Psalms 44-46: Songs For the Last Days

 The Book of Psalms encompasses five books, like the five books of Moses that begin the Bible, and the second book begins with Psalm 42. Like the second book of Moses, Exodus, the second book of Psalms begins with oppression and deliverance.

Psalms 42-44 all speak of oppression; Psalm 45 transitions to God’s deliverance. The psalms are amazing psalms that lay out the plan of God. In particular, as the title suggests, I’d like to focus on Psalms 44-46, a narrow slice of these themes.

As with all Scripture references, please look them up on your own. In this case, it’s particularly important, for the full context increases their impact.

Psalm 44

Psa. 44:1-8 recounts God’s mighty works of old, the wonders He worked on behalf of Israel. V. 1 sums this up nicely: “We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, the deeds You did in their days, in days of old.”

In v. 9, though, the psalm shifts gears and begins to focus on the present, an excruciating distress. The writers of the psalm, the sons of Korah, lament, “You make us turn back from the enemy, and those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. You have given us up like sheep intended for food, and have scattered us among the nations. You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples” Psa. 44:10-11, 14).

Is this distress because of Israel’s sins? Have they turned away from God, as so often happened, and therefore God has turned away from them?

In this case, apparently not. The psalmists continue, “All this has come upon us; but we have not forgotten You, nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from Your way” (Psa. 44:17-18).

No, the oppression is not due to forsaking God. Quite the contrary, in fact: “Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” (Psa. 44:22). 

The oppression in Psalm 44 is persecution for obeying God. In this same context, the Apostle Paul quoted v. 22 in Rom. 8:36.

Psalm 44 portrays God’s people being scattered throughout the earth, oppressed, hunted down, and slaughtered for their obedience to Him. They are mocked and scorned.

Throughout history, in various times and places, God’s people have endured such persecution. Heb. 11:35-38 tells us, “Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented — of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.”

Jesus Christ Himself warned us of these things. He preached no “health and wealth gospel,” but instead, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:19-20).

When is the culmination of the persecution in Psalm 44? At the end of the age, during the Great Tribulation.

Of the Beast or Antichrist, we’re told, “It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them” (Rev. 13:7). And of his cohort, the False Prophet, we learn, “He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Rev. 13:15).

During the Great Tribulation, the Beast and the False Prophet will hunt down, torture, and murder God’s people as never before. Because of this,God’s people will cry out to Him, as in Psalm 44: “And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand” (Rev. 8:4).

In Revelation, the very next verse begins God’s judgment on the persecutors of His people. But Psalm 44 doesn’t take us there. Not yet.

Instead, it concludes with a final plea for help: “Arise for our help, and redeem us for Your mercies’ sake” (Psa. 44:26).

Psalm 45

In many Bibles, Psalm 45 contains this heading inserted by the translators: “The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride.” This is true, as we’re about to see!

Unlike many other psalms, Psalm 44 did not conclude with deliverance. That deliverance happens in this psalm.

Psalm 45 begins with a conquering King: “Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, with Your glory and Your majesty. And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; and Your right hand shall teach You awesome things. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies; the peoples fall under You. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom” (Psa. 45:3-6).

Compare this with Revelation 19:

11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.

13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.

15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

21 And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

This is God’s deliverance of His people! The deliverance longed for in Psalm 44.

If there could be any possible doubt that this psalm speaks of Jesus Christ, Heb. 1:8-9 dispels it, quoting vv. 6-7 of this very psalm: “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.’”

Verses 9-17 speak of Yeshua/Jesus’ Bride, His 144,000 firstfruits described in Revelation. We read, “At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir. Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your own people also, and your father’s house; so the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him” (Psa. 45:9-11).

Now, as we’ve seen in Part 4 and Part 5 of the series on the tabernacle, at the First Resurrection, shortly before His actual Second Coming, Jesus Christ will gather His people and take them into heaven to appear before His Father’s throne. Rev. 14-15 is clear on this point.

What, then, do we read in Psalm 45? “She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; the virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You. With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; they shall enter the King’s palace” (Psa. 45:14-15).

“They shall enter the King’s palace.” What is God’s palace, His dwelling? The heavenly temple — the Holy of Holies!

Psalm 45, then, covers the Messiah taking His Bride, marrying her before the Father’s throne, and returning to earth. What an amazing picture!

Psalm 46

This psalm speaks of God’s reign on earth. It begins, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psa. 46:1).

Later, we read, “Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire” (Psa. 46:8-9).

Parallel to this, Isa. 2:4 tells us, “He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

When Jesus Christ reigns on earth, there will be peace. He will indeed make “wars cease to the end of the earth,” just Psalm 46 prophesies.

Notice also verses 4-5 of this psalm: “There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.”

“A river whose streams shall make glad the city of God.” Where else do we read about that? Here’s Rev. 22:1-2: “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

Psalm 46 foretells the New Jerusalem, God’s eternal Kingdom, with the river of life.

It concludes with this: “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psa. 46:11). Or, as Rev. 21:3-4 says, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

These three psalms are amazing passages. They take us on a journey from the tribulations of this life to the Great Tribulation to the First Resurrection to Jesus Christ’s return to the new heavens and new earth. Mind you, not everything is in chronological order in each psalm, at least not as we understand from the Book of Revelation, but all the elements are there.

God’s Word is like a jigsaw puzzle. There are pieces of the puzzle hidden everywhere. Clues, symbols, and small pictures that come together to paint an incredible big picture!