Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 44:17
All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
17. All this &c.] Cp. Jdg 6:13.
yet have we not &c.] Although we have not forgotten Thee, as our fathers did so often. Cp. Psa 78:7; Psa 78:11; Psa 106:13; Psa 106:21; Jdg 3:7; Hos 2:13; Hos 4:6; Hos 8:14; Hos 13:6; Jer 2:32.
neither &c.] Neither have we been false to thy covenant. Cp. Psa 89:33; “Neither will I be false to my faithfulness.” God’s covenant with Abraham to be a God to him and to his seed after him (Gen 17:7) was confirmed to the nation at Sinai (Exo 19:5; Exo 24:7-8). Its sacrament was circumcision (Gen 17:2 ff): its outward symbol was the Ark of the Covenant (Num 10:33): and its fundamental charter was the Ten Words inscribed on the Tables of the Covenant (Deu 9:9).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
17 22. The calamity is unmerited. No unfaithfulness to God’s covenant has called for punishment. Nay it is for His sake that His people are suffering.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
All this is come upon us – All these calamities. The connecting thought here is, that although all these things had come upon them, yet they could not be traced to their own infidelity or unfaithfulness to God. There was nothing in the national character, there were no circumstances at that time existing, there was no special unfaithfulness among the people, there was no such general forgetfulness of God, and no such general prevalence of idolatry as would account for what had occurred, or as would explain it. The nation was not then more deeply depraved than it had been at other times; but, on the contrary, there was among the people a prevalent regard for God and for his service. It was, therefore, a mystery to the author of the psalm, that these calamities had been suffered to come upon them at that time; it was an event the cause of which he desired to search out, Psa 44:21.
Yet have we not forgotten thee – As a nation. That is, there was nothing special in the circumstances of the nation at that time which would call down the divine displeasure. We cannot suppose that the psalmist means to claim for the nation entire perfection, but only to affirm that the nation at that time was not characterized by any special forgetfulness of God, or prevalence of wickedness. All that is here said was true at the time when, as I have supposed, the psalm was written – the closing part of the reign of Josiah, or the period immeditely following.
Neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant – We have not been unfaithful to thy covenant; to the covenant which thou didst make with our fathers; to the commandments which thou hast given us. This can only mean that there was no such prevailing departure from the principles of that covenant as could account for this. The psalmist could not connect the existing state of things – the awful and unique discomfitures and calamities which had come upon the nation – with anything special in the character of the people, or in the religious condition of the nation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. Yet have we not forgotten thee] These are bold words; but they must be understood in a qualified sense. We have not apostatized from thee, we have not fallen into idolatry. And this was strictly true: the charge of idolatry could never be brought against the Jewish nation from the time of the captivity, with sufficient evidence to support it.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Although we cannot excuse ourselves from many other sins for which thou hast justly punished us, yet this we must say for ourselves, that through thy grace we have kept ourselves from apostacy and idolatry, notwithstanding all the examples and provocations, rewards proposed and promised, or punishments threatened to induce us thereunto; which we hope thou wilt graciously consider, and not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able to bear.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17-19. They had not apostatizedtotallywere still God’s people.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
All this is come upon us,…. Not by chance, but according to the purpose and counsel of God; not for sin, and as a punishment of it, but for Christ’s sake and his Gospel; for a profession of faith in him, and for the trial of it;
yet have we not forgotten thee; not the being and perfections of God, on which they often meditated, especially as displayed in the affair of salvation by Jesus Christ; nor the works of God, which were remembered to encourage faith and hope in their present circumstances, Ps 44:1; nor the benefits and favours bestowed upon them by him; nor his word, worship, and ordinances; their reproach, afflictions, and persecutions, did not move them from the hope of the Gospel, and the service of God;
neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant; by disbelieving their interest in God as their covenant God; by disregarding or not coming to and making use of Christ the Mediator of it; and by calling in question their interest in the blessings and promises of the covenant; for nothing can be more called dealing falsely in or with respect to the covenant of grace than unbelief about it; which remains firm and sure notwithstanding all the afflictions that may come on such who are interested in it: moreover, as this may respect the formal exhibition of the covenant under the Gospel dispensation, by the ministry of the word, and the administration of ordinances, the sense may be, that though the church and her members met with so much reproach and persecution from men, yet did not drop nor deny any of the truths of the Gospel, nor corrupt the ordinances of Christ, nor neglect an attendance on them; but were virgins, pure and incorrupt in doctrine and practice, and followed the Lamb whithersoever he went.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 44:18-22) If Israel compares its conduct towards God with this its lot, it cannot possibly regard it as a punishment that it has justly incurred. Construed with the accusative, signifies, as in Psa 35:8; Psa 36:12, to come upon one, and more especially of an evil lot and of powers that are hostile. , to lie or deceive, with of the object on whom the deception or treachery is practised, as in Psa 89:34. In Psa 44:19 is construed as fem., exactly as in Job 31:8; the fut. consec. is also intended as such (as e.g., in Job 3:10; Num 16:14): that our step should have declined from, etc.; inward apostasy is followed by outward wandering and downfall. This is therefore not one of the many instances in which the of one clause also has influence over the clause that follows (Ges. 152, 3). , Psa 44:20, has the sense of quod: we have not revolted against Thee, that Thou shouldest on that account have done to us the thing which is now befallen us. Concerning vid., Isa 13:22. A “place of jackals” is, like a habitation of dragons (Jer 10:22), the most lonesome and terrible wilderness; the place chosen was, according to this, an inhospitable , far removed from the dwellings of men. is construed with of the person covered, and with of that with which (1Sa 19:13) he is covered: Thou coveredst us over with deepest darkness (vid., Psa 23:4). , Psa 44:21, is not that of asseveration (verily we have not forgotten), but, as the interrogatory apodosis Psa 44:22 shows, conditional: if we have (= should have) forgotten. This would not remain hidden from Him who knoweth the heart, for the secrets of men’s hearts are known to Him. Both the form and matter here again strongly remind one of Job 31, more especially Job 31:4; cf. also on , Job 11:6; Job 28:11.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Israel’s Appeal to God. | |
17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. 18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way; 19 Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. 20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; 21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. 22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. 23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever. 24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? 25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth. 26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.
The people of God, being greatly afflicted and oppressed, here apply to him; whither else should they go?
I. By way of appeal, concerning their integrity, which he only is an infallible judge of, and which he will certainly be the rewarder of. Two things they call God to witness to:–
1. That, though they suffered these hard things, yet they kept close to God and to their duty (v. 17): “All this has come upon us, and it is as bad perhaps as bad can be, yet have we not forgotten thee, neither cast off the thoughts of thee nor deserted the worship of thee; for, though we cannot deny but that we have dealt foolishly, yet we have not dealt falsely in thy covenant, so as to cast thee off and take to other gods. Though idolaters were our conquerors, we did not therefore entertain any more favourable thoughts of their idols and idolatries; though thou hast seemed to forsake us and withdraw from us, yet we have not therefore forsaken thee.” The trouble they had been long in was very great: “We have been sorely broken in the place of dragons, among men as fierce, and furious, and cruel, as dragons. We have been covered with the shadow of death, that is, we have been under deep melancholy and apprehensive of nothing short of death. We have been wrapped up in obscurity, and buried alive; and thou hast thus broken us, thou hast thus covered us (v. 19), yet we have not harboured any hard thoughts of thee, nor meditated a retreat from thy service. Though thou hast slain us, we have continued to trust in thee: Our heart has not turned back; we have not secretly withdrawn our affections from thee, neither have our steps, either in our religious worship or in our conversation, declined from they way (v. 18), the way which thou hast appointed us to walk in.” When the heart turns back the steps will soon decline; for it is the evil heart of unbelief that inclines to depart from God. Note, We may the better bear our troubles, how pressing soever, if in them we still hold fast our integrity. While our troubles do not drive us from our duty to God we should not suffer them to drive us from our comfort in God; for he will not leave us if we do not leave him. For the proof of their integrity they take God’s omniscience to witness, which is as much the comfort of the upright in heart as it is the terror of hypocrites (Psa 44:20; Psa 44:21): “If we have forgotten the name of our God, under pretence that he had forgotten us, or in our distress have stretched out our hands to a strange god, as more likely to help us, shall not God search this out? Shall he not know it more fully and distinctly than we know that which we have with the greatest care and diligence searched out? Shall he not judge it, and call us to an account for it?” Forgetting God was a heart-sin, and stretching our the hand to a strange god was often a secret sin, Ezek. viii. 12. But heart-sins and secret sins are known to God, and must be reckoned for; for he knows the secrets of the heart, and therefore is a infallible judge of the words and actions.
