Psalm 44:17-26

17 All this has come upon us, but we haven't forgotten you or broken your covenant.

18 Our hearts haven't turned away, neither have our steps strayed from your way.

19 But you've crushed us in the place where jackals live, covering us with deepest darkness.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to some strange deity,

21 wouldn't God have discovered it? After all, God knows every secret of the heart.

22 No, God, it's because of you that we are getting killed every day— it's because of you that we are considered sheep ready for slaughter.

23 Wake up! Why are you sleeping, Lord? Get up! Don't reject us forever!

24 Why are you hiding your face, forgetting our suffering and oppression?

25 Look: we're going down to the dust; our stomachs are flat on the ground!

26 Stand up! Help us! Save us for the sake of your faithful love.

Psalm 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.

Footnotes

• [a] Or the sea monster(s)