Psalm 44:15-25

15 All day long my dishonor is before me And my ¹humiliation * has overwhelmed me,

16 Because of the voice of him who ²reproaches and reviles, Because of the presence of the ³enemy and the avenger.

17 All this has come upon us, but we have ⁴not forgotten You, And we have not ⁵dealt falsely with Your covenant.

18 Our heart has not ⁶turned back, And our steps ⁷have not deviated from Your way,

19 Yet You have ⁸crushed us in a place of ⁹jackals And covered us with ¹⁰the shadow of death.

20 If we had ¹¹forgotten the name of our God Or extended our hands to ¹²a strange god,

21 Would not God ¹³find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.

22 But ¹⁴for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are considered as ¹⁵sheep to be slaughtered.

23 ¹⁶Arouse Yourself, why ¹⁷do You sleep, O Lord? Awake, ¹⁸do not reject us forever.

24 Why do You ¹⁹hide Your face And ²⁰forget our affliction and our oppression?

25 For our ²¹soul has sunk down into the dust; Our body cleaves to the earth.

Psalm 44:15-25 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

• 1. 2 Chronicles 32:21; Psalms 69:7
• 2. Psalms 74:10
• 3. Psalms 8:2
• 4. Psalms 78:7; Psalms 119:61, 83, 109, 141, 153, 176
• 5. Psalms 78:57
• 6. Psalms 78:57
• 7. Job 23:11; Psalms 119:51, 157
• 8. Psalms 51:8; Psalms 94:5
• 9. Job 30:29; Isaiah 13:22; Jeremiah 9:11
• 10. Job 3:5; Psalms 23:4
• 11. Psalms 78:11
• 12. Deuteronomy 6:14; Psalms 81:9
• 13. Psalms 139:1, 2; Jeremiah 17:10
• 14. Romans 8:36
• 15. Isaiah 53:7; Jeremiah 12:3
• 16. Psalms 7:6
• 17. Psalms 78:65
• 18. Psalms 77:7
• 19. Job 13:24; Psalms 88:14
• 20. Psalms 42:9; Lamentations 5:20
• 21. Psalms 119:25

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "the shame of my face has covered me"
• [b] Lit "palms"