2. That they suffered these hard things because they kept close to God and to their duty (v. 22): “It is for thy sake that we are killed all the day long, because we stand related to thee, are called by thy name, call upon thy name, and will not worship other gods.” In this the Spirit of prophecy had reference to those who suffered even unto death for the testimony of Christ, to whom it is applied, Rom. viii. 36. So many were killed, and put to such lingering deaths, that they were in the killing all the day long; so universally was this practised that when a man became a Christian he reckoned himself as a sheep appointed for the slaughter.
II. By way of petition, with reference to their present distress, that God would, in his own due time, work deliverance for them. 1. Their request is very importunate: Awake, arise, v. 23. Arise for our help; redeem us (v. 26); come speedily and powerfully to our relief, Ps. lxxx. 2. Stir up thy strength, and come and save us. They had complained (v. 12) that God had sold them; here they pray (v. 26) that God would redeem them; for there is no appealing from God, but by appealing to him. If he sell us, it is not any one else that can redeem us; the same hand that tears must heal, that smites must bind up, Hos. vi. 1. They had complained (v. 9), Thou hast cast us off; but here they pray (v. 23), “Cast us not off forever; let us not be finally forsaken of God.” 2. The expostulations are very moving: Why sleepest thou? v. 23. He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps; but, when he does not immediately appear for the deliverance of his people, they are tempted to think he sleeps. The expression is figurative (as Ps. lxxviii. 65, Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep); but it was applicable to Christ in the letter (Matt. viii. 24); he was asleep when his disciples were in a storm, and they awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish. “Wherefore hidest thou thy face, that we may not see thee and the light of thy countenance?” Or, “that thou mayest not see us and our distresses? Thou forgettest our affliction and our oppression, for it still continues, and we see no way open for our deliverance.” And, 3. The pleas are very proper, not their own merit and righteousness, though they had the testimony of their consciences concerning their integrity, but they plead the poor sinner’s pleas. (1.) Their own misery, which made them the proper objects of the divine compassion (v. 25): “Our soul is bowed down to the dust under prevailing grief and fear. We have become as creeping things, the most despicable animals: Our belly cleaves unto the earth; we cannot lift up ourselves, neither revive our own drooping spirits nor recover ourselves out of our low and sad condition, and we lie exposed to be trodden on by every insulting foe.” 2. God’s mercy: “O redeem us for they mercies’ sake; we depend upon the goodness of thy nature, which is the glory of thy name (Exod. xxxiv. 6), and upon those sure mercies of David which are conveyed by the covenant to all his spiritual seed.”
