Bible Reading: Genesis 44 | John 16 | Psalm 44
Devotional for March 3, 2025
Reading: Genesis 44 | John 16 | Psalm 44
Download the PDF edition
Genesis 44
In our last reading, we left off with the brothers dining in Joseph's house. If you recall, this was the second trip to Egypt to buy grain, bringing Benjamin with them. Judah pledged his life for Benjamin if anything happened to him. Joseph orchestrates a plan to entrap Benjamin, provoking the conspiracy's ringleader to sell Joseph into slavery to stand and defend his brother and offer his life for him. There are two things to note from this brief chapter. First, the character of Judah has changed. Many years earlier, he was a mean-spirited architect who sold his brother into slavery. Now, through the providential working of God, he is the mediator for his brother, pleading his case before his brother (44:18-34). Whatever the reason, the favor of God was with Judah, and he matured and grew.
The second item to note is that we see Judah's mediatorial nature as a picture of what Christ does for us daily. He is the only mediator between God and men. He is the one who pleads our case. Unlike Benjamin, who was innocent, we are guilty of offending a holy God. The Lord Jesus, the Lion of Judah, pleads for us. As a result, we live.
John 16
John 16 continues the discourse that was started in chapter 15. Over the first fifteen verses, Jesus highlights the work of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. First, he convicts the world of sin. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to show men their sin and convict them of it as that which offends God. Second, he guides us into all truth. We must have him if we are to understand the Word of God. Third, just as we are called to glorify the Son, he delights in doing the same.
The following section in the chapter continues Christ's teaching, specifically dealing with the period between his death and resurrection and during his resurrection appearances.
The third section is one of comfort for the disciples. Knowing that they will suffer hardship in this life because of the Savior, he tells them to take heart because he has overcome the world. Like the disciples, we must take heart in this simple fact. The Savior has overcome the world. We do not need to fret. What can our enemies do to us? Within this comforting truth is that the Lord Jesus continues to comfort his disciples, who are aware of his departure. Though absent, the Savior still serves his church through the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 44
There are times in life when God's providence will baffle even the strongest of saints. Sometimes, the Lord takes his church through very hard times, although it doesn't appear that his people have wandered from his commandments. Of course, no church is perfect. There has never been a sinless church, but that doesn't mean that they have not been faithful to walk with the Lord and follow him. Some churches are more or less pure. This Psalm is a hymn that describes the calamity suffered at the hands of evil people, although it doesn't appear that the people of God have done anything wrong. There are four main sections of the Psalm.
44:1-8
This section reflects on the history of God's people as they think through God's faithfulness to them throughout the years. The opening words of the Psalm set that theme for us when it says, "O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days." The people have been told all that the Lord did for them. The parents of this generation have communicated God's faithfulness. That faithfulness is detailed in this section:
44:2-3 – This is a description of God's deliverance of his Old Testament church over the land of Canaan. He went before them and won the victory.
44:4-8 – This describes the people's trust in the Lord, not their abilities or talents.
44:9-16
The middle section of the Psalm laments their current status: they feel rejected by God and do not understand why. Everything they have secured over the years and the blessings they have received seems to be taken from them. Consider the language:
44:9 – Defeat. What they enjoyed in the past no longer seems to be happening in the present.
44:10-16 – Disgraced before the nations. No longer are they triumphing over their enemies. Instead, their enemies seem to be dominating them.
Why would God take his cherished people through these hardships when they seem to have done nothing wrong? Indeed, it could be explained if they sinned against him and faced his discipline for it. However, that doesn't seem to be the reason.
44:17-22
Considering this perplexing middle section, the worshipers proclaim they have not forgotten their God. They have not wandered into gross sin. They have not committed idolatry. They have not allowed their hearts to turn from the living God. There is an admission that they would understand their calamity if they had. However, they don't. They are perplexed. The church will face times like this. We are left to scratch our heads and ask, "Why"? We don't always understand God's providence. We can say before him that we have not wandered from his ways and still face difficult and perplexing situations. Therefore, the people respond with a plea for help.
44:23-26
The response of the people in this section is striking. They ask the Lord to "wake up!" They picture their situation as one under the control of a sleeping God who is aloof to their circumstances. They see him as hiding from them and will not help them. They plead for his help. They do not abandon him or wander from his commands. The Psalm doesn't tell us the end of the story, though we can be assured of one thing: God saw their plight. He saw, and he knew. In some sense, this Psalm reflects the emotions of the enslaved people in Egypt. For four hundred years, they wondered if God would remember his promises to them. God saw, and he knew. He did deliver them. He will deliver his people from those perplexing circumstances and free them. In those times, we must remain devoted to him and maintain faithfulness to him.