Psalm 44
Title
לַמְנַצֵּ֬חַ לִבְנֵי קֹ֬רַח מַשְׂכִּֽיל
1We have heard with our ears, God; our fathers have told us what work you did in their days, in the days of old. 2You drove out the nations with your hand, but you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, but you spread them abroad. 3For they didn’t get the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, because you were favorable to them. 4God, you are my King. Command victories for Jacob! 5Through you, we will push down our adversaries. Through your name, we will tread down those who rise up against us. 6For I will not trust in my bow, neither will my sword save me. 7But you have saved us from our adversaries, and have shamed those who hate us. 8In God we have made our boast all day long. We will give thanks to your name forever. Selah. 9But now you rejected us, and brought us to dishonor, and don’t go out with our armies. 10You make us turn back from the adversary. Those who hate us take plunder for themselves. 11You have made us like sheep for food, and have scattered us among the nations. 12You sell your people for nothing, and have gained nothing from their sale. 13You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us. 14You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples. 15All day long my dishonor is before me, and shame covers my face, 16at the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses, because of the enemy and the avenger. 17All this has come on us, yet we haven’t forgotten you. We haven’t been false to your covenant. 18Our heart has not turned back, neither have our steps strayed from your path, 19though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of death. 20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god, 21won’t God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart. 22Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long. We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter. 23Wake up! Why do you sleep, Lord? Arise! Don’t reject us forever. 24Why do you hide your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression? 25For our soul is bowed down to the dust. Our body clings to the earth. 26Rise up to help us. Redeem us for your loving kindness’ sake.
Introduction
Psalms 44
We are not told either who was the penmen of this psalm or when and upon what occasion it was penned, upon a melancholy occasion, we are sure, not so much to the penman himself (then we could have found occasions enough for it in the history of David and his afflictions), but to the church of God in general; and therefore, if we suppose it penned by David, yet we must attribute it purely to the Spirit of prophecy, and must conclude that the Spirit (whatever he himself had) had in view the captivity of Babylon, or the sufferings of the Jewish church under Antiochus, or rather the afflicted state of the Christian church in its early days (to which Psa 44:22 is applied by the apostle, Rom 8:36), and indeed in all its days on earth, for it is its determined lot that it must enter into the kingdom of heaven through many tribulations. And, if we have any gospel-psalms pointing at the privileges and comforts of Christians, why should we not have one pointing at their trials and exercises? It is a psalm calculated for a day of fasting and humiliation upon occasion of some public calamity, either pressing or threatening. In it the church is taught, I. To own with thankfulness, to the glory of God, the great things God has done for their fathers (Psa 44:1-8). II. To exhibit a memorial of their present calamitous estate (Psa 44:9-16). III. To file a protestation of their integrity and adherence to God notwithstanding (Psa 44:17-22). IV. To lodge a petition at the throne of grace for succour and relief (Psa 44:22-26). In singing this psalm we ought to give God the praise of what he has formerly done for his people, to represent our own grievances, or sympathize with those parts of the church that are in distress, to engage ourselves, whatever happens, to cleave to God and duty, and then cheerfully to wait the event.
To the chief musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil.
Cross-references: Ps 44:22 · Rom 8:36 · Ps 44:1 · Ps 44:9 · Ps 44:17