Psalm 44 - Complaining Against God

Have you ever questioned where God is? I suspect you have at some point,  know that I sure have.

In this psalm the writer starts by praising God for the history of great things that have been done for Israel, then moves on to question God and the lack of God's action on their behalf in spite of their faithfulness and ends with:

²³ Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep?
      Get up! Do not reject us forever.
 ²⁴ Why do you look the other way?
      Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression?
 ²⁵ We collapse in the dust,
      lying face down in the dirt.
 ²⁶ Rise up! Help us!
      Ransom us because of your unfailing love.

I think God is big enough to hear our complaints and to hear us defend ourselves and plead our case. I have to wonder how God hears it sometimes. For God knows exactly what is happening and God follows a plan that is designed to bring us ultimate benefit. Also, when we insist on our faithfulness and  goodness, God knows thought and action that has gone astray. There is nothing that we can hide from God. i have to wonder if we sound like whiny brats when we attempt this who are trying to justify themselves.

The truest thing the psalmist says in the latter part of the psalm is the last phrase...Ransom us because of your unfailing love...it is God's love, not our goodness that causes God to act on our behalf. We must always keep sight of that. We can't earn anything from God because we are not perfect. What we can do is love God and wait on God for the blessings given to us in God's loving goodness.