Ps. 44.8 (..awake, while you sleep...)

“In God / we boasted / all day long – and we shall / praise your name / forever.” There is an important point we left out of our previous reflection that needs to be made as this verse continues the point. In verses 2-3, as we saw, the ‘negating’ of man’s power was framed as something that simply did not occur (“they did not take possession by their sword”). In verse 6 there is the same attitude expressed: “I will not trust in my bow”. The important difference is this: whereas before the victory was achieved by God, in verse 6 the king asserts that he wont trust in his bow. In effect, the victory in the past was narrated as an event that happened. In the present, the king reveals that he has faithfully molded himself to that reality. Not only will his sword not save him but he will not trust in it.  The import of this is that the king is ‘positioning himself’, revealing how faithful and ‘righteous’ he has been. He has “taken to heart” the reality of God’s power in such a way that the reality of the past has become his present disposition. The reason for this is clear, and will become clearer later: the king is laying the premise for appealing to God to (re)enact his covenantal faithfulness to Israel and “fight with them”. That approach is continued here—“we” (the people and the king) have given glory (boasting) precisely where it was supposed to have been given and to no one else. By liturgically praising God they are displaying the fact that their hearts have remained faithful; even though they achieved victory, there was no residue of believing it was obtained apart from God’s leavening power. Most importantly, it was not a momentary acknowledgment. It was “all day long”; they praised his name “forever”. This is crucial as its full import will be revealed later: their constant praise of God stands in stark contrast to their petition to God “wake up”. In other words, whereas they have remained constant, God has not. By appealing to their faithfulness, they are attempting to arouse in God a sense of responsibility to his covenantal duties to them.