6 USEFUL PRINCIPLES ABOUT DEALING WITH DIFFICULTIES

NEVER DOUBT GOD DURING DIFFICULTIES!

Psalm 44

1 O God, we have heard with our ears,

our fathers have told us,

what deeds you performed in their days,

in the days of old:

2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,

but them you planted;

you afflicted the peoples,

but them you set free;

3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,

nor did their own arm save them,

but your right hand and your arm,

and the light of your face,

for you delighted in them.

4 You are my King, O God;

ordain salvation for Jacob!

5 Through you we push down our foes;

through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.

6 For not in my bow do I trust,

nor can my sword save me.

7 But you have saved us from our foes

and have put to shame those who hate us.

8 In God we have boasted continually,

and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah 

Israel has not forgotten the role that God played in their lives. All that they had ever achieved was never done in their own strength, for the enemies they defeated, the land they conquered was done by the power of God. God had saved them, and He had shown favor to them.

They had given thanks and had boasted in the Lord, and in the time of prosperity, they had not forgotten Whose hand had cared for them. They had not trusted in themselves, but in God alone. But now things have changed: Israel is suffering, and they are confused, both by their difficulties and by God’s inaction.

But you have rejected us and disgraced us

and have not gone out with our armies.

10 You have made us turn back from the foe,

and those who hate us have gotten spoil.

11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter

and have scattered us among the nations.

12 You have sold your people for a trifle,

demanding no high price for them.

13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,

the derision and scorn of those around us.

14 You have made us a byword among the nations,

a laughingstock among the peoples.

15 All day long my disgrace is before me,

and shame has covered my face

16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,

at the sight of the enemy and the avenger. 

They look at God as the author of the difficult time they are going through. They have been overwhelmed by the derision of their enemies. What confuses them is that they were faithful during that time.

17 All this has come upon us,

though we have not forgotten you,

and we have not been false to your covenant.

18 Our heart has not turned back,

nor have our steps departed from your way;

19 yet you have broken us in the place of jackals

and covered us with the shadow of death.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God

or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

21 would not God discover this?

For he knows the secrets of the heart.

22 Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

Although they are going through this difficult time, they are not going any place else for help. They know that God is their only hope.

23 Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?

Rouse yourself!  Do not reject us forever!

24 Why do you hide your face?

Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?

25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust;

our belly clings to the ground.

26 Rise up; come to our help!

Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!

As they beg for help, they still know that their only appropriate reaction is to appeal to God because of His love - a love that is steadfast, eternal, unchanging.

6 PRINCIPLES THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER AS WE CONSIDER OUR OWN DIFFICULTIES

We never achieve anything apart from the grace of God. Anything we have done is a gift of God and we should continually guard our hearts from ever taking credit for what the grace of God has accomplished in us.

Even when we are perplexed, we should never doubt God. We can wonder why God is allowing us to go through extreme difficulties, even the taunting of men, but still trust in His purposes.

Our faithfulness is not an insurance against trials. At times we can be tempted to think that God owes us peace and comfort because we are being faithful.

We must never turn to other places for our satisfaction. We live in a world that is always proposing lies and alternatives to God. God must continue to be our only focus and satisfaction.

We must continue to bring our petitions to God. Our God is not bothered by our prayers. Yet, our prayers are examined in light of our motives. God does not want us to ask merely to feed our own desires. Instead, His plans, His eternal purposes, must drive our prayers.

We should never doubt God’s love. God is eternally holy, just, and faithful. His love has always been driven by His character and never by our ability to earn it.

WE NEED GOD, HE KNOWS THIS, AND LOVES FOR US TO DEPEND ON HIM!