Psalm 44 is wonderful expression of faith at work in prayer. It is an example of what faith does when circumstances seem to contradict the promises of God. Rather than lowering his expectations of God, the psalmist raises his expectations and therefore heightens the tension. He appeals to what God had done in the past. God reveals himself through what he does, and his works are recorded in Scripture to function as a kind of historical covenant precedent for us. The psalmist is aware of this and he appeals to this precedent as an implicit promise. He highlights the difference between what his ancestors experienced and his own experience. He is ‘arguing before the throne of grace’ as John Bunyan put it in his classic book on prayer. This is what faith does. God has done great things in the past. There are countless books about the things that God has done. The most important acts of God are recorded in the Bible. Don’t think that God has stopped doing these sorts of things. Pray that you would see God do in your life what he has done in the lives of so many before you. Make your appeal before him and don’t let up until you see God at work. He will answer how and when he sees best, but he will answer, because God always responds to faith.
Ask God to do for you what he has done for others in the past.
Read Psalm 44
