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<a href="/exodus/12-26.htm">Exodus 12:26, 27</a>; <a href="/exodus/13-8.htm">Exodus 13:8, 10</a>, etc.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-2.htm">Psalm 44:2</a></div><div class="verse"><i>How</i> thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; <i>how</i> thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "by thy power." The conquest of Canaan is the historical fact referred to. <span class="cmt_word">And</span> <span class="cmt_word">plantedst them</span> (comp. <a href="/exodus/15-17.htm">Exodus 15:17</a>, "Thou wilt bring them in, and <span class="accented">plant</span> them in the mountain of thine inheritance;" and see also <a href="/psalms/80-8.htm">Psalm 80:8</a>, "Thou hast brought <span class="accented">a vine</span> out of Egypt; thou hast cast out the heathen, and <span class="accented">planted</span> it"). <span class="cmt_word">How thou didst afflict the</span> <span class="cmt_word">people;</span> rather, <span class="accented">the peoples</span>, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> the Canaanitish nations. <span class="cmt_word">And cast them out</span>. So the LXX, the Vulgate, and even the Revised Version. But most moderns, understanding "them" of Israel, render, <span class="accented">but didst spread them out</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/80-11.htm">Psalm 80:11</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-3.htm">Psalm 44:3</a></div><div class="verse">For they got 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 hadst a favour unto them.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them</span> (comp. <a href="/joshua/24-11.htm">Joshua 24:11, 12</a>): <span class="cmt_word">but thy right hand, and thine</span> <span class="cmt_word">arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them</span> (see <a href="/deuteronomy/4-37.htm">Deuteronomy 4:37, 38</a>; <a href="/joshua/24-11.htm">Joshua 24:11, 18</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-4.htm">Psalm 44:4</a></div><div class="verse">Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Thou art my King, O God</span>; literally, <span class="accented">thou art he that is my King</span>, <span class="accented">O God</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> I acknowledge no other king but thee, no other absolute lord and master. <span class="cmt_word">Command deliverances for Jacob</span>. Being King, thou hast a right to command. We pray thee at this present time to command our deliverance. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-5.htm">Psalm 44:5</a></div><div class="verse">Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Through thee will we push down our</span> <span class="cmt_word">enemies.</span> Do as we ask - command our deliverance - and then we shall assuredly "push down," <span class="accented">i.e.</span> overthrow and prostrate, our enemies. Thy help will be found as effectual in the future as in the past. <span class="cmt_word">Through thy Name will we tread them under that rise up against us.</span> Having pushed our foes to the ground (comp. <a href="/deuteronomy/33-17.htm">Deuteronomy 33:17</a>), we shall then be able to "tread them under." The imagery is drawn from the practice of buffaloes and wild bulls. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-6.htm">Psalm 44:6</a></div><div class="verse">For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me</span> (comp. ver. 3). My trust, <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, shall not be in myself, but in thee. The sword and the bow were the ordinary weapons of Israel. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-7.htm">Psalm 44:7</a></div><div class="verse">But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">But thou hast</span> <span class="cmt_word">saved us from our enemies; or, <span class="accented">dost save us.</span> It is the voice of confident hope that speaks, not that of gratitude. And hast put them to shame that hated us</span>; rather, <span class="accented">and puttest them to shame that hate us.</span> The writer is sure that God will do in the future as he has done in the past, and will raise Israel up again from the low estate into which they have been brought by disaster. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-8.htm">Psalm 44:8</a></div><div class="verse">In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy</span> <span class="cmt_word">Name for ever.</span> We boast of God as <span class="accented">our</span> God, who saves us, and puts to shame our enemies (see ver. 7). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-9.htm">Psalm 44:9</a></div><div class="verse">But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 9-16.