Psalm 44: Lessons For Believers to Follow When a Nation is Trapped in Darkness
Introduction: In Psalms 42 and 43, a psalmist worship leader cried out to God regarding his own distress after being driven out of Jerusalem where he once worshiped God in the Temple. Here, the psalmist shifted focus to cry out as an intercessor to pray for his struggling nation. He struggled to understand the reason for the nation’s suffering because, at that particular time, they were still mostly faithful and obedient. From this Psalm, God reveals seven lessons for believers to follow when a nation is trapped in darkness and the reasons for the suffering are unclear. These include: (1) remembering God’s faithfulness, (2) trusting Him, (3) giving your burdens to Him (4) obedience, (5) patience, (6) intercessory prayer, and (7) meditating on His love.
First, the psalmist began his lament by correctly praising God for His faithfulness to keep His promises to His people. When a nation is trapped in darkness, God also wants you to remember His faithfulness. Second, the psalmist professed that only God’s hand could deliver the Jews. When a nation is trapped in darkness, God also wants you to trust in Him for deliverance. Third, The psalmist lamented that God’s people suffered even though they had been mostly obedient at that time. When you cannot understand the reasons for suffering around you, God wants you to give your burdens to Him. Fourth, the psalmist stated that the Jews had remained mostly faithful and obedient in the face of their suffering. When a nation is trapped in darkness, God also wants you to remain faithful and obedient to Him. He also wants you to pray for the nation to be obedient as well. Fifth, the psalmist professed his frustration that God had not yet acted to deliver His people. When a nation is trapped in darkness and God has not yet intervened, He wants you to be patient for His timing. Sixth, the psalmist cried out for God to intervene and save His people. When a nation is trapped in darkness, God also wants you to pray as an intercessor. Finally, the psalmist remembered God’s loving mercy toward His people and used that as a basis for his request for God to intervene. When a nation is trapped in darkness, God also wants you to meditate on His love. He sent His only son out of love to die for mankind.
1. Remembrance: When Darkness Prevails, Remember God’s Faithfulness. Ps. 44:1-3.
The psalmist thanked God for His faithfulness to repeatedly deliver the Jews. At a time when the Jews were suffering, the psalmist began by thanking God for His faithfulness: “For the music director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. 1 God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us the work that You did in their days, in the days of old. 2 You with Your own hand drove out the nations; then You planted them; You afflicted the peoples, then You let them go free. 3 For by their own sword they did not possess the land, and their own arm did not save them, but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, for You favored them.” (Ps. 44:1-3). Ironically, the psalmist’s words at the beginning of this Psalm would provide the answer to his later lament to God.
Trust in Jesus’ faithfulness when you are in need1
God was faithful to deliver the Jews from Egyptian slavery. When the Jews were in captivity, God stated that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart to demonstrate His power to deliver His people (Ex. 10:1-2). Moses then told the people to teach future generations to celebrate God’s faithfulness to deliver His people: “And Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day in which you departed from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the LORD brought you out from this place. And nothing with yeast shall be eaten. . . And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.”’ (Ex. 13:3,8). At the “Only be careful for yourself and watch over your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.” (Dt. 4:9).
God was also faithful to deliver the Promised Land to the Jews. At the edge of the Promised Land, God promised to drive out the nations that were occupying it: “When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to take possession of it, and He drives away many nations from before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,” (Dt. 7:1). When the Jews invaded the Promised Land, God was faithful to keep His Word: “Judah went up, and the LORD handed over to them the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek.” (Josh. 1:4). “And Joshua said, ‘By this you will know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly drive out from you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.”’ (Josh. 3:10). After occupying the Promised Land, the Jews made it a tradition to celebrate God’s faithfulness: “We will not conceal them from their children, but we will tell the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His power and His wondrous works that He has done.” (Ps. 78:4).
God was also faithful to deliver the Jews from exile. After the Jews were freed from their exile, Nehemiah again led the Jews in celebrating God’s faithfulness: “So their sons entered and took possession of the land. And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and You handed them over to them, with their kings and the peoples of the land, to do with them as they desired.” (Neh. 9:24). The Apostles also celebrated God’s faithfulness throughout history: “When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about 450 years.” (Acts 13:19). Jesus was the fulfillment of His many promises.
Praise God for His faithfulness. Whenever you are filled with sorrow, you can find comfort by praising God for His faithfulness: “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His faithfulness to a thousand generations for those who love Him and keep His commandments;” (Dt. 7:9). Jesus is the proof of God’s faithfulness: “This is what the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, says to the despised One, to the One abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: ‘Kings will see and arise, princes will also bow down, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”’ (Is. 49:7). When you look around and see others trapped in sin, remember that God is faithful to keep His Word.
