Psalm 44 Where Can I Go?

Daily Bible Study for Monday August 29, 2016

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.

“Multiplying God’s Word Around The Globe”

Chapter Reading for Today: Please read in your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but for the purpose of this study, I will keep it with the New King James Version.

One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my own writing. I am adding red to the letters when it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day

Galatians 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 100:4

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

and into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Song: Where Could I Go   By:  Bill & Gloria Gaither

Psalm 44

Where Could I Go?

The Bible is a compilation of events that took place with our forefathers – the people of God who have gone before us. We see how they were taken from captivity (the hands of the enemy) to freedom. We can see how the Lord helped them and took the enemy down. It was not their own strength or effort. They trusted in God and praised His name. Over time however, they turned aside to false gods, (idols) that could not help them. As a result, God, being a just Judge, cast them off into captivity once again as punishment for their sins. We remember always that sin brings consequences. Yet, in all of that, they continued to remember the Lord and return to doing things His way. His love for His people never failed, no matter what they were going through. Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father;

Thank You for delivering us from the hand of our enemies. Father, there have been many times when we have turned to our own ways and tried to fight our own battles. Yet, when we turned back to You and placed our trust in You, we could call on You in trouble and know that You would deliver us. You did it for our ancestors, and You will do it for us. We give You praise for Your great love for Your children. Father, I ask You to show us all today what we need to see personally in this study. Reveal to us the deep meaning that can be gleaned for each one of us in our individual circumstances right now. Father, I ask You to give me the utterance, the anointing and the wisdom to speak exactly what You want conveyed in this message. Let it go forth unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Cause Your face to shine upon Your people as they read and receive from You. Help them to know the great love that You have for each and every one. Father, we make it our goal to be doers of Your word and not forgetful hearers. Thank You for always watching over Your word to perform it in our lives when we trust and obey You. We give You all the glory, honor and praise in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

How many know that the Bible really is a documentary of actual live events that happened down through the ages? It started with the details of creation, and moved along from the very beginning. The Bible is a story of the ceaseless love of God for the people He created. It shows how He made us, and what His plans for us were from the very beginning. He designed us to have everything and to be in control of the earth and all its inhabitants. We were created to be the god of this world. We were designed to have a marvelous relationship with our Maker – keeping Him first - front and center in every aspect of our lives.

The Lord made us to prosper and be in perfect health – spirit, soul and body. He caused us to have great financial wealth and be able to have perfect comfort in our environment. 

Everything God did for us, starting with the first man and woman who ever lived, was good. He never wanted us to suffer, fight battles, or struggle with loss, sickness or death. But in all that He gave mankind a free will. He wanted to love us, and He always has. And He wanted us to make the choice to love Him freely – even when “options” were presented.

The Lord knew that satan would fall from heaven. He knows the end from the beginning. He knew we would always have to make a choice – God’s way or “my way.” If we chose His way, we would never lack any good thing, not ever. But if we chose to follow after the devil, it would bring death and destruction into our lives. Unfortunately, mankind used his God given free will to make the wrong choice. Now the earth is cursed and we live in a dark world. Satan has won the title through man’s rebellion toward God as the god of this world. From the time of the first rebellion, man has put himself into a dangerous position because of choosing to follow after the devil and his devices rather than seeking the Lord and His good path.

Maybe you are like me and you can relate all too well. Perhaps you have long since called on the name of the Lord Jesus to be your Savior, yet you have fallen into sinful ways as you allowed the enemy to draw you into temptation and you caved in to the lusts of your flesh. I certainly have done this more than I would like to say. That has brought me back to the place of bondage when I could have been in the land of freedom with the Lord all the time. Look at this verse…

Isaiah 30:15-17

¹⁵ For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
But you would not, ¹⁶ And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—
Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses”—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!

¹⁷ One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain and as a banner on a hill.

