1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.
2 How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.
3 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.
4 Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
5 Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.
7 But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.
8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.
9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.
10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
11 Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.
12 Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price.
13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.
14 Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,
16 For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger.
17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;
19 Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake.
1 [[To the chief Musician H5329 for the sons H1121 of Korah, H7141 Maschil.]] H4905 We have heard H8085 with our ears, H241 O God, H430 our fathers H1 have told H5608 us, what work H6467 thou didst H6466 in their days, H3117 in the times H3117 of old. H6924
2 How thou didst drive out H3423 the heathen H1471 with thy hand, H3027 and plantedst H5193 them; how thou didst afflict H7489 the people, H3816 and cast them out. H7971
3 For they got H3423 not the land H776 in possession H3423 by their own sword, H2719 neither did their own arm H2220 save H3467 them: but thy right hand, H3225 and thine arm, H2220 and the light H216 of thy countenance, H6440 because thou hadst a favour H7521 unto them.
4 Thou art my King, H4428 O God: H430 command H6680 deliverances H3444 for Jacob. H3290
5 Through thee will we push down H5055 our enemies: H6862 through thy name H8034 will we tread them under H947 that rise up H6965 against us.
6 For I will not trust H982 in my bow, H7198 neither shall my sword H2719 save H3467 me.
7 But thou hast saved H3467 us from our enemies, H6862 and hast put them to shame H954 that hated H8130 us.
8 In God H430 we boast H1984 all the day H3117 long, and praise H3034 thy name H8034 for ever. H5769 Selah. H5542
9 But H637 thou hast cast off, H2186 and put us to shame; H3637 and goest not forth H3318 with our armies. H6635
10 Thou makest us to turn H7725 back H268 from the enemy: H6862 and they which hate H8130 us spoil H8154 for themselves.
11 Thou hast given H5414 us like sheep H6629 appointed for meat; H3978 and hast scattered H2219 us among the heathen. H1471
12 Thou sellest H4376 thy people H5971 for nought, H1952 and dost not increase H7235 thy wealth by their price. H4242
13 Thou makest H7760 us a reproach H2781 to our neighbours, H7934 a scorn H3933 and a derision H7047 to them that are round about H5439 us.
14 Thou makest H7760 us a byword H4912 among the heathen, H1471 a shaking H4493 of the head H7218 among the people. H3816
15 My confusion H3639 is continually H3117 before me, and the shame H1322 of my face H6440 hath covered H3680 me,
16 For the voice H6963 of him that reproacheth H2778 and blasphemeth; H1442 by reason H6440 of the enemy H341 and avenger. H5358
17 All this is come H935 upon us; yet have we not forgotten H7911 thee, neither have we dealt falsely H8266 in thy covenant. H1285
18 Our heart H3820 is not turned H5472 back, H268 neither have our steps H838 declined H5186 from thy way; H734
19 Though thou hast sore broken H1794 us in the place H4725 of dragons, H8577 and covered H3680 us with the shadow of death. H6757
20 If we have forgotten H7911 the name H8034 of our God, H430 or stretched out H6566 our hands H3709 to a strange H2114 god; H410
21 Shall not God H430 search this out? H2713 for he knoweth H3045 the secrets H8587 of the heart. H3820
22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed H2026 all the day H3117 long; we are counted H2803 as sheep H6629 for the slaughter. H2878
23 Awake, H5782 why sleepest H3462 thou, O Lord? H136 arise, H6974 cast us not off H2186 for ever. H5331
24 Wherefore hidest H5641 thou thy face, H6440 and forgettest H7911 our affliction H6040 and our oppression? H3906
25 For our soul H5315 is bowed down H7743 to the dust: H6083 our belly H990 cleaveth H1692 unto the earth. H776
26 Arise H6965 for our help, H5833 and redeem H6299 us for thy mercies' H2617 sake.
1 We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, What work thou didst in their days, In the days of old.
2 Thou didst drive out the nations with thy hand; But them thou didst plant: Thou didst afflict the peoples; But them thou didst spread abroad.
