Psalms 43-45, Acts 27:27-44 •Key Verses: Psalm 44:23-24
Nothing is quite as unsettling as the phone ringing in the middle of the night. You pick up the
receiver, hoping it is a wrong number, irritated if it is, angered if it’s a prank, but anxious as its
sound jars you from your sleep.
Remember the times you have been on the other end of those calls, when you were the one
dialing a family member or friend because you needed them right then? Perhaps you even
whispered, “Wake up, please wake up,” as the phone was ringing. “Wake up. I need you.”
There was a time when Israel felt as if God were asleep and they needed Him. The cry of the
people was, “Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever”
(44:23). It was a difficult time for them, not one that made sense in any respect, and it seemed
that God was sleeping.
Now, God does not sleep. The Bible tells us that (Ps. 121:4). Still, there are times when it feels
like He does, times when we want to rouse Him, like the ringing phone does us.
It’s easy to read the Psalms and focus on the praises, skipping over the pains. In the Psalms we
find the full range of human emotion, the highs and the lows. This psalm is written from the
depths. The people felt rejected, disgraced—for no apparent reason. It felt like God had gone
asleep.
Yet their hope did not waver. They continued to cry out to Him, the One who would redeem
them because of His unfailing love.
In the dark times we may lack light to see our way clearly. The eyes of faith, though, will always
be fixed on God. Pray that He will help you see Him clearly. Trust in His unfailing love even in
the most difficult of times.
Woodrow Kroll & Tony Beckett
www.backtothebible.in