Psalms 44
44
PSALM 44
Common Meter: 8,6,8,6
To the chief Musician, for the sons of Korah, Maschil.
1O God, we with our ears have heard,
our fathers have us told,
What works thou in their days hadst done,
ev'n in the days of old.
2Thy hand did drive the heathen out,
and plant them in their place;
Thou didst afflict the nations,
but them thou didst increase.
3For neither got their sword the land,
nor did their arm them save;
But thy right hand, arm, countenance;
for thou them favour gave.
4Thou art my King: for Jacob, Lord,
deliv'rances command.
5Through thee we shall push down our foes,
that do against us stand:
We, through thy name, shall tread down those
that ris'n against us have.
6For in my bow I shall not trust,
nor shall my sword me save.
7But from our foes thou hast us sav'd,
our haters put to shame.
8In God we all the day do boast,
and ever praise thy name.
9But now we are cast off by thee,
and us thou putt'st to shame;
And when our armies do go forth,
thou go'st not with the same.
10Thou mak'st us from the enemy,
faint-hearted, to turn back;
And they who hate us for themselves
our spoils away do take.
11Like sheep for meat thou gavest us;
'mong heathen cast we be.
12Thou didst for nought thy people sell;
their price enrich'd not thee.
13Thou mak'st us a reproach to be
unto our neighbours near;
Derision and a scorn to them
that round about us are.
14A by-word also thou dost us
among the heathen make;
The people, in contempt and spite,
at us their heads do shake.
15Before me my confusion
continually abides;
And of my bashful countenance
the shame me ever hides:
16For voice of him that doth reproach,
and speaketh blasphemy;
By reason of th' avenging foe,
and cruel enemy.
17All this is come on us, yet we
have not forgotten thee;
Nor falsely in thy covenant
behav'd ourselves have we.
18Back from thy way our heart not turn'd;
our steps no straying made;
19Though us thou brak'st in dragons' place,
and cover'dst with death's shade.
20If we God's name forgot, or stretch'd
to a strange god our hands,
21Shall not God search this out? for he
heart's secrets understands.
22Yea, for thy sake we're kill'd all day,
counted as slaughter-sheep.
23Rise, Lord, cast us not ever off;
awake, why dost thou sleep?
24O wherefore hidest thou thy face?
forgett'st our cause distress'd,
25And our oppression? For our soul
is to the dust down press'd:
Our belly also on the earth
fast cleaving, hold doth take.
26Rise for our help, and us redeem,
ev'n for thy mercies' sake.
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Psalms 44
44
God’s Past Favor and Israel’s Present Need
1For the leader. A maskil of the Korahites.
I
2O God, we have heard with our own ears;
our ancestors have told us#Ps 78:3.
The deeds you did in their days,
with your own hand in days of old:
3You rooted out nations to plant them,#Ps 78:55; 80:9f.
crushed peoples and expelled them.
4Not with their own swords did they conquer the land,#Dt 8:17f; Jos 24:12.
nor did their own arms bring victory;
It was your right hand, your own arm,
the light of your face for you favored them.#Ps 4:7; 31:17; 67:2; 80:4; Nm 6:25; Dn 9:17.
5You are my king and my God,#Ps 145:1.
who bestows victories on Jacob.
6Through you we batter our foes;
through your name we trample our adversaries.
7Not in my bow do I trust,
nor does my sword bring me victory.
8You have brought us victory over our enemies,
shamed those who hate us.
9In God we have boasted all the day long;
your name we will praise forever.
Selah
II
10#Ps 89:39–52.But now you have rejected and disgraced us;
you do not march out with our armies.#Ps 60:12.
11You make us retreat#You make us retreat: the corollary of Ps 44:3. Defeat, like victory, is God’s doing; neither Israel nor its enemies can claim credit (Ps 44:23). before the foe;
those who hate us plunder us at will.#Lv 26:17; Dt 28:25.
12You hand us over like sheep to be slaughtered,
scatter us among the nations.#Lv 26:33; Dt 28:64.
13You sell your people for nothing;
you make no profit from their sale.#Dt 32:30; Is 52:3.
14You make us the reproach of our neighbors,#Ps 79:4; 80:7; 123:3–4; Jb 12:4; Dn 9:16.
the mockery and scorn of those around us.
15You make us a byword among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads at us.
16All day long my disgrace is before me;
shame has covered my face
17At the sound of those who taunt and revile,
at the sight of the enemy and avenger.
III
18All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
nor been disloyal to your covenant.
19#Our hearts have not turned back: Israel’s defeat was not caused by its lack of fidelity.Our hearts have not turned back,
nor have our steps strayed from your path.
20Yet you have left us crushed,
desolate in a place of jackals;#A place of jackals: following Israel’s defeat and exile (Ps 44:11–12), the land lies desolate, inhabited only by jackals, cf. Is 13:22; Jer 9:10; 10:22. Others take tannim as “sea monster” (cf. Ez 29:3; 32:2) and render: “you crushed us as you did the sea monster.”#Jer 9:10.
you have covered us with a shadow of death.
21If we had forgotten the name of our God,
stretched out our hands to another god,
22Would not God have discovered this,
God who knows the secrets of the heart?
23For you we are slain all the day long,
considered only as sheep to be slaughtered.#Rom 8:36.
IV
24Awake! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Rise up! Do not reject us forever!#Ps 10:1; 74:1; 77:8; 79:5; 83:2.
25Why do you hide your face;#Ps 10:11; 89:47; Jb 13:24.
why forget our pain and misery?
26For our soul has been humiliated in the dust;#Ps 119:25.
our belly is pressed to the earth.
27Rise up, help us!
Redeem us in your mercy.
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