When the Lord first began to show me the 15^th verse in this chapter, I did not understand what He was really trying to say to me. It took me years to uncover the meaning. He knew it would so He kept bringing it to me every time I would turn to food for comfort and disobey what He had told me about my eating. I was being rebellious and I was not looking to Him for comfort. God is greatly displeased when we do that. What He was trying to show me was that this. If I would be calm in my spirit and trust Him, everything would be OK. But many times I was not doing this. He has given us everything we need for life and godliness…

2 Peter 1:2-4

² Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

If the Lord has given us His divine power, why do we doubt? Why do we try to do it our own way? If God could create the entire universe with His breath and His spoken word, why do we think He will not fight our battles for us? Why do we so quickly run to our own devices to satisfy the needs in our hearts that only He can supply? Why do we try to fight the battles only He can win? The answer lies in man’s rebellious nature since the fall. In our chapter today, the Psalmist was making it clear that they (at the time of this writing) knew about God and how He had taken the enemy out of their land and helped their fathers who had gone before them. They knew from their ancestors how mighty God is and what He had done for them. The Bible makes it clear that we are to tell our children and our children’s children about the many great things that God has done…

Psalm 78:1-8

78 Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
² I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, ³ Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
⁴ We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

⁵ For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children; ⁶ That the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children, ⁷ That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments;
⁸ And may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The people have never had an excuse because as the years have gone by, God’s reputation for His mighty ability to help mankind has been told. That is why the Bible was written…

2 Timothy 3:14-17

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

We know from the scriptures why the Bible was written and who it is for – anyone who will choose to pick it up and do what it says! In verse 2 and 3 today, the writer is telling us that he considered God to be his King. Is that what He is to you saints? Is He really your God and King? How can we know the correct way to answer this? One way is to look at the next sentence and subsequent two verses.

The Psalmist was asking the Lord to command deliverance for His people (Jacob) – that is you and me if we are born again children of God. In seeking the Lord for deliverance, his very next statement was significant.

He said that through the Lord they would push down their enemies. He also noted that through His name they would tread them under their feet. This is important to see saints. Do we really realize that deliverance is of the Lord?

 2 Samuel 22:30

For by You I can run against a troop; by my God I can leap over a wall.

The deliverance from the enemy is of the Lord – not our own strength…

Joel 2:32

And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.

Salvation for eternity, salvation from trouble, and deliverance from our enemy is of the Lord. There is a blessed assurance that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Not just from hell, but from trouble, hardship and destruction. Our Psalmist in today’s chapter said that he would not trust in his own efforts to fight the enemy. How about you? Jesus Himself told us just how to fight the enemy. He was led into the desert for a time of testing before He entered into His ministry work. He was attacked by the enemy again and again. Yet, in all those battles, He never relied on His own strength, status or calling to fight the enemy of our souls. He used the all-powerful word of God to do His fighting…

Matthew 4:1-11

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’

and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.⁹ And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

¹¹ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Three times the devil tempted Jesus. And three times Jesus fought him with the word of God. Guess what happened next? The devil took off because he was making no headway with the Lord. Did you know that you can do the very same thing when the devil comes a callin? It’s true. We can use God’s word every single time the tempter comes. He may come at us a thousand times in a day, but if we will stand our ground by putting faith in the power of God and His word, we will get the victory every single time. 

I had a situation this weekend, and I caved in too soon, when I needed to use the word and wait on the Lord for His help. But we are learning. Once we really get this in our hearts, we will win every time. We do not have to keep getting whipped by the enemy. Did you know that our greatest enemy is not the devil? It is true saints, “Well, if it is not the devil, who is it?”

The answer lies in our very own flesh. Yes, we can beat the enemy with the word of God. But we also have to deal with our flesh. Again, the word of God can help us. We are given much instruction about how to put the flesh under. We just need to apply it. Let’s look at a few verses, because it will be like medicine to us…

Romans 13:14

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

2 Corinthians 10:3

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

Galatians 5:16

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Galatians 5:24

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Philippians 4:11-13

¹¹ Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: ¹² I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. ¹³ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

In these verses, Paul is telling us to not allow the flesh to have an occasion (provision) to have its own way. He is also telling us that it is a spiritual battle, not merely a “flesh fight”. Then we see that he is commanding us to walk in the spirit and not according to the flesh. That means to allow our spirit man (the part of us on the inside where God dwells) to do the talking, not the lustful desires of our human desires. It is hard – ask me, I understand this. But it is not impossible. When we walk in the spirit, we will not satisfy our flesh with its lusts and desires. We will have to crucify our flesh daily. Yes, every single day. The flesh will never get “born again.” Only your spirit was born again and is alive unto God and desires to do His will…

Philippians 2:13

 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

It is the spirit of God living in us that always wants to do the right thing. But the flesh never wants to do the right thing. It is what got us in trouble with the Lord in the first place. How SADD-U-CEE! In the Philippians 4 verses, Paul said he had learned to be content, no matter what he was going through. Saints, we all need to get there. If we are hungry, we need to be ok with that. If we are full, well, that’s good too. We need to set our minds on things above and not on earthly things. The more we are heavenly minded the less we will care about the light and momentary afflictions that we must endure during this very brief time on earth.