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
17 All this has come upon us, etc. As they have already attributed to God all the afflictions which they endured, if they should now say that they were undeservedly afflicted, it would be the same thing as to accuse God of injustice; and thus what is here spoken would no longer be a holy prayer, but rather an impious blasphemy. It is, however, to be observed, that the faithful, although in their adversities they do not perceive any obvious reason for being so dealt with, yet they rest assured of this, and regard it as a fixed principle, that God has some good reasons for treating them so severely. At the same time, it is proper to observe, that the godly do not speak in this place of the time past, but rather allege their patient endurance, which was no small token of their piety, since, in the most humble manner, they thus bowed their neck to the yoke of God. We see how the great majority of men murmur and obstinately fret against God, like refractory horses which rage furiously against their masters, and strike them with their feet. And, therefore, we know that the man who, in affliction, imposes a holy restraint upon himself, that he may not by any impatience be carried away from the path of duty, has made no inconsiderable attainments in the fear of God. It is an easy matter even for hypocrites to bless God in the time of their prosperity; but as soon as he begins to deal hardly with them, they break forth into a rage against him. Accordingly, the faithful declare that, although so many afflictions as they endured tended to turn them aside from the right path, they did not forget God, but always served him, even when he did not show himself favorable and merciful towards them. They do not, therefore, proclaim their virtues in a former and distant period of their history, but only allege, that even in the midst of afflictions they steadfastly kept the covenant of God It is well known, that long before the persecution of Antiochus, there were many abuses and corruptions which provoked the vengeance of God against them, so that, in respect of that period, they had no ground to boast of such integrity as is here described. True it is that, as we shall very soon see, God spared them, thus showing that they had been afflicted more for his name’s sake than for their own sins; but the forbearance which God exercised towards them in this respect was not sufficient to warrant them to plead exemption from guilt. We must, therefore, consider that in this place they do nothing more than allege their own patience, in that, amidst such grievous and hard temptations, they had not turned aside from the service of God. In the first place, they affirm, We have not forgotten thee: for, indeed, afflictions are, as it were, like so many clouds which conceal heaven from our view, so that God might then readily slip from our remembrance, as if we were far removed from him. They add, secondly, We have not dealt falsely in thy covenant: for, as I have said, the wickedness of men discovers itself more especially when they are tried more severely than they had anticipated. Thirdly, they declare that their heart had not turned back And, lastly, that their footsteps declined not from the paths of God. As God is daily inviting us, so our hearts must be always ready to proceed in the paths into which he calls us. Hence follows the direction of our ways; for by our outward works, and by our whole life, we testify that our heart is unfeignedly devoted to God. Instead of the translation, Nor have our steps declined, which I have given, some suggest another reading, which is not without some degree of plausibility, namely, Thou hast made our steps to decline; for, in the first place, the term תט, tet, may be so rendered; and, secondly, according to the arrangement of the words, there is no negative in this clause. As to the meaning, however, I am not at all of their opinion; for they connect this passage with that in Isa 63:17,
“
O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways?”
The complaint which is here made amounts rather to this, That the faithful are like poor wretched creatures wandering in desert places, seeing God had withdrawn his hand from them. The expression, The paths of God, does not always refer to doctrine, but sometimes to prosperous and desirable events.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
17. All this is come All mentioned in Psa 44:9-16.
Yet have we not forgotten thee Psa 44:17-22 contain the assertion of the kingdom of Judah’s fidelity to God, emphatically during Hezekiah’s reign, which was more closely modelled after David’s example, and more uniformly pious, than that of any other king of Judah, except the brief reign of Josiah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
What Is More The Psalmist Cannot Understand Why It Is, For In His View They Have Been Faithful To His Covenant And Have Walked In His Way ( Psa 44:17-19 ).
Psa 44:17-19
‘All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten you,
Nor have we dealt falsely in your covenant.
Our heart is not turned back,
Nor have our steps declined from your way,
That you have sore broken us in the place of jackals,
And covered us with deep gloom.’
What is most puzzling to the Psalmist is that he can think of no reason why it has happened. They have not forgotten God (they have fulfilled all their cultic responsibilities), as far as they are aware they have not dealt falsely in His covenant (they have obeyed what they saw to be its precepts), their heart has not turned back from Him (a slight exaggeration in view of the reference above to ‘blasphemers’), nor have they ceased walking in His way. Why then has He so sorely broken them in the waste places (where jackals live) and covered them with such deep gloom?
There is an indication of complacency here. When men begin to think that their lives are exemplary it is usually a sign of spiritual complacency. Those who walk in His light are constantly aware of sin (1Jn 1:7-10). Thus this may very well explain exactly what had happened. By it He may have been saying to them, ‘you say I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and do not know that are wretched; miserable, poor, blind and naked’ (Rev 3:17).
‘Deep gloom.’ The Hebrew is ‘tslmwth’. The MT points as tsalmaweth (shadow of death), but such compounds are rare in Hebrew apart from in names. It is probable therefore that the waw is to be seen as an ancient vowel and the pointing to be seen as tsalmuth (deep gloom). This does not alter the ancient text, only the MT pointing which was included in the text well after the New Testament era, and is not seen as necessarily ‘inspired’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The apostle seems to have had this scripture in his view, and referred it to the times in which he lived, when, after pointing out the heavy afflictions the church then endured, he quotes a part of this very passage, Rom 8:36 . And it is beautiful and encouraging to remark, how contemptuously the apostle speaks of the vain attempts of persecutors to separate from Christ: and what a blessed conclusion he makes. Rom 8:37 etc.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 44:17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
Ver. 17. All this is come upon us; yet ] This they allege, viz. their constance as an arguent of their sincerity, and a motive to pity. Apply this, with Jerome, to Christians, and then it is the voice of martyrs.
Neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 44:17-19
17All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You,
And we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18Our heart has not turned back,
And our steps have not deviated from Your way,
19Yet You have crushed us in a place of jackals
And covered us with the shadow of death.
Psa 44:17-19 This strophe is an attempt to accept responsibility. Israel is claiming innocence.
1. we have not forgotten You
2. we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant
3. our heart (collective) has not turned back
4. our steps have not deviated from Your way
This claim of innocence is continued in the next strophe (cf. Psa 44:20-22). This may be true for some Israelites but not for the majority of them, for the majority of their history (cf. Deuteronomy 32; Psalms 78; Nehemiah 9).
Psa 44:19 is theologically similar to Job where he was willing to make God look bad to enhance his own case. The psalmist is accusing God of acting against them in an unfair manner!
For a different interpretation see Derek Kidner, Tyndale OT Commentaries, vol. 15, pp. 185-186.
Psa 44:17 Your covenant See SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT .
Psa 44:19
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV, NJBjackals
JPSOA, REBsea monster
The difference between these two is one consonant.
1. jackals BDB 1072,
2. sea monster BDB 1072,
The UBS Text Project (p. 237) gives jackals a B rating (some doubt). The JPSOA gives Eze 29:3; Eze 32:2, as parallel passages for tannin (i.e., sea monster, cf. Gen 1:21; Job 7:12).
From the Canaanite literature desert creatures are often used as figurative language for the demonic of a nation (see Special Topic: The Demonic in the OT, cf. Isa 13:21-22; Isa 34:11-15; Jer 9:11; Mic 1:8; Zep 2:14).
the shadow of death See note at Psa 23:4. YHWH has abandoned His covenant people to the demonic forces of pagan religions and the realm of death!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Psa 44:17-22
Psa 44:17-22
THE ALLEGED INNOCENCE OF ISRAEL
“All this has come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee;
Neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
Our heart is not turned back;
Neither have our steps declined from thy way,
That thou hast sore broken us in the place of jackals,
And covered us with the shadow of death.
If we have forgotten the name of our God,
Or spread forth our hands to a strange god;
Will not God search this out?
For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
The marginal reading gives us `though’ instead of the word `that’ at the beginning of Psa 44:19.
These five verses state the problem of the psalmist. “Israel had not been unfaithful to God, and yet afflictions had come upon her.” Furthermore, the problem was greatly aggravated by the evident fact that their faithfulness to God actually appeared to be “the reason why” they suffered. That is the meaning of the thundering words, “For thy sake” in Psa 44:22. Of course, this is the very verse which Paul quoted in Rom 8:36.
“Neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant” (Psa 44:17). All these verses through Psa 44:22 are a very vigorous profession by the psalmist of absolute innocence on the part of Israel. It is of course true that no such absolute innocence ever pertained to Israel at any time in her whole history. As Yates commented: “This claim, repeated over and over here, that Israel had remained faithful was at no time in Israel’s history literally true. The prophet must have had in mind a comparative fidelity based upon generalities.
“Will not God search this out” (Psa 44:21)? This appeal to God’s omniscience surely indicates the sincerity of the prophet’s claims of innocence for Israel; and perhaps we should allow this in the relative sense that “Noah was righteous in his generation.” Paul’s making this prophecy a fair statement of the sufferings of Christians in his own times appears to prove this.
The fact remains that the sufferings of Israel could not all be described as a punishment for their sins. It was true of ancient Israel; and it is true of the New Israel today; and it is the problem which perplexed the psalmist who wrote this psalm. Why was it necessary that God’s faithful people, either then or now, should be called upon to suffer “for his sake?”