3 For they gat 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 wast favorable unto them.
4 Thou art my King, O God: Command deliverance for Jacob.
5 Through thee will we push down our adversaries: Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, Neither shall my sword save me.
7 But thou hast saved us from our adversaries, And hast put them to shame that hate us.
8 In God have we made our boast all the day long, And we will give thanks unto thy name for ever. Selah
9 But now thou hast cast `us' off, and brought us to dishonor, And goest not forth with our hosts.
10 Thou makest us to turn back from the adversary; And they that hate us take spoil for themselves.
11 Thou hast made us like sheep `appointed' for food, And hast scattered us among the nations.
12 Thou sellest thy people for nought, And hast not increased `thy wealth' by their price.
13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and a derision to them that are round about us.
14 Thou makest us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 All the day long is my dishonor before me, And the shame of my face hath covered me,
16 For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth, By reason of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this is come upon us; Yet have we not forgotten thee, Neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back, Neither have our steps declined from thy way,
19 That thou hast sore broken us in the place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, Or spread forth our hands to a strange god;
21 Will not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, cast `us' not off for ever.
24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, And forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: Our body cleaveth unto the earth.
26 Rise up for our help, And redeem us for thy lovingkindness' sake. Psalm 45 For the Chief Musician; set to Shoshannim. `A Psalm' of the sons of Korah. Maschil. A Song of loves.
1 To the Overseer. -- By sons of Korah. An Instruction. O God, with our ears we have heard, Our fathers have recounted to us, The work Thou didst work in their days, In the days of old.
2 Thou, `with' Thy hand, nations hast dispossessed. And Thou dost plant them. Thou afflictest peoples, and sendest them away.
3 For, not by their sword Possessed they the land, And their arm gave not salvation to them, But Thy right hand, and Thine arm, And the light of Thy countenance, Because Thou hadst accepted them.
4 Thou `art' He, my king, O God, Command the deliverances of Jacob.
5 By Thee our adversaries we do push, By Thy name tread down our withstanders,
6 For, not in my bow do I trust, And my sword doth not save me.
7 For Thou hast saved us from our adversaries, And those hating us Thou hast put to shame.
8 In God we have boasted all the day, And Thy name to the age we thank. Selah.
9 In anger Thou hast cast off and causest us to blush, And goest not forth with our hosts.
10 Thou causest us to turn backward from an adversary, And those hating us, Have spoiled for themselves.
11 Thou makest us food like sheep, And among nations Thou hast scattered us.
12 Thou sellest Thy people -- without wealth, And hast not become great by their price.
13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, A scorn and a reproach to our surrounders.
14 Thou makest us a simile among nations, A shaking of the head among peoples.
15 All the day my confusion `is' before me, And the shame of my face hath covered me.
16 Because of the voice of a reproacher and reviler, Because of an enemy and a self-avenger.
17 All this met us, and we did not forget Thee, Nor have we dealt falsely in Thy covenant.
18 We turn not backward our heart, Nor turn aside doth our step from Thy path.
19 But Thou hast smitten us in a place of dragons, And dost cover us over with death-shade.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, And spread our hands to a strange God,
21 Doth not God search out this? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 Surely, for Thy sake we have been slain all the day, Reckoned as sheep of the slaughter.
23 Stir up -- why dost Thou sleep, O Lord? Awake, cast us not off for ever.
24 Why Thy face hidest Thou? Thou forgettest our afflictions and our oppression,
25 For bowed to the dust hath our soul, Cleaved to the earth hath our belly.
26 Arise, a help to us, And ransom us for thy kindness' sake.
1 {To the chief Musician. Of the sons of Korah. An instruction.} O God, with our ears have we heard, our fathers have told us, the work thou wroughtest in their days, in the days of old:
2 Thou, by thy hand, didst dispossess the nations, but them thou didst plant; thou didst afflict the peoples, but them didst thou cause to spread out.
