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Psalms 44

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Remembering God's Past Deliverance 1–8

1
We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, What work thou didst in their days, In the days of old. ​
2
Thou didst drive out the nations with thy hand; But them thou didst plant: Thou didst afflict the peoples; But them thou didst spread abroad.
3
For they gat not the land in possession by their own sword, Neither did their own arm save them; But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, Because thou wast favorable unto them. ​
4
Thou art my King, O God: Command deliverance for Jacob. ​
5
Through thee will we push down our adversaries: Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
6
For I will not trust in my bow, Neither shall my sword save me.
7
But thou hast saved us from our adversaries, And hast put them to shame that hate us.
8
In God have we made our boast all the day long, And we will give thanks unto thy name for ever. [Selah ​

The Present State of Defeat and Rejection 9–16

9
But now thou hast cast us off, and brought us to dishonor, And goest not forth with our hosts. ​
10
Thou makest us to turn back from the adversary; And they that hate us take spoil for themselves.
11
Thou hast made us like sheep appointed for food, And hast scattered us among the nations. ​
12
Thou sellest thy people for nought, And hast not increased thy wealth by their price. ​
13
Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and a derision to them that are round about us.
14
Thou makest us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples. ​
15
All the day long is my dishonor before me, And the shame of my face hath covered me,
16
For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth, By reason of the enemy and the avenger.

Protestation of Covenant Faithfulness 17–22

17
All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, Neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. ​
18
Our heart is not turned back, Neither have our steps declined from thy way,
19
That thou hast sore broken us in the place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death. ​
20
If we have forgotten the name of our God, Or spread forth our hands to a strange god;
21
Will not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. ​

Desperate Plea for Divine Intervention 23–26

23
Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, cast us not off for ever. ​
24
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, And forgettest our affliction and our oppression? ​
25
For our soul is bowed down to the dust: Our body cleaveth unto the earth.
26
Rise up for our help, And redeem us for thy lovingkindness’ sake. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 44

Verse 1

We have heard with our ears — Shama is to hear with attention. What the fathers told of God's work 'in the times of old' is the memory the sons of Korah plead on, as Ps 78:3 also says: 'Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.' Maschil in the title marks a psalm of instruction.

Verse 3

their own sword, neither did their own arm — Yarash is to take possession of a land by dispossessing those in it. Israel's conquest is credited to God's 'right hand', 'arm' and 'the light of thy countenance' (the face-shining of Num 6:25), 'because thou hadst a favour unto them', as Deut 7:8 has it: 'But because the LORD loved you'.

Verse 4

Thou art my King, O God — The confession of Ps 74:12, 'For God is my King of old'. 'Command' is tsavah, to give an order, the verb of Ps 42:8, 'the LORD will command his lovingkindness'. 'Deliverances' is the plural of yeshuah, salvation, asked for 'Jacob', the name of the whole people.

Verse 8

In God we boast — 'Boast' is halal, the verb behind 'Hallelujah' and the one of Ps 34:2, 'My soul shall make her boast in the LORD'; 'praise' is yadah, to give thanks. The boast is in God alone, as Paul writes: 'He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord' (1 Cor 1:31). Selah ends the song of remembrance before v.9.

Verse 9

But thou hast cast off — The turn begins with aph, 'yet even so'. 'Cast off' is zanach, to push aside, the verb of 43:2 and 44:23. 'Goest not forth with our armies' is repeated in Ps 60:10, 'which didst not go out with our armies?' The God who gave the land (v.3) is now absent from the battle.

Verse 11

like sheep appointed for meat — 'Meat' is ma'akal, food, so the people are given over like a flock for the table. The scattering 'among the heathen' is the one the LORD had warned of: 'the LORD shall scatter you among the nations' (Deut 4:27). 'Scattered' is zarah, to toss about as grain is winnowed.

Verse 12

Thou sellest thy people for nought — Makar is to sell, and the people are sold with no 'price' (mechir) gained, so God 'dost not increase thy wealth' by it. The verse is answered by the promise of Isa 52:3: 'Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.'

Verse 14

a byword… a shaking of the head — Mashal is a proverb or saying, and manod a nodding of the head in derision. The curse of Deut 28:37 named it beforehand: 'an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.' Jeremiah says the same of the exiles (Jer 24:9).

Verse 17

yet have we not forgotten thee — The people say two things: they have not forgotten (shakach), the sin Deut 6:12 warns against, 'Then beware lest thou forget the LORD', and they have not 'dealt falsely' (shaqar, to deal falsely) in the berit, the covenant. Their claim is of loyalty under suffering.

Verse 19

the place of dragons — Tannim is the plural of tannin, the word the KJV renders 'dragons' for creatures of waste places, as in Isa 34:13, 'an habitation of dragons'. 'Sore broken' is dakah, crushed. 'The shadow of death' is the single Hebrew word tsalmaveth, the word of Ps 23:4.

Verse 22

for thy sake are we killed — Paul quotes the verse in Rom 8:36, after listing 'tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword' (Rom 8:35) as things that cannot separate believers from the love of Christ. 'Slaughter' is tibchah; Isa 53:7 has 'he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter'.

Verse 23

Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? — Ur, to wake, and qutz, to start up from sleep, are the pair of Ps 35:23, 'Stir up thyself, and awake'. It is the plea of how things appear, since 'he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep' (Ps 121:4). 'Lord' is Adonai.

Verse 24

hidest thou thy face — Sathar, to hide, with panim, face; Job asks the same words, 'Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?' (Job 13:24). 'Affliction' is oni, misery, and 'oppression' is lachats, the word of 42:9 and 43:2. The LORD's hiding of his face is also spoken of in Deut 32:20.

Verse 26

redeem us for thy mercies' sake — Padah is to ransom or release, the verb of Ps 130:7–8: 'with him is plenteous redemption' and 'he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.' The ground of the plea is chesed, God's covenant love, where the earlier verses (vv.17–22) pointed to Israel's own record.