10/02/2024 – Day 102 – Psalm – Chapters 102 – 104 / Chapter Psalm 44 – re: Probable Timeline When Each Psalm was written (link attached) – quite the surprise when I looked up Psalm 44!
Last cycle, our post focused on the first two verses of the reading assignment, Psalm 42: 1 – 2, “like a deer panting for water.” (Search post date: 06/09/2022 or “Day 102”
I’ve read Psalm 44 multiple times but today I wondered about the historical context: “All this came upon us, though we had not forgotten you; we had not been false to your covenant. Our hearts had not turned back.” (Psalm 44: 17 – 19). So I pondered how the writer makes the people of Israel out to be “squeeky clean” , so to speak , leading to the question: “When could that have been?”
So, I ran into this neat little Book of Psalm resource, a probable timeline trigger event and date for each Psalm. And as you can see chapter 44 points to Rabshekeh, the blasphemous Assyrian. Check out Rabshakeh’s taunts to the people of Israel, with a large Assyrian army right outside the gates of Jerusalem. (see Isaiah 36: 4 – 10)
This Psalm was written around 710 A.D., just a few years after the Assyrians overthrew the northern kingdom. You can follow the entire story from Isaiah – Chapters 36 & 37, with God’s amazing deliverance. So, I can now understand the writer’s “squeaky clean” reference in that Hezekiah had turned Judah around after succeeding his evil father, Ahaz. The Assyrians were at the pinnacle of their evil and ruthless dynasty, striking fear into their neighbors.
Probable Timeline for Each Psalm:
https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/parallel/paral18.cfm
Hezekiah’s prayer and God’s deliverance – Biblical account – 2 Kings 19:14 – 21:9
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%2019%3A14-21%3A9&version=NIV
Same story with Isaiah’s prayer with God’s miraculous intervention!:
https://scripturesavvy.com/isaiah-37/
So, what was the rest of the story. Well, Hezekiah died and was succeeded by Manasseh, so it was back to “He did was was evil in the Lord’s sight.” And we see over and over again, that the best of men are men at best. Complacency seems to return almost immediately after God’s amazing intervention miracles.
Thoughts? / Reflections?
- What does the text reveal about God’s character?
- How has this reading generated prayer for you and/or us?
- What themes stand out to you in this bible study?
- How does our reading fit into the bigger picture (creation, the fall, restoration, etc.)?
- What verse(s) jumped out at you like never before? Is it explainable at this point? (*A)
- Do you have any questions you would like to put before the group as to how to interpret any particular verse(s) in our reading. Let scripture testify to scripture: Share with us where you sense contradiction between passages elsewhere.
- What did you find convicting and inspiring at the same time? Share with us how the Spirit of God is working within you as a messenger, both within and outside of our fellowship group.
- Share with the group how our study is calling or confirming to you a new mission to glorify God in our times.
(*A) – Particularly so with Psalms, one can almost pick any verse(s) in the reading! So, we have a lot to choose from!
Soli Deo Gloria!