Psaume 44:13-23

13 Tu fais de nous un objet d'opprobre pour nos voisins, De moquerie et de risée pour ceux qui nous entourent;
14 Tu fais de nous un objet de sarcasme parmi les nations, Et de hochements de tête parmi les peuples.
15 Ma honte est toujours devant moi, Et la confusion couvre mon visage,
16 A la voix de celui qui m'insulte et m'outrage, A la vue de l'ennemi et du vindicatif.
17 Tout cela nous arrive, sans que nous t'ayons oublié, Sans que nous ayons violé ton alliance:
18 Notre coeur ne s'est point détourné, Nos pas ne se sont point éloignés de ton sentier,
19 Pour que tu nous écrases dans la demeure des chacals, Et que tu nous couvres de l'ombre de la mort.
20 Si nous avions oublié le nom de notre Dieu, Et étendu nos mains vers un dieu étranger,
21 Dieu ne le saurait-il pas, Lui qui connaît les secrets du coeur?
22 Mais c'est à cause de toi qu'on nous égorge tous les jours, Qu'on nous regarde comme des brebis destinées à la boucherie.
23 Réveille-toi! Pourquoi dors-tu, Seigneur? Réveille-toi! ne nous repousse pas à jamais!

Psaume 44:13-23 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.
The Louis Segond 1910 is in the public domain.