Psalms 44
44
Wake Up, Lord, We’re in Trouble
For the Pure and Shining One by the prophetic singers of Korah’s clan
A contemplative poem for instruction
The Past
1-2God, we’ve heard about all the glorious miracles
you’ve done for our ancestors in days gone by.
They told us about the ancient times, how by your power
you drove out the ungodly nations from this land,
crushing all their strongholds and giving the land to us.
Now the people of Israel cover the land
from one end to the other,
all because of your grace and power!
3Our forefathers didn’t take the land by their own strength
or their own skill or strategy.
But it was through the shining forth of your radiant presence
and the display of your mighty power.
You loved to give them victory,
for you took great delight in them.
4You are my God, my King!
It’s now time to decree majesties for Jacob!
5Through your glorious name and your awesome power,
we can push through to any victory and defeat every enemy.
6For I will not trust in the weapons of the world; # 44:6 Or “bow and sword.”
I know they will never save me.
7Only you will be our Savior from all our enemies.
All those who hate us you have brought to shame.
8So now I constantly boast in you.
I can never thank you enough!
Pause in his presence
The Present
9But you have turned your back on us; you walked off and left us!
You’ve rejected us, tossing us aside in humiliating shame.
You don’t go before us anymore in our battles.
10We retreat before our enemies in defeat,
for you are no longer helping us.
Those who hate us have invaded our land
and plundered our people.
11You have treated us like sheep in the slaughter pen,
ready to be butchered.
You’ve scattered us to the four winds.
12You have sold us as slaves for nothing!
You have counted us, your precious ones, as worthless.
13You have caused our neighbors to despise and scorn us.
All those around us mock and curse us.
14You have made us the butt of their jokes.
Disliked by all, we are the laughingstock of the people.
15-16There’s no escape from this constant curse, this humiliation!
We are despised, jeered, overwhelmed by shame,
and overcome at every turn
by our hateful and heartless enemies.
17Despite all of this, we have not forgotten you;
we have not broken covenant with you.
18We have not betrayed you; our hearts are still yours.
Our steps have not strayed from your path.
19Yet you have crushed us,
leaving us in this wilderness place of misery and desperation. # 44:19 Or “in this place of jackals.”
With nowhere else to turn,
death’s dark door seems to be the only way out.
20-21If we had forsaken your holy name, wouldn’t you know it?
You’d be right in leaving us.
If we had worshiped before other gods,
no one would blame you for punishing us.
God, you know our every heart-secret.
You know we still want you!
22Because of you we face death threats every day.
Like martyrs we are dying daily.
We are seen as lambs lined up to be slaughtered as sacrifices.
The Future
23So wake up, Lord God!
Why would you sleep when we’re in trouble?
Are you forsaking us forever?
24You can’t hide your face any longer from us!
How could you forget our agonizing sorrow?
25Now we lay facedown, sinking into the dust of death,
the quicksand of the grave.
26Arise, awake, and come to help us, O Lord.
Let your unfailing love save us from this sorrow!
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 44
44
PSALM 44
Former Times of Help and Present Troubles.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem.
1We have heard with our ears, O God,
Our fathers have told us
The work You did in their days,
In the days of old.
2You drove out the [pagan] nations with Your own hand;
Then you planted and established them (Israel);
[It was by Your power that] You uprooted the [pagan] peoples,
Then You spread them abroad.
3For our fathers did not possess the land [of Canaan] by their own sword,
Nor did their own arm save them,
But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence,
Because You favored and delighted in them.
4You are my King, O God;
Command victories and deliverance for Jacob (Israel).
5Through You we will gore our enemies [like a bull];
Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.
6For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7But You have saved us from our enemies,
And You have put them to shame and humiliated those who hate us.
8In God we have boasted all the day long,
And we will praise and give thanks to Your name forever. Selah.
9But now You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor,
And You do not go out with our armies [to lead us to victory].
10You make us turn back from the enemy,
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
11You have made us like sheep to be eaten [as mutton]
And have scattered us [in exile] among the nations.
12You sell Your people cheaply,
And have not increased Your wealth by their sale.
13You have made us the reproach and taunt of our neighbors,
A scoffing and a derision to those around us.
14You make us a byword among the nations,
A #Lit shaking of the head.laughingstock among the people.
15My dishonor is before me all day long,
And humiliation has covered my face,
16Because of the voice of the taunter and reviler,
Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.
17All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we been false to Your covenant [which You made with our fathers].
18Our heart has not turned back,
Nor have our steps wandered from Your path,
19Yet You have [distressingly] crushed us in the place of jackals
And covered us with [the deep darkness of] the shadow of death.
20If we had forgotten the name of our God
Or stretched out our hands to a strange god,
21Would not God discover this?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 # The ancient rabbis applied this verse to Israel under persecution, especially to those who suffered under the reign of Hadrian following the Bar Cochba revolt (a.d. 132-135). One rabbi said that he was ready to die for God provided that he be killed immediately, because he could not endure the tortures of what was called “the great persecution.” The tortures included placing red-hot iron discs under the victim’s armpits or sticking needles under the nails until the victim died from the pain (shock). But for Your sake we are killed all the day long;
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
23Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?
Awaken, do not reject us forever.
24Why do You hide Your face
And forget our affliction and our oppression?
25For our life has melted away into the dust;
Our body clings to the ground.
26Rise up! Come be our help,
And ransom us for the sake of Your steadfast love.
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