Human Will, Working with Divine Grace? Psalm 44:1-3

Text: “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou hadst a favour unto them.”

Psalm 44:3.

          “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: Thou hast the dew of Thy youth.”

Psalm 110:3.

Good morning, Christian made willing by grace!  The power of the Lord God, the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Divine Godhead, not only called you and I effectually unto Eternal Salvation by grace, but empowered us by His gift of faith to believe (trust) in Christ and by His full Atonement Sacrifice at Golgotha’s Cross, be Eternally saved and secured.  Wow!  What a Lord God of Sovereign grace and mercy we serve, in Christ Jesus!

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified (just-as-if-I’d-never sinned) by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of Eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7)

Fallen human will is made alive by God’s grace to, from thence, work together with Divine grace and power to fulfil the Divine and Sovereign Eternal purpose of the Lord God.

“Psalm 44, Title: “To the Chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil.”  The title is similar to the Forty-Second Psalm, and although this is no proof that it is by the same author, it makes it highly probable.  No other writer should be sought for to father any of the Psalms when David will suffice, and therefore we are loath to ascribe this sacred song to any but the great Psalmist, yet as we hardly know any period of his life which it would fairly describe, we feel compelled to look elsewhere.  The last verses remind us of Milton’s famous lines on the massacre of the Protestants among the mountains of Piedmont.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 210)

 “On the Late Massacre in Piedmont

On the Late Massacre in Piedmont is a sonnet by the English poet John Milton inspired by the massacre of Waldensians in Piedmont by the troops of Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy in April 1655. In 1487, shortly after the Crusades in Southern France, Pope Innocent VIII turned his focus to the Waldensians in Northern Italy. The group was excommunicated from the church after refusing to conform to Catholicism. A series of attacks were made on the group before Charles I, Duke of Savoy intervened to bring peace to his lands.” (Wikipedia online)

“S. Ambrose observes that in former Psalms we have seen a prophecy of Christ’s passion, resurrection, and ascension, and of the coming of the Holy Ghost, and that here we are taught that we ourselves must be ready to struggle and suffer in order that these things may profit us.  Human will must work together with Divine grace.”  (Christopher Wordsworth 1848-1938)

“Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: Thou hast the dew of Thy youth.” (Psalm 110:3)

Verse 1. “We have heard with our ears, O God.  To hear with the ears affects us more sensitively than to read with the eyes; we ought to note this and seize every possible opportunity of telling abroad the Gospel of our Lord Jesus viva voce (by word of mouth), since this is the most telling mode of communication.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 210)

Verse 1. “...Our fathers have told us.  When fathers are tongue-tied religiously with their offspring, need they wonder if their children’s hearts remain sin-tied?  Religious conversation need not be dull, and indeed it could not be if, as in this case, it dealt more with facts and less with opinions.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 210)

Verse 1.  “...What works Thou didst.  Why only work in the singular, when such innumerable deliverances had been wrought by Him, from the passage of the red Sea to the destruction of the hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians?  Because all these were but types of that one great work, that one stretching forth of Lord’s hand, when Satan was vanquished, death destroyed, and the Kingdom of Heaven opened to all believers.”  (Ambrose 340-397)

“Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.” (Acts 15:18)

“While the songs of other nations sing of the heroism of their ancestors, the songs of Israel celebrate the works of God.”  (Augustus F. Tholuck 1799-1877)

If you and I have been gloriously and most graciously redeemed by the sinless and precious Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ – how can we not shout about it from the very roof-tops?

Verse 2.  “How Thou didst afflict the people and cast them out.  How fair is Mercy when she stands by the side of Justice!  Bright beams the star of grace amidst the night of wrath!  It is a solemn thought that the greatness of Divine love has its counterpart in the greatness of His indignation.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 210)

The Lord God is a Holy Lord God of absolute wrath against all sin.  Praise His Name, He is also a Lord God of infinite mercy, love, and grace towards ‘His people’, and saves us from our sin.

The Lord God, by His Sovereign will, and according to His Divine Election in Eternity, chooses whom to save, writes our names in ‘the Lamb’s Book of life’, gives us to His Son, Jesus, and the Lord Jesus redeems us from our sins by His own sinless Blood, shed for us at Calvary’s Cross.

“All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”  (John 6:37)

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His (because He elected us to be His!), And let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity.”  (2 Timothy 2:19)

Verse 3.  “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword.  The passage may be viewed as a beautiful parable of the work of Salvation; men are not saved without prayer, repentance, etc., but none of these save a man; Salvation is altogether of the Lord.  Canaan was not conquered by them; the Lord was the conqueror, and the people were but instruments in His hands.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 210)

Thought:  Mankind’s human will, after the fall of Adam from God’s grace, can do nothing but sin against His Holy Lord God.  God alone can ‘quicken’ our hearts, regenerate our spirits, and save us by His own pre-ordained Sacrifice.  God’s will is always done.