3 For not by their own sword did they take possession of the land, neither did their own arm save them; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst delight in them.
4 Thou thyself art my king, O God: command deliverance for Jacob.
5 Through thee will we push down our adversaries; through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
6 For I will not put confidence in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.
7 For thou hast saved us from our adversaries, and hast put them to shame that hate us.
8 In God will we boast all the day, and we will praise thy name for ever. Selah.
9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to confusion, and dost not go forth with our armies;
10 Thou hast made us to turn back from the adversary, and they that hate us spoil for themselves;
11 Thou hast given us over like sheep [appointed] for meat, and hast scattered us among the nations;
12 Thou hast sold thy people for nought, and hast not increased [thy wealth] by their price;
13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a mockery and a derision for them that are round about us;
14 Thou makest us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 All the day my confusion is before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,
16 Because of the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely against thy covenant:
18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy path;
19 Though thou hast crushed us in the place of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, and stretched out our hands to a strange ùgod,
21 Would not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 But for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are reckoned as sheep for slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleepest thou, Lord? arise, cast [us] not off for ever.
24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, [and] forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
26 Rise up for our help, and redeem us for thy loving-kindness' sake.
1 > We have heard with our ears, God; Our fathers have told us, What work you did in their days, In the days of old.
2 You drove out the nations with your hand, But you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, But you spread them abroad.
3 For they didn't get the land in possession by their own sword, Neither did their own arm save them; But your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your face, Because you were favorable to them.
4 You are my King, God. Command victories for Jacob!
5 Through you, will we push down our adversaries. Through your name, will we tread them under who rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, Neither shall my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our adversaries, And have shamed those who hate us.
8 In God we have made our boast all day long, We will give thanks to your name forever. Selah.
9 But now you rejected us, and brought us to dishonor, And don't go out with our armies.
10 You make us turn back from the adversary. Those who hate us take spoil for themselves.
11 You have made us like sheep for food, And have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell your people for nothing, And have gained nothing from their sale.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and a derision to those who are around us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me, And shame covers my face,
16 At the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses, Because of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come on us, Yet have we not forgotten you, Neither have we been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back, Neither have our steps strayed from your path,
19 Though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, Or spread forth our hands to a strange god;
21 Won't God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long. We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Wake up! Why do you sleep, Lord? Arise! Don't reject us forever.
24 Why do you hide your face, And forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust. Our body cleaves to the earth.
26 Rise up to help us. Redeem us for your loving kindness' sake.
1 <To the chief music-maker. Of the sons of Korah Maschil.> It has come to our ears, O God, our fathers have given us the story, of the works which you did in their days, in the old times,
2 Uprooting the nations with your hand, and planting our fathers in their place; cutting down the nations, but increasing the growth of your people.
3 For they did not make the land theirs by their swords, and it was not their arms which kept them safe; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your face, because you had pleasure in them.
4 You are my King and my God; ordering salvation for Jacob.
5 Through you will we overcome our haters; by your name will they be crushed under our feet who are violent against us.
6 I will not put faith in my bow, my sword will not be my salvation.
7 But it is you who have been our saviour from those who were against us, and have put to shame those who had hate for us.
8 Our pride is in God at all times, to his name we give praise for ever. (Selah.)
9 But now you have sent us away from you, and put us to shame; you do not go out with our armies.
10 Because of this we are turned back by the attacker: those who have hate for us take our goods for themselves.
11 You have made us like sheep which are taken for meat; we are put to flight among the nations.
12 You let your people go for nothing; your wealth is not increased by their price.
13 You have made us to be looked down on by our neighbours, we are laughed at and shamed by those who are round about us.