</span> - These verses form the second stanza, and are a loud and bitter complaint. God has recently dealt with Israel exceptionally - has seemed to "cast them off," has "put them to shame," allowed them to be defeated and despoiled, slain and carried into captivity, made a scorn and a derision, a reproach and a byword. He no longer "goes forth with their armies," to secure them victory over their foes, but holds aloof, and covers them with confusion. The description implies, not a single defeat, but a somewhat prolonged period of depression, during which several "armies" have been beaten, several battles lost, multitudes slain, and great numbers carried away captive (ver. 11). Still, a general captivity, like the Babylonian, is certainly not spoken cf. The nation is as yet unconquered. It needs but a return of God's favour to turn the vanquished into the victors, and to replace shame by boasting. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">But thou hast</span> <span class="cmt_word">cast off</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/43-2.htm">Psalm 43:2</a>) <span class="cmt_word">and put us to shame</span> (see also ver. 16). It is the <span class="accented">shame</span> of defeat, rather than the physical pains or material losses, that grieve the writer<span class="cmt_word">. And goest not forth with our armies</span>. Israel has still "armies" at her disposal. It is therefore certainly not the early Maccabean period, nor the time of the expiring monarchy. Her armies have free play, are sent forth, only God does not "go forth" with them (comp. <a href="/psalms/60-10.htm">Psalm 60:10</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-10.htm">Psalm 44:10</a></div><div class="verse">Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Thou makest us to turn</span> <span class="cmt_word">back from the enemy.</span> Thou bringest it to pass that we turn our backs in shameful flight from the enemy, either making a feeble resistance or none at all. And they which <span class="cmt_word">hate</span> us spoil for themselves. Spoil us of our arms and ornaments, which they seize and appropriate. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-11.htm">Psalm 44:11</a></div><div class="verse">Thou hast given us like sheep <i>appointed</i> for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Thou hast given us like sheep appointed</span> <span class="cmt_word">for meat.</span> "As sheep for the shambles" (Kay) - a free translation, which well expresses the meaning. <span class="cmt_word">And hast scattered us among</span> <span class="cmt_word">the heathen.</span> Either "caused us to disperse ourselves among our heathen neighbours," or "to be sold for slaves among them by our captors." No general dispersion of the nation is intended. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-12.htm">Psalm 44:12</a></div><div class="verse">Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase <i>thy wealth</i> by their price.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Thou sellest thy people for nought</span>; literally, <span class="accented">for not-wealth</span> (comp. <a href="/jeremiah/15-13.htm">Jeremiah 15:13</a>). The whole people is regarded, not as sold for slaves, but as delivered over to the will of their enemies; and all "for nought," God gaining nothing in exchange<span class="cmt_word">. Thou dost not increase thy wealth by their price</span>. A repetition for the sake of emphasis, but adding no new idea. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-13.htm">Psalm 44:13</a></div><div class="verse">Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/42-10.htm">Psalm 42:10</a>; <a href="/psalms/79-4.htm">Psalm 79:4</a>; <a href="/psalms/80-6.htm">Psalm 80:6</a>). They would be reproached, not so much as cowards, or as weak and powerless themselves, but rather as having a weak and powerless God (comp. <a href="/2_kings/18-33.htm">2 Kings 18:33-35</a>; <a href="/2_kings/19-12.htm">2 Kings 19:12</a><span class="cmt_word">). A scorn and a derision to them that are round about us</span>. (For instances of the "scorn and derision" whereto the Israelites were exposed at the hands of the heathen, see <a href="/2_kings/18-23.htm">2 Kings 18:23, 24</a>; <a href="/2_kings/19-23.htm">2 Kings 19:23, 24</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/2-19.htm">Nehemiah 2:19</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/4-2.htm">Nehemiah 4:2, 3</a>; <a href="/psalms/79-4.htm">Psalm 79:4</a>; <a href="/psalms/137-7.htm">Psalm 137:7</a>.) </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-14.htm">Psalm 44:14</a></div><div class="verse">Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Thou makest us a byword among the heathen</span> (comp. <a href="/job/17-6.htm">Job 17:6</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/24-9.htm">Jeremiah 24:9</a>). <span class="cmt_word">A shaking of the head among the people;</span> rather, <span class="accented">among the peoples</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/22-7.htm">Psalm 22:7</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-15.htm">Psalm 44:15</a></div><div class="verse">My confusion <i>is</i> continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">My confusion is continually</span> <span class="cmt_word">before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me</span> (see the comment on ver. 9). