Psalms · psalm 44 of 150
Updated on
Psalm 44 is a lament of the people of Israel, composed by the sons of Korah, that recalls how God gave the land to their fathers, not by their sword. Now, defeated and humiliated though they have not forgotten God, they ask why he has rejected them. They end by asking him to awake and redeem them for the sake of his steadfast love.
The title ascribes the psalm to the sons of Korah and calls it a Maskil. The text does not say which defeat prompted it, and scholars propose various occasions without agreement. It is a community psalm: it speaks in the plural, we, and it is one of the few laments in the Bible that says the people have not been unfaithful and yet suffer. Paul quotes its verse 22 in Romans 8:36.
The psalm opens with the memory of the fathers: O God, we have heard with our ears what our fathers have told us, the work you did in their days. With your own hand you drove out the nations and planted Israel; they did not win the land by their own sword nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm and the light of your face, for you delighted in them. The people confess that God is their king and that they do not trust in their bow or sword: God alone has saved them and they boast in him all day long.
But now the tone changes: yet you have rejected us and disgraced us and no longer go out with our armies. You made us turn back from the foe, and they plundered us; you gave us like sheep for slaughter and scattered us among the nations. You sold your people for a trifle. We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a derision and scorn to those around us, and our disgrace is before us all day.
All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you or been false to your covenant; our heart has not turned back. Yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with deep darkness. If we had forgotten the name of our God, would not God discover it, for he knows the secrets of the heart? For your sake we are killed all the day long and regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. The psalm ends with a cry: awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself, do not reject us forever. Our soul is bowed down to the dust; rise up and come to our help, and redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Israel did not win the land by their sword or save themselves by their arm, but by God's right hand and the light of his face, because he delighted in them. The victory of the past was by grace, not merit.
The people declare that all this has come upon them though they have not forgotten God or been false to his covenant. The psalm is one of the few prayers of the Bible that suffers without confessing guilt.
For God's sake they are killed all day long and counted as sheep to be slaughtered. Paul quotes this verse in Romans 8:36 to say that suffering does not separate the believer from Christ's love.
The psalm ends by asking God to rise up, help and redeem his people for the sake of his steadfast love. The last word is not the complaint but reliance on God's faithful love.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: What God did in the days of their fathers: he drove out the nations and planted Israel. — Psalm 44:1-2
Answer: Not by their sword or arm, but by God's right hand and arm and the light of his face. — Psalm 44:3
Answer: That God has rejected them, no longer goes out with their armies and has given them over to defeat and mockery. — Psalm 44:9-10
Answer: That they have not forgotten God or been false to his covenant. — Psalm 44:17
Answer: As sheep to be slaughtered, killed all day long for God's sake. — Psalm 44:22
Answer: That God awake, rise to help them and redeem them for the sake of his steadfast love. — Psalm 44:23-26
Psalm 44 gives voice to those who suffer without understanding why. In a church a quick explanation is sometimes offered for every pain. This psalm teaches that we can pray frankly, remember what God did and ask why he now seems silent. In a small group you can leave room for those questions without hurrying to answer them.
It also comforts persecuted Christians. Paul quotes verse 22 in Romans 8 to affirm that no trial separates us from Christ's love. The church can pray with this psalm for brothers and sisters who suffer for their faith in different places around the world.
Psalm 44 ends with a plea that has no immediate answer, yet trusts in God's faithful love. Psalm 45 changes tone radically: it is a wedding song for a king, full of joy and hope.
The text does not say. Some scholars connect it with a military defeat in the days of the kings of Judah, others with the exile, and others consider it a prayer for general use in any time of defeat. What matters is its message: one can pray faithfully even when God seems silent.
No. The psalm expresses the pain and confusion of the people, who do not understand their suffering. The Bible does not answer here with an explanation but shows that some suffering is not due to a particular sin of the people and that, even so, God remains their only hope.
In Romans 8:35-37 Paul quotes this verse to say that believers face the danger of death for their faith, yet neither tribulation nor persecution can separate them from Christ's love. He gives it a new reading: the suffering of God's people does not mean abandonment.