14 Our name is a word of shame among the nations, a sign for the shaking of heads among the peoples.
15 My downfall is ever before me, and I am covered with the shame of my face;
16 Because of the voice of him who says sharp and bitter words; because of the hater and him who is the instrument of punishment.
17 All this has come on us, but still we have kept you in our memory; and we have not been false to your word.
18 Our hearts have not gone back, and our steps have not been turned out of your way;
19 Though you have let us be crushed in the place of jackals, though we are covered with darkest shade.
20 If the name of our God has gone out of our minds, or if our hands have been stretched out to a strange god,
21 Will not God make search for it? for he sees the secrets of the heart.
22 Truly, because of you we are put to death every day; we are numbered like sheep for destruction.
23 Why are you sleeping, O Lord? awake! and come to our help, do not give us up for ever.
24 Why is your face covered, and why do you give no thought to our trouble and our cruel fate?
25 For our souls are crushed down to the dust: our bodies are stretched out on the earth.
26 Up! and come to our help, and give us salvation because of your mercy.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 44
Commentary on Psalms 44 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
A Litany of Israel, Hard Pressed by the Enemy, and Yet Faithful to Its God
The Korahitic Maskı̂l Psalms 42:1-11, with its counterpart Psalms 43:1-5, if followed by a second, to which a place is here assigned by manifold accords with Ps 42-43, viz., with its complaints (cf. PsPsalms 44:26 with the refrain of Psalms 43:1-5, Psalms 42:1-11; Psalms 44:10, Psalms 44:24. with Psalms 43:2; Psalms 42:10), and prayers (cf. Psalms 44:5 with Psalms 43:3; Psalms 42:9). The counterpart to this Psalm is Psalms 85:1-13. Just as Ps 42-43 and Psalms 84:1-12 form a pair, so do Ps 44 and Psalms 85:1-13 as being Korahitic plaintive and supplicatory Psalms of a national character. Moreover, Psalms 60:1-12 by David, Ps 80 by Asaph, and Ps 89 by Ethan, are nearest akin to it. In all these three there are similar lamentations over the present as contrasting with the former times and with the promise of God; but they do not contain any like expression of consciousness of innocence, a feature in which Ps 44 has no equal.
In this respect the Psalm seems to be most satisfactorily explained by the situation of the חסידים (saints), who under the leadership of the Maccabees defended their nationality and their religion against the Syrians and fell as martyrs by thousands. The war of that period was, in its first beginnings at least, a holy war of religion; and the nation which then went forth on the side of Jahve against Jupiter Olympius, was really, in distinction from the apostates, a people true to its faith and confession, which had to lament over God's doom of wrath in 1 Macc. 1:64, just as in this Psalm. There is even a tradition that it was a stated lamentation Psalm of the time of the Maccabees. The Levites daily ascended the pulpit ( דוכן ) and raised the cry of prayer: Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?! These Levite criers praying for the interposition of God were called מעוררים (wakers). It is related in B. Sota 48a of Jochanan the high priest, i.e., John Hyrcanus (135-107 b.c.), that he put an end to these מעוררים , saying to them: “Doth the Deity sleep? Hath not the Scripture said: Behold the Keeper of Israel slumbereth not and sleepeth not!? Only in a time when Israel was in distress and the peoples of the world in rest and prosperity, only in reference to such circumstances was it said: Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?”