2. Trust: When a Nation is in Darkness, Trust in God for its Deliverance. Ps. 44:4-8.
The psalmist professed that God alone was responsible for all the Jews’ prior victories. The psalmist also knew that the Jews could not deliver themselves from their enemies: “4 You are my King, God; command victories for Jacob. 5 Through You we will push back our adversaries; through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us. 6 For I will not trust in my bow, nor will my sword save me. 7 But You have saved us from our adversaries, and You have put to shame those who hate us. 8 In God we have boasted all day long, and we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah.” (Ps. 44:4-8). The psalmist’s praise would again provide the answer to his later lament.
God delivered the Jews through His mighty power. Every time the Jews prevailed, it was because of God’s power, not their own: “and that this entire assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S, and He will hand you over to us!” (1 Sam. 17:47). “For You have encircled me with strength for battle; You have forced those who rose up against me to bow down under me.” (2 Sam. 22:40). “and he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.”’ (2 Chr. 20:15). “Through God we will do valiantly, and it is He who will trample down our enemies.” (Ps. 60:12). When others are trapped in darkness, pray that they will also place their trust in God.
God chose to deliver a weak nation to demonstrate His power to deliver. To demonstrate His power to deliver, God picked a weak and small nation that would have disappeared without Him: “The LORD did not make you His beloved nor choose you because you were greater in number than any of the peoples, since you were the fewest of all peoples,” (Dt. 7:7). “Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you are to remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, in order to confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Dt. 8:17-18). “Do not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them away from you, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to take possession of this land.’ Rather, it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you.” (Dt. 9:4).
No matter how weak or insignificant a person feels, God can deliver them from darkness.Praise God for his faithfulness when you are feeling sorrow. Before stating his laments, the psalmist praised God for His faithfulness: “In God we have boasted all day long, and we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah” (Ps. 44:8). “That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.” (Ps. 30:12). “My soul will make its boast in the LORD; the humble will hear it and rejoice.” (Ps. 34:2). When you are feeling sorrow, praise God for His faithfulness. It helps to take your eyes off yourself. It also helps to remind you to place your full trust in God.
Put your trust in God, even when His plans are unknown. Even when it seems that evil is prevailing, God wants you to trust that He is in control and has a greater plan for good: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5). “Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” (1 Pet. 5:7). “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (1 Cor. 16:13). “Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD.” (Ps. 31:24). “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” (Dt. 31:6). Even if an evil person tries to kill you, your soul remains protected with Jesus: “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.” (Lk. 12:4). The only person that you are to fear is God (Prov. 1:7). And the fear of the Lord is hating evil (Prov. 8:12). Even when evil seems to prevail, do you trust God?
3. Lamenting: When a Nation is in Darkness, Give Your Burdens to God. Ps. 44:9-16.
The psalmist cried out with his feeling that God had rejected and disciplined His people. The psalmist lamented that the Jews suffered from many of the curses listed in the Torah: “9 Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor, and do not go out with our armies. 10 You cause us to turn back from the enemy; and those who hate us have taken spoils for themselves. 11 You turn us over to be eaten like sheep, and have scattered us among the nations. 12 You sell Your people cheaply, and have not profited by their sale. 13 You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors, of scoffing and ridicule to those around us. 14 You make us a proverb among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. 15 All day long my dishonor is before me and I am covered with my humiliation, 16 because of the voice of one who taunts and reviles, because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.” (Ps. 44:9-16). The psalmist lamented that God had allegedly punished His people. He failed to understand that their suffering served a different purpose. Although he was wrong in his briefs, he was right to turn to God.
When you are sad, give your burdens to God2
Cry out to God when you cannot feel His presence. The psalmist’s cry that God had rejected the Jewish people was a cry that he had just made for himself: “I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” (Ps. 42:9). “For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” (Ps. 43:2). David also cried out when he felt as if God had abandoned him: “A Mikhtam of David, to teach; when he fought with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt. God, You have rejected us. You have broken us; You have been angry; restore us!” (Ps. 60:1). Whatever the reason for the suffering, God wants you to respond by turning to Him. He also wants you to pray that those who are trapped in darkness will also turn to Him.
Suffering can sometimes result from disobedience and rebellion. The psalmist professed his feeling that God was responsible for the Jews’ battlefield defeats that placed them in their sorrow: “10 You cause us to turn back from the enemy; . . .” (Ps. 44:10). God had previously warned that rebellion can cause God to lift His hand of protection to allow an enemy to temporarily prevail against you: “And I will set My face against you so that you will be defeated before your enemies; and those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.” (Lev. 26:17). “The LORD will cause you to be defeated by your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways from their presence, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.” (Dt. 28:25). And God kept His Word and allowed the Jews to be defeated on many occasions when they rebelled against God: “Then the Spirit of God covered Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest like clothing; and he stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God has said, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper? Because you have abandoned the LORD, He has also abandoned you.’” (2 Chr. 24:20). “Therefore the wrath of the LORD was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.” (2 Chr. 29:8). Rebellion eventually led to the Jews’ exile.
