December 9, Is God at Fault?

Today’s reading: Psalms 41-45

“If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart? Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever” - Psalm 44:20-23.

In today’s passage, the psalmist was bemoaning the state of Israel, which had obviously fallen on hard times. The writer was stating his complaint that they had done nothing wrong, yet the Lord had given them over to their enemies. Does this happen in life? Do bad things happen to good people? Does God at times appear to be asleep as the psalmist asked in verse 23? The answer to all those questions is yes, and God seldom explains or justifies Himself when those things do occur. Yet those events are occasions when believers need to humble themselves and search their own heart according to the truth that Paul wrote: “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24). Are you willing to examine your own heart and be open to your own wrong when considering circumstances beyond your explanation? Are you also willing to put your trust in God’s faithfulness when your situation would seem to call that faithfulness into question? Do you need to release any judgment you have made against the Lord due to a situation in your life that defies explanation or reason?