Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 44:15
My confusion [is] continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,
15. My confusion &c.] Render with R.V., All the day long is my dishonour before me, as in Psa 44:8 ; Psa 44:22 ; Psa 44:9. My disgrace is perpetually staring me in the face. Cp. Psa 38:17.
the shame of my face &c.] Shame is said to cover or clothe a man (Job 8:22; Psa 35:26; Psa 69:7; Psa 132:18); and the shame of my face is an emphatic synonym for my shame, inasmuch as the sense of shame betrays itself in the countenance. Cp. Ezr 9:6 ff; Jer 7:19; Dan 9:7-8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
My confusion is continually before me – My shame; the conviction and the evidence of my disgrace is constantly present with me. Literally, all the day my shame is before me. That is, the evidences of disgrace, defeat, and disaster; render everywhere around him, and he could not conceal them from himself. The psalmist here is represented as the head of the people, and expresses the sense of disgrace which the sovereign era people would feel in a time of national calamity; identifying himself with the people, he speaks of the national disgrace as his own.
And the shame of my face – The shame that is manifested on the countenance when we blush.
Hath covered me – That is, I am suffused with the evidence of my shame; or, as we sometimes say, he blushed all over. The blush, however – that special rush of blood manifesting itself through the skin – which constitutes the evidence of shame, is confined to the face and the neck; an arrangement which none can explain, except on the supposition that there is a God; that he is a moral governor; and that, as it was designed that the body should be covered or clothed, he meant that the evidence of guilt should manifest itself on the parts of the person which are most exposed to view, or where others could see it. The idea here is, that he could not conceal the proofs of his shame and disgrace; he was compelled to exhibit them to all around.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Before me; before the eyes of my mind and body too. They vilify me, not only behind my back, but even before my face.
The shame of my face hath covered me, i.e. I am filled with shame of my face on every side, being ashamed to show my face in any place or company.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. shame of . . . faceblushesin disgrace.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
My confusion [is] continually before me,…. Meaning that which is the occasion of it;
and the shame of my face hath covered me; not by reason of sin, which is often the cause of confusion and shame in God’s people; see Jer 3:25; but on account of what follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
15 My reproach is daily before me. The Hebrew words כלהיום, col-hayom, mean all the day, and denote long continuance: but they may be understood in two ways, either for the whole or entire day, from morning to evening, or for continued succession of days. According to either of these interpretations, the meaning is, that there is no end to their misfortunes. As to the change of the number from the plural to the singular, it is not at all inconsistent that what is spoken in the name of the Church should be uttered, as it were, in the person of one man. The reason is added why they were so overwhelmed with shame, that they dared not to lift up their eyes and their face, namely, because they had no respite, but were incessantly subjected to the insolence and reproach of their enemies. Had they been allowed to hide themselves in some corner, they might have endured, as well as they were able, their calamities in secret; but when their enemies openly derided them with the greatest insolence, it served to redouble the wound inflicted upon them. They, therefore, complain that their calamities had accumulated to such an extent, that they were forced unceasingly to hear blasphemies and bitter reproaches. They describe their enemies by the epithet avengers, a term which, among the Hebrews, denotes barbarity and cruelty, accompanied with pride, as we have remarked on the 8 Psalm
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) The shame.Better take the face as a second objectshame hath covered me as to my face, i.e., covered my face. Though the record of the facts of a sad reality, these verses have also the value of a prophecy sadder still. Twenty centuries of misery are summed up in these few lines, which have been most literally repeated,
By the torture, prolonged from age to age,
By the infamy, Israels heritage;
By the Ghettos plague, by the garbs disgrace,
By the badge of shame, by the felons place.
R. BROWNING: Holy Cross Day.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
What the church, or an individual of the church here complains of, is among the painful exercises of all true followers of Christ. When our God is reproached, and when our confidence in him is derided; or when the enmity takes advantage of the exercises of the faithful, and crieth out, Where is now thy God – these are very sad moments, and put bitterness into the cup of sorrows.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 44:15 My confusion [is] continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,
Ver. 15. My confusion is continually before me ] Heb. All the day long, or every day; so as that there is neither hope of better nor place of worse.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
confusion: Jos 7:7-9, Ezr 9:6, Jer 3:25
covered: Psa 69:7, Psa 71:13, Psa 89:45, Jer 51:51
Reciprocal: Lam 2:15 – wag Dan 9:7 – unto us
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 44:15-16. My confusion is continually before me I cannot open my eyes but the tokens of our disgrace present themselves before me; and the shame of my face hath covered me These things have made me so ashamed, that I do not willingly show my face. For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth I can hear nothing but reproachful words against us, and blasphemous words against thee and thy religion, for our sakes; which is intolerable to me; by reason of the enemy and avenger That insolent enemy, whose very countenance is full of disdain and scorn, and threatens further mischief to us, as being the executioner, both of thy vengeance and his own upon us, and who persecutes us with despiteful hatred and great cruelty.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
44:15 My {m} confusion [is] continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,
(m) I dare not lift up my head for shame.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The psalmist’s heart broke because Israel suffered such humiliation. He suffered because God’s reputation suffered too.