God also frequently calls upon His people to suffer for a greater purpose. The Book of Job demonstrates that God can allow suffering for reasons unrelated to sin or rebellion. Sometimes, God allows you to suffer for a greater purpose. Thus, when sin is not a reason for your suffering, God wants you to trust that your suffering serves a greater purpose: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Ro. 8:28). “David suffers throughout much of Book 1 and enters his kingdom in Book 2. As Book 2 opens, however, the righteous community suffers on the way to entering the kingdom – the city of God described in Ps. 46. Such a sequence matches the way Jesus first suffered before entering into His glory, and now the Church suffers on the way to entering the new Jerusalem.” (James M. Hamilton Jr., Evangelical Bible Theology Commentary Psalms (Vol. I: Psalms 1-72) (Lexham Academic 2021) p. 463). If you cannot understand the reasons for your trials, cry out to God to give you wisdom and understanding (Jam. 1:5).
Whatever the reason for your suffering, seek out God’s fellowship and comfort. If your suffering is because of sin, repent and turn back to God. If your suffering is unrelated to sin, seek out God’s fellowship and comfort: “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:9). You can trust that God will never give you a trial that is beyond your ability to endure: “No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (1 Cor. 10:13). If you are suffering, cry out for God’s comfort. This allowed David to find peace even in the face of death: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Ps. 23:4).
4. Obedience: When a Nation is in Darkness, Remain Obedient to God. Ps. 44:17-19.
The psalmist claimed that the Jews had been faithful and obedient. Although sin is always present in any population, the psalmist stated that the Jews had been obedient: “17 All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You, and we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant. 18 Our heart has not turned back, and our steps have not deviated from Your way, 19 yet You have crushed us in a place of jackals and covered us with deep darkness.” (Ps. 44:17-19). The psalmist’s belief that the Jews had been mostly obedient caused him to question the reasons for their suffering. Although he was wrong to assume that obedience will prevent suffering, God still wants your obedience. And He wants you to pray for those who are trapped in darkness to obey Him as well.
Even in the face of your suffering, stay obedient to God. You should never demand a blessing because of your obedience. You should also never allow your suffering to cause you to give up on following God’s Word: “The snares of the wicked have surrounded me, but I have not forgotten Your Law. . . Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.” (Ps. 119:61, 83). “So that they would put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but comply with His commandments,” (Ps. 78:7). Even when he suffered, Job continued to obey God: “My foot has held on to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside.” (Job 23:11).
Your faith should produce the fruit of obedience. When Moses gave God’s Law, he urged the Jews to commit to following all of it, not just the parts that they agreed with: “So you shall observe to do just as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left.” (Dt. 5:32). “and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.” (Dt. 28:14). “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.” (Josh. 1:7). “Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.” (Prov. 4:27). King Josiah was later celebrated because his faith produced the fruit of complete obedience. “He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or the left.” (2 Chr. 34:2; 2 Kgs. 22:2). Do you follow all of God’s Word? Or, do you choose only the parts of God’s Word that you agree with?
Jesus is not your Lord if you refuse to do what He says. Without works, a person’s faith is dead: “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” (Jam. 2:17). A believer may proclaim Jesus as Lord. But Jesus is not your Lord if you disobey Him: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” (Matt. 7:21). “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Lk. 6:46). “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” (Jam. 1:22). “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matt. 7:24). “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.” (Matt. 7:26). Is your faith evidenced through obedience to Jesus?
5. Patience: When a Nation is in Darkness, Be Patient For God’s Timing. Ps. 44:20-22.
The psalmist lamented that God had not acted to save His people. Because the psalmist believed that God knows all things, he questioned why God had not delivered the Jews: “20 If we had forgotten the name of our God or extended our hands to a strange god, 21 would God not find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. 22 But for Your sake we are killed all day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” (Ps. 44:20-22). If the people had secretly rejected God, He would know it. Sin always exists. But the psalmist did not understand why God would delay without any major sin.
God calls upon you to be patient as He molds you for His greater plans. The Bible is filled with examples of believers having to wait before God would fulfill His promises. For example, Sarah and Abraham waited 25 years in the Promised Land before He transformed her 90-year-old womb to allow her to conceive Isaac (Gen. 17:17). David also had to wait to become king as God molded Him as a servant within Saul’s court. He would then suffer under Saul’s rule. If we are patient, God uses suffering to mold believers for His greater glory: “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.” (Is. 48:10; Ps. 66:10; Zech. 13:9(a); Dt. 8:2-3). God also wants you to be patient as He molds you: “Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.” (Ps. 37:7). “I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.” (Ps. 40:1(b)). “I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope.” (Ps. 130:5). Even when you don’t know God’s plan for you and things seem hopeless, will you patiently wait for God and His timing?
