Psalms 44:17-26

17 All these things came on us, and we have not forgotten thee; and we did not wickedly in thy testament. (All these things came upon us, but we did not forget thee; and we have not broken thy covenant.)

18 And our heart went not away behind; and thou hast (not) bowed away our paths from thy way. (And our hearts did not turn away from thee/And our hearts did not turn back from thee; and our steps have not turned away from thy way.)

19 For thou hast made us low in the place of torment; and the shadow of death covered us. (Though thou hast made us low, or hast humbled us, in the place of torment; and hast covered us with the shadow of death.)

20 If we forgat the name of our God; and if we held forth our hands to an alien God. (And if we had forgotten the name of our God; or if we had held forth our hands to a foreign, or another, god;)

21 Whether God shall not seek these things? for he knoweth the hid things of heart. (shall not God seek out these things? for he knoweth the hidden things of the heart.)

22 For why we be slain all day for thee; we be deemed as sheep of slaying. (But we be killed all day long for thee; we be judged, or treated, like sheep for the slaughter.)

23 Lord, rise up, why sleepest thou? rise up, and put not us away into the end (rise up, and do not shun us forever).

24 Why turnest thou away thy face? thou forgettest our poverty, and our tribulation. (Why turnest thou away thy face? forgettest thou our poverty, and all our troubles?)

25 For our life is made low in dust; our womb is glued together in the earth. (For our life is brought down low into the dust; our womb is glued together with the earth/and we lie flat on our backs.)

26 Lord, rise up thou, and help us; and again-buy us for thy name. (Lord, rise thou up, and help us; and redeem us for the sake of thy name.)

Psalms 44:17-26 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.