Nevertheless many considerations are opposed to the composition of the Psalm in the time of the Maccabees. We will mention only a few. In the time of the Maccabees the nation did not exactly suffer any overthrow of its “armies” (Psalms 44:10) after having gathered up its courage: the arms of Judah, of Jonathan, and of Simon were victorious, and the one defeat to which Hitzig refers the Psalm, viz., the defeat of Joseph and Azaria against Gorgias in Jamnia (1 Macc. 5:55ff.), was a punishment brought upon themselves by an indiscreet enterprise. The complaints in Psalms 44:10. are therefore only partially explained by the evmnts of that time; and since a nation is a unit and involved as a whole, it is also surprising that no mention whatever is made of the apostates. But Ewald's reference of the Psalm to the time of the post-exilic Jerusalem is still more inadmissible; and when, in connection with this view, the question is asked, What disaster of war is then intended? no answer can be given; and the reference to the time of Jehoiachin, which Tholuck in vain endeavours to set in a more favourable light - a king who did evil in the eyes of Jahve, 2 Chronicles 36:9, with which the descriptions of character drawn by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 22:20-30, and by Ezekiel, Ezekiel 19:1-14, fully accord - is also inadmissible. On the other hand, the position of the Psalm in the immediate neighbourhood of Psalms belonging to the time of Jehoshaphat, and also to a certain extent its contents, favours the early part of the reign of king Joash, in which, as becomes evident from the prophecy of Joel, there was no idolatry on the part of the people to be punished, and yet there were severe afflictions of the people to be bewailed. It was then not long since the Philistines and Arabs from the neighbourhood of the Cushites had broken in upon Judah, ransacked Jerusalem and sold the captive people of Judah for a mere song to the Greeks (2 Chronicles 21:16., Joel 3:2-8). But this reference to contemporary history is also untenable. That unhappy event, together with others, belongs to the category of well-merited judgments, which came upon king and people in the reign of Jehoram; nor does the Psalm sound like a retrospective glance at the time of Jehoram from the standpoint of the time of Joash: the defeat of which it complains, is one that is now only just experienced.
Thus we seem consequently driven back to the time of David; and the question arises, whether the Psalm does not admit, with Psalms 60:1-12, with which it forms a twin couple, of being understood as the offspring of a similar situation, viz., of the events which resulted from the Syro-Ammonitish war. The fact that a conflict with the foes of the kingdom in the south, viz., with the Edomites, was also mixed up with the wars with the Ammonites and their Syrian allies at that period, becomes evident from Psalms 60:1. when compared with 2 Samuel 8:13, where the words ἐπάταξε τὴν Ἰδουμαίαν (lxx) have fallen out. Whilst David was contending with the Syrians, the Edomites came down upon the country that was denuded of troops. And from 1 Kings 11:15 it is very evident that they then caused great bloodshed; for, according to that passage, Joab buried the slain and took fearful revenge upon the Edomites: he marched, after having slain them in the Valley of Salt, into Idumaea and there smote every male. Perhaps, with Hengstenberg, Keil, and others, the Psalm is to be explained from the position of Israel before this overthrow of the Edomites. The fact that in Psalms 44:12 the nation complains of a dispersion among the heathen may be understood by means of a deduction from Amos 1:6, according to which the Edomites had carried on a traffic in captive Israelites. And the lofty self-consciousness, which finds expression in the Psalm, is after all best explained by the times of David; for these and the early part of the times of Solomon are the only period in the history of Israel when the nation as a whole could boast of being free and pure of all foreign influence in its worship. In the kindred Psalms 60:1-12; 80 (also Ps 89), it is true this self-consciousness does not attain the same lofty expression in this respect Ps 40 stands perfectly alone: it is like the national mirroring of the Book of Job, and by reason of this takes a unique position in the range of Old Testament literature side by side with Lam. 3 and the deutero-Isaiah. Israel's affliction, which could not possibly be of a punitive character, resembles the affliction of Job; in this Psalm, Israel stands in exactly the same relation to God as Job and the “Servant of Jahve” in Isaiah, if we except all that was desponding in Job's complaint and all that was expiatory in the affliction of the Servant of Jahve. But this very self-consciousness does somewhat approximately find expression even in Psalms 60:4. In that passage also no distinction is made between Israel and the God-fearing ones, and the battle, in which Israel is defeated, but not without hope of final victory, is a battle for the truth.
