The last vestige of hope and psalm 44
Author: Joseph Jagde
1 We have heard it with our ears, O God; 
   our ancestors have told us 
what you did in their days, 
   in days long ago. 
2 With your hand you drove out the nations 
   and planted our ancestors; 
you crushed the peoples 
   and made our ancestors flourish. 
3 It was not by their sword that they won the land, 
   nor did their arm bring them victory; 
it was your right hand, your arm, 
   and the light of your face, for you loved them.
 4 You are my King and my God, 
   who decrees[c] victories for Jacob. 
5 Through you we push back our enemies; 
   through your name we trample our foes. 
6 I put no trust in my bow, 
   my sword does not bring me victory; 
7 but you give us victory over our enemies, 
   you put our adversaries to shame. 
8 In God we make our boast all day long, 
   and we will praise your name forever.[d]
 9 But now you have rejected and humbled us; 
   you no longer go out with our armies. 
10 You made us retreat before the enemy, 
   and our adversaries have plundered us. 
11 You gave us up to be devoured like sheep 
   and have scattered us among the nations. 
12 You sold your people for a pittance, 
   gaining nothing from their sale.
 13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, 
   the scorn and derision of those around us. 
14 You have made us a byword among the nations; 
   the peoples shake their heads at us. 
15 I live in disgrace all day long, 
   and my face is covered with shame 
16 at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me, 
   because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.
 17 All this came upon us, 
   though we had not forgotten you; 
   we had not been false to your covenant. 
18 Our hearts had not turned back; 
   our feet had not strayed from your path. 
19 But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals; 
   you covered us over with deep darkness.
 20 If we had forgotten the name of our God 
   or spread out our hands to a foreign god, 
21 would not God have discovered it, 
   since he knows the secrets of the heart? 
22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long; 
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
 23 Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep? 
   Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. 
24 Why do you hide your face 
   and forget our misery and oppression?
 25 We are brought down to the dust; 
   our bodies cling to the ground. 
26 Rise up and help us; 
   rescue us because of your unfailing love.
There psalmist is obviously battled scarred and in the central portion of the psalm is putting the blame on the Lord directly for the carnage and outright saying he caused it.
At the same time, he is complaining that the Lord didn’t show up, wasn’t at the scene, and if he was the results would have been different and the battle would not have been lost.
This oblique argument, lament or complaint is contradictory.  On the one hand the Lord directly brought on the carnage and on the other hand wasn’t there to prevent it from happening.
It is interesting that some professed atheistic people when if something really bad happens to them, like the house burning down will be made at the God they don’t believe exists.
But for sure the bulk of this psalm is quite harsh.
Psalm 44 is not attributed to David and the author is considered unknown.
The landscape presented is this psalm is just about apocalyptic
There isn’t much hope left.
In this day and age, we have some movies that play into this theme and it can make for some good entertainment but you certainly wouldn’t want to be teal and lingering.
One example is the movie the Road, where there are lone travelers going through an a landscape of a partially destroyed infrastructure, the remnants of what might seem to be the effects of neutron bombs but this movie is an example of what such a landscape might feel like for the survivors.
There was the apocalyptic appearance of the Bubonic plague in that wiped out good portions of the population in the Middle Ages and this was a partial apocalypse.
One a personal level, people experience setbacks that aren’t necessarily fully disengaging but are catastrophic to personal interests.
For example developing near deafness can tremendously hinder social life and listening to  music and while someone might still overall function well with this problem it still can be just about catastrophic to this particular interests and activities.
Or someone misses a long lost friend that they can’t locate anymore and that is catastrophic to keeping the dialogue with this person alive.
This is maybe why keep in touch type networks such as Face book have become almost universally popular.
In any event even if things are running smoothly, humming along with some things we might be approaching the landscapes that are at small levels have the feel of cataclysm.
The depictions is this psalm of a battle field is a questionable landscape as to whether its creation is something that the Lord backs or is really just another representation of betrayal by man of the ways of the Lord and going along to there own devices and then ascribing it as somehow of the Lord’s doing 
Not long after the airplane was up and running, it was used for bombing missions, early on in the technology.
The original blueprint for mankind was more paradise like in the Garden of Eden and this was plan A.
The revision into violence against brother and sister might be considered a rejection of the Lord’s plans.
From the book Discernment:  Seeking God in every situation by Reverent Chris Aridas it says on page 48,
“What is God’s will? To be His- totally His, God wills that we be completely consumed by the fire of his love; God wants us to return to the natural beauty of his creation.”
The plan A is something we can seek to return to even from the apocalypse of what has gone utterly wrong and this psalm, despite its exceptional harshness does have this blueprint.
In the beginning of this psalm the evident and demonstrated love the Lord was cited as seen and experienced in the past and by others 
The very last verse of this psalm asks for the reappearance of this love and this is the last hope and that last chance for hope for the psalmist.
Whether it is in smaller ways or bigger ways, we might be troubled and in trouble but from this place our still posted.
And even if I am utterly comfortable and pleased, I might be interceding for that afar who I know are in deep trouble and as the intercessor I first call upon the love and mercy of the Lord for them in their great trials and tribulations
And if the trouble is getting closer, is nearby or even right in the midst, I can still pray and  the blueprint is two fold, citing the demonstrated love of the Lord in the  past and calling upon that love within the particular request again and if need be again and again.
Realistically though, we are never going to get totally ahead of the pitch and that curveball coming down the plate.
At certain times and certain places we will be praying from the point of view of losses, lack, disappointments and discouragement but with prayer as representing a return the blueprint of this psalm is good, to cite and love of the Lord and asks for the return to it and for it within all and any requests.
Indeed I might be praying from behind the eight ball for myself or others and withi9n those last vestiges of hope but the call is made within the call for the appearance of the love and mercy of the Lord, now and again.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ezine/5624637