Psalms 44:10-20

10 You have made us 1turn back from the foe, and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like 2sheep for slaughter and have 3scattered us among the nations.
12 4You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us 5the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and 6scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us 7a byword among the nations, 8a laughingstock[a] among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me, and 9shame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler, at the sight of 10the enemy and the avenger.
17 11All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back, nor have our 12steps 13departed from your way;
19 yet you have 14broken us in the place of 15jackals and covered us with 16the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God or 17spread out our hands to 18a foreign god,

Psalms 44:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil. It is not certain who was the writer of this psalm, nor when it was written, and to what time it belongs: some have thought it was composed by one of the Babylonish captivity, and that it gives an account of the church and people of God in those times; but what is said in Psalm 44:17 does not seem to agree with Daniel 9:5. It is most likely it was written by David, and to him the Targum ascribes it; though it does not respect his times; since what is said in Psalm 44:9 cannot agree with them; yet he being a prophet might, under a prophetic influence, speak of future times, and represent the church in them. Some are of opinion that he prophetically speaks of the times of the Maccabees and of Antiochus, when the church and people of God suffered much for the true religion, and abode steadfast in it; so Theodoret: but rather the whole may be applied to the times of the New Testament, since Psalm 44:22 is cited by the Apostle Paul, Romans 8:36, and is applied to his times, and as descriptive of the suffering state and condition of the church then; and which seems to be the guide and key for the opening of the whole psalm.

Cross References 18

  • 1. Leviticus 26:17; Deuteronomy 28:25; Joshua 7:8, 12
  • 2. [ver. 22]
  • 3. Psalms 106:27; Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 4:27; Deuteronomy 28:64; Isaiah 52:3; Ezekiel 20:23; [John 7:35; 1 Peter 1:1]
  • 4. [Deuteronomy 32:30; Judges 2:14; Judges 3:8; Jeremiah 15:13]
  • 5. Psalms 39:8; Psalms 79:4; Psalms 89:41; Psalms 119:22; [Nehemiah 2:17]
  • 6. [Psalms 80:6]
  • 7. Jeremiah 24:9; See Job 17:6
  • 8. See Job 16:4
  • 9. 2 Chronicles 32:21
  • 10. Psalms 8:2
  • 11. Daniel 9:13
  • 12. Psalms 37:31
  • 13. Psalms 119:51, 157; Job 23:11
  • 14. Psalms 51:8
  • 15. See Job 30:29
  • 16. See Job 3:5
  • 17. Psalms 68:31; Job 11:13
  • 18. See Psalms 81:9

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Hebrew a shaking of the head
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.