Psalm 44

Jun 21, 2022

" Rise up! Help us! Deliver us because you love us so much!"

- King David, Psalm 44:26

"The Chinese use 2 brush strokes to write the word "crisis." One brush stroke stands for "danger"; the other stands for "opportunity."

- Anonymous

How you and I respond to a crisis says a lot about our "Christianity." Last week, I took an overnight motorcycle ride up to Idylllwild with my good friend, Barry. Skirting the long curvy roads of Sunrise Highway on our scooters, I found myself smiling and shouting, "Thank you, Jesus! It doesn't get much better than this!" Suddenly, my reverie was shattered by a car that bolted from a side road directly into our lane of traffic. Hitting our brakes, we slowed down… and reacted!

Barry, on the lead bike, immediately threw up his arm in angry frustration as if to say, "Hey! You idiot! Grow up! Your bad behavior almost caused an accident!" Did I mention Barry's from Boston? (Smile) I, on the other hand, in an attempt to keep a bad situation from getting worse, to de-escalate the problem, did nothing other than to whisper, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Did I mention that I'm from Iowa? (Smile). Two very different responses to the same crisis. My question to you is… "What Would Jesus Do?"

Would Jesus have confronted the one with bad behavior? Gotten in their face and snapped, "Grow up, you idiot! You're hurting people!" OR… would Jesus have defused the situation by offering them grace? AND the Answer Is… YES!... to BOTH! In Matthew 12:34, Jesus called the Pharisees something far worse than "idiots." He was so angry, He called them, "snakes in the grass" (a brood of vipers) to their faces because their teachings brought death, not life, to God's people. And yet, at the same time, He offered another Pharisee named Nicodemus the most profound gift of Grace ever heard when He said, "Nicodemus, 'God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Jesus will never perish but have everlasting life'" (John 3:16).

Too often, you and I assume that the only "Christian" response to a crisis is a nice, gentle, kind, inoffensive, and forgiving reaction. Not so!

Sometimes, a confrontational response to deeply intentional bad behavior is what's needed most. The truth is, both responses have a place in the believer's heart.

I think Jesus would say we could all use a little more "Boston" in our relationships with people and in our relationship with God.

In Psalm 44, David is in crisis-mode. The barbarian horde is assaulting the gates of Jerusalem. David responds two ways. First, David praises God for who He is:

O God, we give Glory to you all day long,

and constantly praise your Name

- Psalm 44:8

Second, David demands that God wake up and do something about the bad behavior of the barbarians:

Wake Up, O Lord! Why do you sleep?

Rise up! Help us!

Deliver us because you love us so much!

- Psalm 44:23,26

Listen… if, today, an unforeseen crisis has slammed into your life and knocked you sideways… What should you do? Defuse or confront? Praise God for who He is for you or insist that God show up and help you… now… when His timing is different from yours? Jesus and David would say, both responses are needed.