Verse 3 today tells us that the writer was pleased to boast in the Lord’s help with the enemies. Is that our position today? Do we praise Him all day for what He has done for us? We will see a lot of repetition along these lines in the book of Psalms, but it is something that we need to get down deep in our hearts. Perhaps that is why it is the largest book of the Bible with 150 chapters. Something that big and dominating in God’s word carries a powerful message to the people of God. Obviously He wanted us to be reminded again and again that He alone is where our help comes from. Where can I go? Where can you go? To the Lord – only to the Lord.

The next several verses show how the people had been cast off by the Lord. What does this mean? We can see a lot of it especially in the Old Testament. It was like being on a spiritual “merry-go-round.” God delivered the people and they shouted His praise. Then in seemingly no time at all, they were in trouble again because of their own sin. Messing with the lusts of the flesh gives place to the devil and puts us right back into bondage. The Lord is a just Judge and when we sin, He has to allow judgment to come. The devil is always accusing us…

Revelation 12:10

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

We know the devil is always prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. The minute he sees a person sinning, he runs to the Lord to accuse them. He wants us to get judged so he has the legal right to come into our lives to steal, kill and destroy. That is why we have to stay on our spiritual “tippy toes” where the flesh and temptation is concerned. Open doors due to sin can steal our joy, our peace and a host of other things too numerous to mention. Point taken, we lose when we sin.

Throughout the Old Testament we see a God of amazing grace and mercy. When the people turned to their idols and sinned against Him, He had no choice but to hand them over to the enemy. It breaks His heart to see people suffer. Think of what is must have been like for Him to witness the horrific disaster of the holocaust. People have tried to blame God for that terrible destruction of the Hebrew nation, but it was their own sin that allowed the destroyer the access to do it. In all of that they needed to turn to God and repent. There is always hope for us as long as we have breath in our lungs. It is NEVER God’s will to see people suffer or be destroyed – NEVER!

The devil has done quite a convincing job in the minds of millions of people to make them think that God is to blame for the atrocities we see in the world today. Again, He is the accuser. He even accuses God in the minds of people. When that happens, and they listen to and believe his lies, then they do not want to be a Christian. They say, “How can a good God allow all this destruction?” But it is not God’s will or His plan. It is all the result of rebellion in the earth. This is why we (as His children) need to get our flesh under control and understand the authority that we have over the enemy and the power of the word that is living inside of us. It’s like having the key to a mass fortune and yet never placing the key into the keyhole to open it up.

Many of us can relate very well to verse 11 today. We feel like we are on the “chopping block - just waiting for the ax to fall across the back of our necks. But if we would stand on God’s promises, trust in His word and His hand, we would never have to feel this way another day in our lives. We should not have to go around and around with sin in our lives. Jesus said we should be perfectly trained like our Master…

Luke 6:40

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.

The Lord would not have told us we should do this if it was not possible. But too many want to think that acting like Jesus, thinking like Jesus and doing the things He did are impossible. Lies, lies, lies! The devil wants us to think it, but Jesus certainly didn’t. Even though shame and confusion were round about our writer in today’s chapter, they did not forget about God altogether. Friends, when we lose our way, the first thing we need to do is remember what God has done for those He loves in the past. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. What He has done for others He will do for you, and for me. If we mess up, we can quickly remember the name of the Lord our God and call on Him to forgive us and deliver us.

In my struggles with overcoming food addiction, the Lord has shown me the following verse again and again…

Zechariah 4:6-7

⁶ So he answered and said to me:

“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the Lord of hosts.
⁷ ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

The Psalmist said it today, and this is confirmation. We cannot trust in our own strength to be delivered from the bondage of the enemy. Addiction of any kind is bondage. Living in any kind of sin is bondage. Oh, but friends, we have a God who is bigger than sin and addiction! Hallelujah! We have a God who is faithful and when we repent and call on His name, we will be saved from our enemies. 