A faith that is not tested cannot be trusted. The psalmist professed that God “knows the secrets of the heart.” (Ps. 44:21). Because He knows what is in your heart, He uses trials to draw you closer to Him: “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, to give to each person according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.” (Jer. 17:10). God wants you to allow Him to mold you in small trials so that your faith will endure in larger trials as well. When a nation undergoes a trial, pray for the people to turn to God.
6. Intercessory Prayer: When Darkness Prevails, Pray as an Intercessor. Ps. 44:23-25.
The psalmist cried out for God to deliver His people. Instead of giving up in despair, the psalmist prayed as an intercessor for God to deliver His people: “23 Wake Yourself up, why do You sleep, Lord? Awake, do not reject us forever. 24 Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression? 25 For our souls have sunk down into the dust; our bodies cling to the earth.” (Ps. 44:23-25). The tone of the psalmist’s prayer may appear disrespectful to the modern reader. God would never want you to stumble others in your public prayers. But, in your private prayers, you can be honest with God whenever you feel a burden or sorrow. “The psalmist had the depth of relationship with God to speak this freely, and God had the love and grace to not only hear it, but also to record such a prayer in His word. The psalmist openly spoke his feeling that God had forsaken and forgotten a faithful Israel. The psalmist did not actually believe that God was asleep, but it felt to him so . . . This feeling or sense was powerfully captured when Jesus slept in the boat on the stormy Sea of Galilee. The disciples feared they would perish as He slept and cried out for Jesus to awake.” (David Guzik on Ps. 44).3
Plead as an intercessor for God to help others. The Bible is filled with great examples of intercessory prayers for believers to follow. For example, Abraham pleaded with God as an intercessor to spare the innocent in Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:23). God later spared the Jewish nation in response to Moses’ intercessory prayers after they made the golden calf (Ex. 32:11-14). He again spared the Jews in response to Moses’ prayers after they rebelled at the edge of the Promised Land (Nu. 14:18-22). God again spared the Jews in response to the prayers of Moses and Aaron after Korah, 250 men of renown, and then 14,700 others rebelled (Nu. 16:21-24). As an intercessor, Samuel promised to continue to pray for the people’s sins (1 Sam. 12:23). David also prayed as an intercessor for God to spare the Jews after 70,000 men across all of Israel died in a plague that came about because of David’s sins (2 Sam. 24:17). Elijah also cried out to God in faith for God to raise a widow’s son from the dead (1 Kgs. 17:21-22.) Jonah also made a plea as an intercessor when his disobedience caused the men in his boat to suffer (Jo. 1:12). The apostles also continually prayed for others (2 Tim. 1:3; Col. 1:9; Eph. 1:16; 1 Thess. 3:10). You are part of Jesus’ holy priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6). As His appointed priest, you too have the power of intercessory prayer. But it doesn’t work if you lack faith (Jam. 1:6). Are you praying as an intercessor for those whose faith has failed them?
All things are possible with God when you have faith. There is no request that is beyond God’s power: “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?” (Gen. 18:14(a)). “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” (Jer. 32:27). “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2). “‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”’ (Matt. 19:26(b); Mk. 10:27(b); Lk. 1:37; Ro. 8:31). With faith, God can deliver you from any evil.
7. God’s Love: When a Nation is in Darkness, Meditate on God’s Love. Ps. 44:26.
The psalmist appealed to God’s love and mercy for His people. Because God loves His people, the intercessor appealed to His love and mercy to deliver His people: “26 Rise up, be our help, and redeem us because of Your mercy.” (Ps. 44:26). One of the enemy’s greatest weapons is discouragement. He causes some to falsely believe that God does not care about them or that someone’s sins are too big to be forgiven. The antidote to these lies is to focus on God’s love. He sent His only son Jesus to die to offer mankind mercy.
Jesus so loved mankind that He died on the cross so that none might perish. Jesus gave His life so that all who have faith in Him might live: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Ro. 5:8). “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” (Jo. 10:11). “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jo. 3:16). When darkness surrounds you, God wants you to meditate on His love for you and encourage others to do the same.
Suffering never signals the absence of Jesus’ love. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul quotes from the psalmist’s lament about the people’s suffering (Ps. 44:22) to caution that suffering does not mean that Jesus has ceased loving His people: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Just as it is written: ‘For Your sake we were regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro. 8:35-39). When others around you are suffering and feel trapped in darkness, share these words of encouragement.
Jesus offers you His compassion and love. When the world is filled with darkness, Jesus also offers you His comfort and love: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). “But God, who comforts the discouraged, comforted us by the arrival of Titus;” (2 Cor. 7:6). “I, I Myself, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of mortal man, and of a son of man who is made like grass,” (Is. 51:12). Are you crying out to Jesus for comfort?