Do It Again, Lord (Psa. 44:1-26)

Read Psalm 44.

• Inspiration.  Look at what the Lord already did.  Listen to the elders' testimonies about God's mighty work.  What did He do?  How did He do it?  Are there patterns?  What can be learned?  God doesn't change.  What He has done, He will do again.  Today is tomorrow's fuel for faith.  Today you earn interest on yesterday's faithfulness.
• Desperation.  You can't fool God, so you might as well be honest before Him.  What He did yesterday, what He did for others is inspiring, but you need Him to intervene for you right now.  Tell Him that.  He's big enough to handle it.  "Do it again, Lord!  Do it for me!"  The posture of desperation is honesty.  Desperate people talk differently to God.  They retain reverence, but push the envelope.  You know what you want God to do.  Does how you pray reflect that?
• Preservation.  Let's stay on the honesty train for another minute.  It's a natural tendency to suggest you're suffering due to no fault of your own.  That very well might be true.  Maybe it isn't.  It's easier to preserve self and accuse God of abandonment than it is to embrace responsibility.  Before you pull the "God isn't fair" card, consider your current situation could be His discipline.  Before your rule out His interest, rule out your own irresponsibility.  Honesty demands it.
• Resignation.  Having ruled out that your behavior or lack of it isn't the cause for your predicament, resign yourself to the sovereignty of God.  It's the pressure relief valve.  It's the admitting of humanity, finiteness and perspective.  It's a position of continued trust in spite of the unanswered questions that assault you.