THE SUFFERINGS OF THE OLD ISRAEL
It is not hard to discern the fact that the sufferings of ancient Israel may be explained as necessary to achieve goals that pertained to the ultimate will of God for his people; and, as far as we are able to see, those goals could not have been achieved without suffering.
(1) The centuries of captivity of Israel in Egypt as enslaved workers for their captors achieved these purposes of God’s will for Israel. (a) It prevented their mingling racially with Egypt, because Egyptians despised shepherds, especially enslaved shepherds. (b) It gave time and opportunity for the development of Israel into a mighty nation, at the same time keeping them absolutely separate from Egypt.
(2) Their sufferings during the wilderness period hardened Israel into an effective fighting force. That period of sufferings also allowed a generation of unbelievers and murmurers to be replaced by a rejuvenated Israel who would honor and obey God (in a general sense) during the conquest of Canaan and throughout the generation of those who knew Joshua.
(3) Israel suffered from the shameless behavior of the great majority of their kings, who, with few exceptions were godless examples of debauchery, cruelty, and unbelief; but such sufferings finally led to God’s taking away their kings; and there is no record of Israel’s subsequent desire for a king, until that tragic moment when the chief representatives of the Chosen People cried, “We have no king but Caesar”!
(4) Israel’s suffering under the captivity accomplished what a thousand years of priests, prophets and Levites could not do, that is, wean Israel from their beloved pagan gods. After the Babylonian captivity, Israel totally rejected idolatry; and it was never again practiced by them.
(5) The sufferings of Israel under the Greek period did not begin until after the times of Alexander of Macedon; but it recurred more bitterly than ever under some of Alexander the Great’s successors, notably, Antiochus Epiphanes. Some of the mightiest and most significant developments in God’s eternal purpose for Israel came during that very time. (a) There was the development of a world-language, the Greek, into which the Old Testament would be translated (the LXX), and in which the New Testament would be written. (b) The custom of building synagogues throughout the world was made necessary by the actions of Antiochus in closing and defiling the Temple; and those synagogues would, in time, become the centers from which Christianity would be preached all over the known world. (c) Antiochus’ forbidding the reading of the Torah, led to the reading of “the prophets” every sabbath day, a custom that continued even after the Temple was cleansed and reopened; and this caused the Messianic prophecies of Christ to be read and known throughout the world of that era.
(6) Israel suffered under Rome, not because of their faithfulness to God but because of their unfaithfulness in their rejection of the Messiah; nevertheless even those sufferings glorified God and made vital contributions to the achievement of God’s eternal purpose, namely, the redemption of mankind.
Those contributions were: (1) the destruction of the Temple, judged by the Judge of all the earth as a “Den of thieves and robbers.” This was an absolute necessity, not only because of the moral depravity of the Temple crowd, but because it was being used as an effective device against the preaching of Christianity. (2) Another benefit was the permanent elimination of all the animal sacrifices of the Jewish system, which after the fall of Jerusalem were never resumed. (3) Perhaps the greatest contribution of all to Christianity and the ultimate realization of God’s eternal purpose was the total defeat and permanent termination of Jewish efforts to prevent the preaching of the gospel. That defeat of the Jews in A.D. 70 meant that they would forever stop following New Testament evangelists around all over the world opposing the Truth, as they did against Paul.
THE SUFFERINGS OF THE NEW ISRAEL (WHICH IS THE CHURCH)
Likewise, the sufferings of “the faithful in Christ Jesus,” caused not by their unfaithfulness but, on the contrary, by their fidelity, are to be expected; and they yield rich benefits to the sufferers.
If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him (Rom 8:17).
Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God (Act 14:22).
They departed … rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name (Act 5:41).
We are pressed, perplexed, pursued, smitten down, always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus – Why? That the life also of Jesus may be manifest in our body (2Co 4:8-10).
Many other similar passages from the New Testament might be cited; but these are sufficient to show that the true followers of God are called to suffer “with Christ”; and the more they are like Christ the more they will suffer.
In becoming Christians, we have accepted the `Way of the Cross,’ and we are pledged to `take up our cross daily’ and follow Him. This is not the shame of Christianity, but the glory of it. Was not the blood of the martyrs the seed of the Church. History declares from her bloody pages that it is even so.