The charge has been brought against this Psalm, that it manifests a very superficial apprehension of the nature of sin, in consequence of which the writer has been betrayed into accusing God of unfaithfulness, instead of seeking for guilt in the congregation of Israel. This judgment is unjust. The writer certainly cannot mean to disown the sins of individuals, nor even this or that transgression of the whole people. but any apostasy on the part of the nation from its God, such as could account for its rejection, did not exist at that time. The supremacy granted to the heathen over Israel is, therefore, an abnormal state of things, and for this very reason the poet, on the ground of Israel's fidelity and of God's loving-kindness, prays for speedy deliverance. A Psalm born directly out of the heart of the New Testament church would certainly sound very differently. For the New Testament church is not a national community; and both as regards the relation between the reality and idea of the church, and as regards the relation between its afflictions and the motive and design of God, the view of the New Testament church penetrates far deeper. It knows that it is God's love that makes it conformable to the passion of Christ, in order that, being crucified unto the world, it may become through suffering partaker of the glory of its Lord and Head.
(Heb.: 44:2-4) The poet opens with a tradition coming down from the time of Moses and of Joshua which they have heard with their own ears, in order to demonstrate the vast distance between the character of the former times and the present, just as Asaph, also, in Psalms 78:3, appeals not to the written but to the spoken word. That which has been heard follows in the oratio directa . Psalms 44:3 explains what kind of “work” is intended: it is the granting of victory over the peoples of Canaan, the work of God for which Moses prays in Psalms 90:16. Concerning ידך , vid., on Psalms 3:5; Psalms 17:14. The position of the words here, as in Psalms 69:11; 83:19, leads one to suppose that ידך is treated as a permutative of אתּה , and consequently in the same case with it. The figure of “planting” (after Exodus 15:17) is carried forward in ותּשׁלּחם ; for this word means to send forth far away, to make wide-branching, a figure which is wrought up in Ps 80. It was not Israel's own work, but ( כּי , no indeed, for [Germ. nein, denn ] = imo ) God's work: “Thy right hand and Thine arm and the light of Thy countenance,” they it was which brought Israel salvation, i.e., victory. The combination of synonyms ימינך וּזרועך is just as in Psalms 74:11, Sir. 33:7, χείρα καὶ βραχίονα δεξιόν , and is explained by both the names of the members of the body as applied to God being only figures: the right hand being a figure for energetic interposition, and the arm for an effectual power that carries through the thing designed (cf. e.g., Psalms 77:16; Psalms 53:1), just as the light of His countenance is a figure for His loving-kindness which lights up all darkness. The final cause was His purpose of love: for (inasmuch as) Thou wast favourable to them ( רצה as in Psalms 85:2). The very same thought, viz., that Israel owes the possession of Canaan to nothing but Jahve's free grace, runs all through Deut. 9.
(Heb.: 44:5-9) Out of the retrospective glance at the past, so rich in mercy springs up (Psalms 44:5) the confident prayer concerning the present, based upon the fact of the theocratic relationship which began in the time of the deliverance wrought under Moses (Deuteronomy 33:5). In the substantival clause אתּה הוּא מלכּי , הוּא is neither logical copula nor predicate (as in Psalms 102:28; Deuteronomy 32:39, there equivalent to אתּה הוּא אשׁר , cf. 1 Chronicles 21:17), but an expressive resumption of the subject, as in Isaiah 43:25; Jeremiah 49:12; Nehemiah 9:6., Ezra 5:11, and in the frequently recurring expression יהוה הוא האלהים ; it is therefore to be rendered: Thou-He who (such an one) is my King. May He therefore, by virtue of His duty as king which He has voluntarily taken upon Himself, and of the kingly authority and power indwelling in Him, command the salvation of Jacob, full and entire (Ps 18:51; 53:7). צוּה as in Psalms 42:9. Jacob is used for Israel just as Elohim is used instead of Jahve . If Elohim, Jacob's King, now turns graciously to His people, they will again be victorious and invincible, as Psalms 44:6 affirms. נגּח with reference to קרן as a figure and emblem of strength, as in Psalms 89:25 and frequently; קמינוּ equivalent to קמים עלינוּ . But only in the strength of God ( בּך as in Psalms 18:30); for not in my bow do I trust, etc., Psalms 44:7. This teaching Israel has gathered from the history of the former times; there is no bidding defiance with the bow and sword and all the carnal weapons of attack, but Thou, etc., Psalms 44:8. This “Thou” in הושׁעתּנוּ is the emphatic word; the preterites describe facts of experience belonging to history. It is not Israel's own might that gives them the supremacy, but God's gracious might in Israel's weakness. Elohim is, therefore, Israel's glory or pride: “In Elohim do we praise,” i.e., we glory or make our boast in Him; cf. הלּל על , Psalms 10:3. The music here joins in after the manner of a hymn. The Psalm here soars aloft to the more joyous height of praise, from which it now falls abruptly into bitter complaint.
