Groaning For Help

“Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!” (Psalm 44:26, ESV)

Faith in Jesus doesn’t guarantee positive outcomes or success. Faithful parents aren’t promised God-fearing children. Faithful missionaries aren’t guaranteed safety. A faithful spouse isn’t guaranteed devotion, nor is a faithful pastor promised a thriving flock. In the Bible, we often see the faithful suffer defeat while the Lord’s enemies prosper and thrive. It can be deeply confusing when allegiance to God is met with suffering rather than help. Why do those who strive to do right endure such wrongs?

Do you also wrestle with this confusion at times? Wonder why you suffer loss and struggle with failure even as you earnestly seek to follow the Lord? This is the problem we encounter in Psalm 44, which is written from the perspective of a king whose army has experienced brutal defeat. The psalmist’s complaint may be similar to yours: the painful experience of suffering while God seems slow to help. The army has “boasted continually” (verse 8) in God. They have maintained their allegiance to the Lord. They haven’t forgotten his covenant or departed from his way in the fight (see verses 17-18), yet their piety hasn’t prevented them from being slaughtered like sheep (see verse 11).

Lament is how we ask God to rise up on our behalf when his help seems delayed.

As we move through this devotional together, there may be times when you question the value of your allegiance to God, especially “when its wages are paid in the coin of affliction.” When your devotion to the Lord seems to bring more anguish than answers, it’s good to remember that this experience is not unique to you. It’s not a sin to be perplexed about God’s heart when you can’t make sense of his hand. You can cry out for him to take action, just as the psalmist did. Such appeals are grounded in his steadfast love (see verse 26).

And as you lament to God today, know that Jesus is no stranger to this confusion and grief. He always did right and yet—because of our sins—suffered such brutal wrongs. He too cried out when obedience led not to immediate help but to apparent defeat. Yet his prayers were not ignored, nor was his faithfulness in vain. Though the Father did not spare him from suffering, he sustained him through it and raised him from the grave (see Heb. 5:7). Take refuge, then, in your once-defeated Redeemer—not because he spares you from affliction, but because he is called “Faithful and True” (Rev. 19:11).

Reflection:

• Where are you currently experiencing the painful tension of following the Lord yet suffering loss, disappointment, or apparent defeat? Identify a specific place where you have sought to honor the Lord and yet the result has been painful or confusing. Simply name the cost and acknowledge the gap between expectation and experience.
• When God’s help seems delayed and faithfulness appears unrewarded, do you tend to grow silent, cynical, or guarded? Or do you bring your confusion honestly before the Lord in prayer? What does your response reveal about how you think about God when you feel defeated?