Psalms 44:10-20

10 You have caused us to pull back from [the] enemy, and [so] those who hate us have plundered for themselves.
11 You have given us as sheep [for] food, and among the nations you have scattered us.
12 You have sold your people {cheaply}, and did not profit by their price.
13 You have made us a taunt to our neighbors, a derision and a scorn to those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations, a shaking of [the] head among [the] peoples.
15 {All day long} my disgrace [is] before me, and the shame of my face covers me,
16 because of [the] voice of [the] taunter and [the] reviler, because of [the] enemy and [the] avenger.
17 All this has befallen us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back, and our steps have [not] turned aside from your way.
19 But you have crushed us in a place of jackals, and have covered us with deep shadow.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, or had spread out our hands [in prayer] to a 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.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Literally "for [what is] not wealth"
  • [b]. Literally "All of the day"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.