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-16.htm">Psalm 44:16</a></div><div class="verse">For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 16.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For the voice of him that re-proacheth and blasphemeth</span>. The reproaches of the heathen were most commonly "blasphemies," since they consisted very mainly of contemptuous expressions against the God of Israel (see the comment on ver. 13; and comp. <a href="/isaiah/37-3.htm">Isaiah 37:3, 23</a>). <span class="cmt_word">By</span> <span class="cmt_word">reason of the enemy and avenger.</span> The persons by whom the blasphemous reproaches were uttered - Israel's enemies bent on avenging former losses and defeats. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-17.htm">Psalm 44:17</a></div><div class="verse">All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 17-22.</span> - In this third stanza the psalmist strongly emphasizes his complaint by maintaining that the calamities from which they are suffering have not come upon the people through any fault of their own, or been in any way provoked or deserved He is, perhaps, over-confident; but we cannot doubt that he is sincere in the belief, which he expresses, that the people, both before and during their calamities, have been obedient and faithful to God, wholly free from idolatry, and exemplary in their conduct and life. There are not many periods of Israelite history at which such a description could have been given without manifest untruth, and the time of David is certainly more suitable for it than almost any other. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 17.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant</span>. Israel had neither put aside the thought of religion, and given herself up to wordliness, nor yet, while still professedly religious, transgressed habitually God's commandments. She maintained "thorough sincerity in religion, and consistent integrity of life." Yet "all this" - all that has been described in vers. 9-16 - had come upon her. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-18.htm">Psalm 44:18</a></div><div class="verse">Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 18.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Our heart is</span> <span class="cmt_word">not turned back;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> turned away from God, as it was when they passed through the wilderness (<a href="/psalms/78-41.htm">Psalm 78:41</a><span class="cmt_word">). Neither have our steps declined from thy way</span>. Neither in respect of inward feeling nor of outward act have we strayed from the right path. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-19.htm">Psalm 44:19</a></div><div class="verse">Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 19.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons;</span> rather, <span class="accented">in the place of jackals</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> in wild and desolate regions, where jackals abound (comp. <a href="/isaiah/13-22.htm">Isaiah 13:22</a>; <a href="/isaiah/34-13.htm">Isaiah 34:13</a>). The expression is probably used metaphorically. <span class="cmt_word">And covered us with</span> <span class="cmt_word">the shadow of death.</span> Brought us, <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, into imminent peril of destruction (see vers. 10, 11). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-20.htm">Psalm 44:20</a></div><div class="verse">If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 20.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out</span> (rather, <span class="accented">spread out</span>) <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>our hands to a strange god</span>. If Israel had either forgotten the true God (see above, ver. 17) or fallen away to the worship of false or strange gods - then her ill success against her foreign enemies would have been fully accounted for, since it would only have been in accordance with the threatenings of the Law (<a href="/leviticus/26-14.htm">Leviticus 26:14-17</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/28-15.htm">Deuteronomy 28:15-23</a>); but as she had done neither of these things, her defeats and depressed condition seemed to the psalmist wholly unaccountable. We trace here the same current belief, which comes out so strongly in the Book of Job - the belief that calamities were, almost of necessity, punishments for sin; and that when they occurred, and there had been no known precedent misconduct, the case was abnormal and extraordinary. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-21.htm">Psalm 44:21</a></div><div class="verse">Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 21.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Shall not God search this out!