When authors in the New Testament quote the Old Testament, it’s always a good idea to read the original passage.
In verse 36, Paul quotes from Psalm 44.
Psalm 44 is kind of a depressing psalm. It starts out by talking about God’s faithfulness and goodness, but suddenly changes to asking why they were suffering defeat against their enemies.
Unlike many psalms where the psalmist confess their sins, in Psalm 44, there seems to be no sin to confess. Rather, despite their faithfulness to God, the Israelites were struggling, leading them to say,
Because of you we are being put to death all day long;
we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. (Psalm 44:22)
The psalm ends by asking God why he was sleeping, and asking him to rise up and help them.
Sometimes we feel the same way. We feel abandoned by God. But are we? Are we doomed to defeat? Not according to Paul.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:37)
As Paul pointed out, God showed his love for us by predestining us, calling us, justifying us, and glorifying us. (29-30)
And in order to accomplish all this, he sent his Son to die for us. So Paul says,
What, then, are we to say about these things?
If God is for us, who is against us?
He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.
How will he not also with him grant us everything? (Romans 8:31-32)
And that’s why we can conclude,
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, 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. (Romans 8:38-39)
Like the psalmist, we may not understand the whys in our lives. We may not understand until heaven. Actually, by the time we get there, we may not even care anymore.
But in the meantime, let us hold on to these precious promises of God.
And remember: he is faithful.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 