Why Are You Sleeping, O Lord?
Lord's Day Exhortation
Holy Scripture teaches us that the suffering of God’s people is not always correlated to their unfaithfulness toward Him and that the afflictions we experience in life do not necessarily tell us that we are sinning in any way.
We can see this teaching clearly in Psalm 44. In the midst of distress and misery, the Israelites turn to God in this psalm and say with absolute honesty to Him, “All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You and we have not been false to Your covenant.” They’re saying in effect, “Lord, we have kept our part. We have remained true to You, so why have You left us?” And they continue to entreat God, crying out, “Awake! Why are You sleeping, O Lord. Rouse Yourself! Do not reject us forever.”
Now it seems quite audacious to say to the eternal and living God, “Wake up!” You might wonder if that is even allowed. The answer is yes—because this cry is done in faith.
This psalm begins with Israel recalling the mighty deeds the Lord has done for them, then declares that He is their King and the only one they look to for salvation. They are approaching God as His people, as His children, covenantally bound and devoted to Him—loyal even while suffering.
And so this Psalm serves as a pattern, a directive, for how you are to turn to the Lord in your distress.
When you encounter a difficult trial, one of the greatest acts of faithfulness is to call upon the Lord, and you do not need to hide your feelings from Him. It can be right to say, “Lord, where are You? I am drowning. I am lonely. I am so afraid. Why is this happening to me and my family?”
But you must not stop there.
You then need to remind God—and yourself—of His past faithfulness toward You. Literally count your blessings. Be specific. And then in faith—call upon Him for help, ask Him to wake up—just like a child who appears at the bedside in the middle of the night when they are scared or sick. For like every good Father, our Lord delights to comfort and protect His children.
Prayer of Confession:
Most Merciful Father,
Father, we come before You to confess our sins, because we know that You are faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Often, when we undergo trials or afflictions, we do not turn to You for deliverance. Deep down we think that You are powerless or do not care. We are afraid to ask for You to intervene because in our doubt we do not trust that You will, and we do not want to be let down. We mistakenly think that in our suffering it is somehow holier to simply go on our own, and that it would be wrong to acknowledge our pain and cry out to You with honesty and for deliverance.
And so we ask that You would forgive us of our faithlessness, and teach us to trust You in all seasons of life, and to approach You as our compassionate Father, even and especially when You feel distant.
We know that if we regard iniquity in our hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual. And so we confess our individual sins to you now, and Selah.
This exhortation was given on March 22, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.