(Heb.: 44:10-13) Just as אף signifies imo vero (Psalms 58:3) when it comes after an antecedent clause that is expressly or virtually a negative, it may mean “nevertheless, ho'moos ,” when it opposes a contrastive to an affirmative assertion, as is very frequently the case with גּם or וגם . True, it does not mean this in itself, but in virtue of its logical relation: we praise Thee, we celebrate Thy name unceasingly - also (= nevertheless) Thou hast cast off. From this point the Psalm comes into closest connection with Psalms 89:39, on a still more extended scale, however, with Psalms 60:1-12, which dates from the time of the Syro-Ammonitish war, in which Psalm Psalms 44:10 recurs almost word for word. The צבאות are not exactly standing armies (an objection which has been raised against the Maccabean explanation), they are the hosts of the people that are drafted into battle, as in Exodus 12:41, the hosts that went forth out of Egypt. Instead of leading these to victory as their victorious Captain (2 Samuel 5:24), God leaves them to themselves and allows them to be smitten by the enemy. The enemy spoil למו , i.e., just as they like, without meeting with any resistance, to their hearts' content. And whilst He gives over ( נתן as in Micah 5:2, and the first יתּן in Isaiah 41:2) one portion of the people as “sheep appointed for food,” another becomes a diaspora or dispersion among the heathen, viz., by being sold to them as slaves, and that בּלא־הון , “for not-riches,” i.e., for a very low price, a mere nothing. We see from Joel 3:3 in what way this is intended. The form of the litotes is continued in Psalms 44:13 : Thou didst not go high in the matter of their purchase-money; the rendering of Maurer is correct: in statuendis pretiis eorum . The ב is in this instance not the Beth of the price as in Psalms 44:13 , but, as in the phrase הלּל בּ , the Beth of the sphere and thereby indirectly of the object. רבּה in the sense of the Aramaic רבּי (cf. Proverbs 22:16, and the derivatives תּרבּית , מרבּית ), to make a profit, to practise usury (Hupfeld), produces a though that is unworthy of God; vid., on the other hand, Isaiah 52:3. At the heads of the strophe stands ( Psalms 44:10 ) a perfect with an aorist following: ולא תצא is consequently a negative ותּצא . And Psalms 44:18, which sums up the whole, shows that all the rest is also intended to be retrospective.
(Heb.: 44:14-17) To this defeat is now also added the shame that springs out of it. A distinction is made between the neighbouring nations, or those countries lying immediately round about Israel ( סביבות , as in the exactly similar passage Psalms 79:4, cf. Psalms 80:7, which closely resembles it), and the nations of the earth that dwell farther away from Israel. משׁל is here a jesting, taunting proverb, and one that holds Israel up as an example of a nation undergoing chastisement (vid., Habakkuk 2:6). The shaking of the head is, as in Psalms 22:8, a gesture of malicious astonishment. In נגדּי תּמיד (as in Psalms 38:18) we have both the permanent aspect or look and the perpetual consciousness. Instead of “shame covers my face,” the expression is “the shame of my face covers me,” i.e., it has overwhelmed my entire inward and outward being (cf. concerning the radical notions of בּושׁ , Ps 6:11, and חפר , Psalms 34:6). The juxtaposition of “enemy and revengeful man” has its origin in Psalms 8:3. In Psalms 44:17 מקּול and מפּני alternate; the former is used of the impression made by the jeering voice, the other of the impression produced by the enraged mien.