Remember, when we see all this talk about enemies in the Psalms or in the Bible at large, we are not talking about people. These are the wicked hosts in the heavenly places. They are the spiritual forces of darkness. Satan has an army of demons working for him and they are always looking for a place to take up residence in people while there is still time.

They live to torment and take away the blessings of God. But they can only get in if we allow them through sin in our lives. That is why walking by the Spirit every day is so important. Without doing that willingly, we are like a lone sheep out in the pasture just waiting for the next hungry wolf to walk by looking for dinner.

Friends, the Lord knows our hearts. He knows full well if we have offered our hearts to idols – other things that we adore above Him. But He makes it plain that we cannot serve another master…

Matthew 6:24

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Once we make up our minds to serve only Him and nothing else; money or otherwise, then we can call on Him to deliver us and He will be there. Oh He is so good saints! Praise His name forever! If you have been feeling like a sheep on the chopping block lately, remember the words in this set of verses…

Romans 8:31-39

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ 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.

This is the good news! We will suffer like a sheep on the chopping block for doing the will of God. Many men and woman who have gone before us and now live with the Master in heaven can testify to this fact. But God loves us so much that He will never allow anything to separate us from that love. We are the only ones who could separate ourselves from the Lord. He will not do that. His love for us will never fail. 

If we understand the depth of His love for us, it should compel us to go the extra mile for Him and be willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel in the brief time we have on earth. The Psalmist ended the chapter today with a cry for God to come forth and help. He asked the Lord to remember their affliction and the oppression of the enemy. He asked the Lord to redeem them for the sake of His mercy. Oh friends, we serve a merciful God – hallelujah! When we cry out to Him, He will not turn a deaf ear…

Luke 18:7

⁷ And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?

Aren’t we so grateful that the Lord is so patient with us and so merciful? He will hear and He will come to our aid. He does not want anyone to perish. He is the perfection of patience. He will avenge us with the enemy. He is our Redeemer. He has already bought us back from the stronghold of the enemy. The thing we have to do is grab that truth and live in it day and night – night and day. Let nothing tell you that God does not love you. Let nothing steal your joy. Remember His power to deliver you from the hand of the enemy. Remember that we can stand on His promises and use His word like it is a sharp double edged sword…

Hebrews 4:12

¹² For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

Remember that everything we have lost through enemy oppression can be restored by the Lord. If we will turn ourselves toward the Lord and not live according to our own flesh, He will give us back all that has been taken from us. He redeems our lives from the pit and He redeems the things in our lives that the enemy has stolen. Things like lost childhoods, lost family relationships, lost finances. You name it – He wants to restore it all. There is truly only one place we can go when we need a friend, a Deliverer, or a Redeemer. It’s the Lord!

Questions:

In what ways have you heard about the goodness of God in the past?

How can we overcome the enemy?

Can we trust in our own efforts to get free of entanglement with the enemy? Explain your answer.

How have you been giving God praise for all He has done for you?

What does it mean to be like a “sheep for the slaughter?”

How have you trusted in your own efforts to fight the battles you encounter in your life?

Describe the love of God as detailed in this lesson?

Where do you go when you really need a friend?

What has helped you the most in this study?

There are three main points to consider from today’s study…

God has always been there for His children to deliver them from the enemy

Nothing can separate us from God’s love

The Lord is a patient and merciful Redeemer

                        Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your patience with me. I know I have blown it and sinned many times, but every time I have come to you in true repentance I know that You have forgiven me. Father, thank You for Your endless love for me. I am going to make it my goal to remember how much You love me every day of my life. Father, in response to Your love, I will make it my goal to love You with all my heart and trust in Your mighty power to deliver me from the oppression of the enemy. You are the only place I can go to for help. Lord, show me anything that I need to see today that I have not yet realized. Forgive me for the times I have tried in my own strength to get free of things only You can free me from. Thank You in advance for the answer to this prayer Lord in Jesus name. Amen.

Do you realize that you can always go to the Lord?

And God Said… You fill in the blanks.

Luke 18:7

And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him,

though He bears long with them?