As sheep to be slaughtered

In Romans 8, Paul quotes Psalm 44, saying that "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." This comes at the centre of a passage where Paul says that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. We are more than conquerors, says Paul, which sounds triumphal - and indeed it does celebrate the triumph of Jesus over death - but it also suggests that all the things Paul mentions will be part of our lives. We can expect trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and the sword. None of these things can separate us from the love of Christ, but that doesn't mean they won't be part of our lives. Which may be one of the reasons why, out of all the Old Testament references to sheep being slaughtered, Paul chooses Psalm 44.

The first eight verses of Psalm 44 are a prayer recalling what God has done and giving Him the glory. "The wonderful things that have happened to us weren't because of our own strength and skill," says the Psalmist, "but because God did these things for us." Then the Psalm changes. "You've rejected us," says the Psalmist to God, "you've given us up and sold us." God's people have been defeated, they've been scattered and disgraced, even though they've not strayed from God's way. God would have known if the people had run after other gods, the Psalm says, because He knows the secrets of the heart. Then comes the verse that Paul quotes: for God's sake his people are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

The Psalm doesn't suggest that bad things are happening because the people have sinned. On the contrary, God fought for His people in the past but now they're suffering even though they have continued to follow Him. This is the power of the first words of verse 22: the suffering that the people experience isn't a punishment, it's a part of their service and obedience to God. For His sake they face death. When Paul quotes this verse, he's not primarily telling the Christians in Rome that they'll be slaughtered like sheep, but that they will face death for God's sake. Death and suffering will come, says Paul, and though they cannot separate us from Christ's love, facing them is part of a life lived for God.

When things go wrong, when suffering comes, it's tempting to think that it must be either a punishment or a test, but there is another alternative: the way of suffering is simply the way we have to go if we want to follow Christ. Read Psalm 44 and Romans 8:31-39 together: facing death all day long can't separate you from God's love, but facing death all day long for God's sake might be what you're called to do.