More than Conquerors
“Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Psalms 44:22
Psalm 44 is a communal lament expressing sorrow and confusion over suffering and perceived abandonment by God. The first part of Psalm 44 recalls the glory days of Israel where God brought about great deliverance and prosperity. In contrast, the second part of the Psalm laments Israel's current broken condition beginning at verse 9, "But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies." The Psalms of Lament (Psalms 3, 13, 22, 42, 44, 51, 54–57, 59...) are written to help the reader grieve in times of sorrow. It can be helpful to read and pray through the Psalms of Lament when we are feeling discouraged or disillusioned. We realize as we read that we are not alone in our emotional struggles as we walk by faith before the Lord. We live in a sin infested world that is contrary to God's Law and His ways. Sometimes it feels like the Elect are the ones who are off because those who ignore God seem happy and carefree (Psalm 73:2-3). It takes great endurance to walk by faith when things don't appear to be going our way and the rebellious continue to evade justice. We are finite trying to grasp the infinite which can cause a nagging sense of insecurity because we can’t fathom what God is up to. We can visit the Psalms of Lament to work through our emotions but we dare not stay there.
The Apostle Paul freely acknowledges the sorrow of the faithful by quoting verse 22 in Romans 8:36 and then writes one of most triumphant declarations in all of scripture “Yet in all these things [ALL!] we are more than conquerors through Him [Christ] who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 8:36-39. Although we experience sorrow and loss in the world and at times it looks like we are losing, the reality is that we are always on the path to total victory as "more than conquerers". “More than conquerors" means going beyond simply winning to gaining all the benefits from the victory we have in Christ. May the Lord strengthen our hearts that we might walk by faith as more than conquerers today.
Psalm 44 is a communal lament expressing sorrow and confusion over suffering and perceived abandonment by God. The first part of Psalm 44 recalls the glory days of Israel where God brought about great deliverance and prosperity. In contrast, the second part of the Psalm laments Israel's current broken condition beginning at verse 9, "But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies." The Psalms of Lament (Psalms 3, 13, 22, 42, 44, 51, 54–57, 59...) are written to help the reader grieve in times of sorrow. It can be helpful to read and pray through the Psalms of Lament when we are feeling discouraged or disillusioned. We realize as we read that we are not alone in our emotional struggles as we walk by faith before the Lord. We live in a sin infested world that is contrary to God's Law and His ways. Sometimes it feels like the Elect are the ones who are off because those who ignore God seem happy and carefree (Psalm 73:2-3). It takes great endurance to walk by faith when things don't appear to be going our way and the rebellious continue to evade justice. We are finite trying to grasp the infinite which can cause a nagging sense of insecurity because we can’t fathom what God is up to. We can visit the Psalms of Lament to work through our emotions but we dare not stay there.
The Apostle Paul freely acknowledges the sorrow of the faithful by quoting verse 22 in Romans 8:36 and then writes one of most triumphant declarations in all of scripture “Yet in all these things [ALL!] we are more than conquerors through Him [Christ] who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 8:36-39. Although we experience sorrow and loss in the world and at times it looks like we are losing, the reality is that we are always on the path to total victory as "more than conquerers". “More than conquerors" means going beyond simply winning to gaining all the benefits from the victory we have in Christ. May the Lord strengthen our hearts that we might walk by faith as more than conquerers today.