aside in dishonor. You no longer lead our armies to battle. You make us retreat from our enemies and allow those who hate us to plunder our land. Psalm 44:9-10

Did you ever feel that way? In the first paragraph, I said that God won’t abandon us. But does it sometimes feel that way? The Psalmist felt that God had turned against them.

David Didn’t Always Give God the Glory

You have butchered us like sheep and scattered us among the nations. You sold your precious people for a pittance, making nothing on the sale. And you let our neighbors mock us. We are an object of scorn and derision to those around us. Psalm 44:11-13

Fortunately, the Psalmist didn’t stop with blaming God. No. This Psalm consists of 3 sections. First, he gave glory to God because of how God fought for and led Israel.

In the second part, he questioned God and blamed Him for their present situation. Which by the way, he erroneously came to the wrong conclusion.

The Lord repeatedly warned Israel through prophets and others about the consequences of disobedience and idolatry.

Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah: “Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and decrees—the entire law that I commanded your ancestors to obey, and that I gave you through my servants the prophets.” 2 Kings 17:13

The Lord didn’t fight against Israel, but because of His anger, He turned away from them. He allowed other nations to defeat and exile them because they had brought it upon themselves.

The last verse makes up the third section of this Psalm. Its writer went back to the attitude of the first section. This time, instead of looking back, he focused on Israel’s future.

Rise up! Help us! Ransom us because of your unfailing love. Psalm 44:26

The Psalmist only mentioned the word love twice in that verse and verse three. He gave glory to God because of His right hand and strong arm. Then he remarked about God’s love for them.

He Gave God Glory Because of His Unfailing Love

What good does it do to blame God or think that He lets us down? Instead, give God glory because He loves us. The Psalmist asked God to ransom them from their enemies.

Did you notice why he wanted the Lord to ransom them? It had nothing to do with whether they deserved it or not. But it had everything to do with God’s unfailing love.

Do you know why God sent Jesus to ransom us from our sins? Just like the Israelites, it has nothing to do with our deserving it because we don’t. He did it because of His unfailing love.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:9-10

Precious Father, we love you, oh God, and give glory to you all day long. Forgive us for the times we sin against you. Thank you for your unfailing love towards us.

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