(Heb.: 44:18-22) If Israel compares its conduct towards God with this its lot, it cannot possibly regard it as a punishment that it has justly incurred. Construed with the accusative, בּוא signifies, as in Psalms 35:8; Psalms 36:12, to come upon one, and more especially of an evil lot and of powers that are hostile. שׁקּר , to lie or deceive, with בּ of the object on whom the deception or treachery is practised, as in Psalms 89:34. In Psalms 44:19 אשּׁוּר is construed as fem ., exactly as in Job 31:8; the fut. consec . is also intended as such (as e.g., in Job 3:10; Numbers 16:14): that our step should have declined from, etc.; inward apostasy is followed by outward wandering and downfall. This is therefore not one of the many instances in which the לא of one clause also has influence over the clause that follows (Ges. §152, 3). כּי , Psalms 44:20, has the sense of quod : we have not revolted against Thee, that Thou shouldest on that account have done to us the thing which is now befallen us. Concerning תּנּיּם vid., Isaiah 13:22. A “place of jackals” is, like a habitation of dragons (Jeremiah 10:22), the most lonesome and terrible wilderness; the place chosen was, according to this, an inhospitable מדבר , far removed from the dwellings of men. כּסּה is construed with על of the person covered, and with בּ of that with which (1 Samuel 19:13) he is covered: Thou coveredst us over with deepest darkness (vid., Psalms 23:4). אם , Psalms 44:21, is not that of asseveration (verily we have not forgotten), but, as the interrogatory apodosis Psalms 44:22 shows, conditional: if we have (= should have) forgotten. This would not remain hidden from Him who knoweth the heart, for the secrets of men's hearts are known to Him. Both the form and matter here again strongly remind one of Job 31, more especially Job 31:4; cf. also on תּעלמות , Job 11:6; Job 28:11.
(Heb.: 44:23-27) The church is not conscious of any apostasy, for on the contrary it is suffering for the sake of its fidelity. Such is the meaning intended by כּי , Psalms 44:23 (cf. Psalms 37:20). The emphasis lies on עליך , which is used exactly as in Psalms 69:8. Paul, in Romans 8:36, transfers this utterance to the sufferings of the New Testament church borne in witnessing for the truth, or I should rather say he considers it as a divine utterance corresponding as it were prophetically to the sufferings of the New Testament church, and by anticipation, coined concerning it and for its use, inasmuch as he cites it with the words καθὼς γέγραπται . The suppliant cries עוּרה and הקיצה are Davidic, and found in his earlier Ps; Psalms 7:7; Psalms 35:23; Psalms 59:5., cf. Psalms 78:65. God is said to sleep when He does not interpose in whatever is taking place in the outward world here below; for the very nature of sleep is a turning in into one's own self from all relationship to the outer world, and a resting of the powers which act outwardly. The writer of our Psalm is fond of couplets of synonyms like ענינוּ ולחצנוּ in Psalms 44:25; cf. Psalms 44:4, ימינך וּזרועך . Psalms 119:25 is an echo of Psalms 44:26. The suppliant cry קוּמה (in this instance in connection with the עזרתה which follows, it is to be accented on the ultima ) is Davidic, Psalms 3:8; Psalms 7:7; but originally it is Mosaic. Concerning the ah of עזרתה , here as also in Psalms 63:8 of like meaning with לעזרתי , Psalms 22:20, and frequently, vid., on Psalms 3:3.