</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> visit for it - punish it. Such a result was to be expected. But when there had been no precedent idolatry, no neglect of the worship of Jehovah, what then? <span class="cmt_word">For</span> <span class="cmt_word">he knoweth the secrets of the heart.</span> Secret idolatry would, of course, explain the state of things; but the writer evidently knows of no secret idolatry. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-22.htm">Psalm 44:22</a></div><div class="verse">Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 22.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long</span>; or, <span class="accented">continually</span>, as the phrase is often translated. Not only are the Israelites not suffering on account of any previous desertion of God, or other misconduct, but they are suffering for their fidelity to God. The heathen hate them, and make war upon them, as worshippers of one exclusive God, Jehovah, and contemners of their many gods, whom they hold to be "no-gods." They are martyrs, like the Christians of the early Church (see <a href="/romans/8-36.htm">Romans 8:36</a>). <span class="cmt_word">We</span> <span class="cmt_word">are counted as sheep for the slaughter</span> (comp. ver. 11). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-23.htm">Psalm 44:23</a></div><div class="verse">Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast <i>us</i> not off for ever.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 23-26.</span> - The appeal to God is now made, after the case has been fully represented. God has always hitherto maintained the cause of his people, and given them victory over their enemies, unless they had fallen away from him (vers. 1-8). Now he has acted otherwise - he has allowed their enemies to triumph (vers. 9-16). And they have given him no reason for his desertion of them (vers. 17-22). Surely, if they call upon him, and plead their cause before him, he will relent, and come to their aid. The appeal, therefore, is made briefly, but in the most moving terms. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 23.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord?</span> The psalmist does not really believe that Jehovah "sleeps." The heathen might so imagine of their gods (<a href="/1_kings/18-27.htm">1 Kings 18:27</a>), but not an Israelite. An Israelite would be sure that "he that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps" (<a href="/psalms/121-4.htm">Psalm 121:4</a>). The writer consciously uses an anthropomorphism, really intending only to call on God to rouse himself from his inaction, and lay it aside, and come to Israel's aid. <span class="cmt_word">Arise</span> (see <a href="/psalms/7-6.htm">Psalm 7:6</a>; <a href="/psalms/9-19.htm">Psalm 9:19</a>; <a href="/psalms/10-12.htm">Psalm 10:12</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">Cast us not off for ever</span> (comp. ver. 9). Under the existing peril, for God to cast off his people will be to cast them off <span class="accented">for ever.</span> They had no strength of their own that could save them. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-24.htm">Psalm 44:24</a></div><div class="verse">Wherefore hidest thou thy face, <i>and</i> forgettest our affliction and our oppression?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 24.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Wherefore hidest thou thy</span> <span class="cmt_word">face</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/13-1.htm">Psalm 13:1</a>; <a href="/psalms/27-9.htm">Psalm 27:9</a>; <a href="/psalms/69-17.htm">Psalm 69:17</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">And forgettest our</span> <span class="cmt_word">affliction and our oppression?</span> (see <a href="/psalms/13-1.htm">Psalm 13:1</a>; <a href="/psalms/74-19.htm">Psalm 74:19</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-25.htm">Psalm 44:25</a></div><div class="verse">For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 25.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For our soul is bowed down to the dust</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> brought very low, humbled, as it were, to the earth, so weakened that it has no strength in it. Our belly cleaveth unto the earth. The body participates in the soul's depression, and lies prostrate on the ground. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/44-26.htm">Psalm 44:26</a></div><div class="verse">Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 26.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Arise for our help</span>; literally, <span class="accented">arise as a help unto us</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> arise, and come to our aid. Help against the enemy is the one object of the entire prayer. <span class="cmt_word">And redeem us</span>; or, <span class="accented">save</span> us - "deliver us" (comp. <a href="/psalms/25-22.htm">Psalm 25:22</a>). For thy mercies' sake (comp. <a href="/psalms/6-4.htm">Psalm 6:4</a>; <a href="/psalms/31-16.htm">Psalm 31:16</a>). <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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