Can we cite any contributions toward the fulfilment of God’s purpose that may be accredited to the suffering of his saints? Indeed yes.
(1) The sufferings of the first generation of Christians, especially of the apostles and evangelists, provided the fantastically convincing proof of the Christian religion. Its original witnesses and proponents sealed with their blood that testimony of the New Testament which is so vital for mankind.
(2) The suffering saints of all ages have been the most eloquent preachers of the gospel; and it continues to be true.
(3) The sufferings of Huss (1415 A.D.), Savanarola (1498 A.D.) and Tyndale (1536 A.D.) gave mankind the Bible in their native languages.
Of course, we should not have expected any Old Testament psalmist, not even David, to have been aware of the world-shaking truth of the New Testament. Yet there was a redeeming feature in the response of those Old Testament sufferers mentioned in this psalm. They did not have the inspiring example of Christ who prayed, “Not my will, but thine be done”; and we may not suppose that it ever entered their minds that God could have willed any suffering for them. Many of the perplexing questions of faith could not have been answered in the dim light of the Old Testament, which are revealed in the New Testament for those upon whom the Day Star has risen, and for whom the Light of the World has shined in their hearts.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 44:17. Let the reader please keep in mind the remarks at Psa 10:1 and Psa 44:9. Constancy to God in spite of afflictions is the leading idea of the verse considered in this paragraph.
Psa 44:18. A true servant of God will not waver nor step aside from the pathway of duty because of persecutions. He will press on in the good and the right way regardless of the mistreatment from the enemy.
Psa 44:19. A dragon was some kind of monster and meant death to those who were so unfortunate as to be thrown into its vicinity. It was used here to illustrate the rough treatment from the enemy that manifested his characteristics.
Psa 44:20. The proviso if in this verse refers to what might have been the misdeeds of God’s people. They were sometimes guilty, and when they were the dealings they got from the Lord was a just punishment. But at other times their afflictions were suffered to come on them as a test of their faith. Such afflictions were administered through the agency of the enemy.
Psa 44:21. Outward actions can be seen and known by any person of ordinary intelligence. Only God can know the hidden motives of the heart.. That is why he not only can see and punish the stretching out of the hands (a visible gesture) to a strange god, but he knows if his people forget the name of the true God which would be the secret of the heart mentioned in this verse.
Psa 44:22. Unknown to the psalmist, his prophetic eye was lifted to see some events of the far-off future. The events, however, were to be similar to the ones he had just been writing about, in that they pertained to some persecutions heaped upon God’s servants in the days of the apostles. Paul quotes this in Rom 8:36 and applies it to the experiences that he and other Christians were having. No one man could literally be killed all the day long. The meaning is that he was in danger constantly.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
All this: Dan 9:13
yet: Psa 44:20, Psa 9:17, Deu 6:12, Deu 8:14, Isa 17:10, Jer 2:32
dealt: Jer 31:32, Eze 16:59, Eze 20:37
Reciprocal: 1Ch 16:15 – ye mindful Job 16:17 – Not for Psa 17:3 – shalt Psa 78:37 – stedfast Psa 119:157 – yet do I Isa 26:8 – in 2Co 1:12 – our rejoicing
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 44:17-18. All this is come upon us All the evils before mentioned, and certainly we have deserved them all; yet have we not forgotten thee Although we cannot excuse ourselves from many other sins, for which thou hast justly punished us, yet, through thy grace, we have kept ourselves from apostacy and idolatry, notwithstanding all examples and provocations. Our heart is not turned back Namely, from thee, or thy worship and service, unto idols, as it follows, Psa 44:20. But we still adhere to thy religion, although both it and we be thus vilified and persecuted.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
44:17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not {o} forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
(o) They boast not of their virtues, but declare that they rest on God in the midst of their affliction: who did not punished their sins now, but by hard afflictions called them to the consideration of the heavenly joys.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. The nation’s continuing trust in the Lord 44:17-22
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Even though the Lord had abandoned His people temporarily, the psalmist claimed that the nation continued to trust and obey Him. They had continued to remember Him, and they had not forsaken allegiance to the Mosaic Covenant. They had done so in the face of their disastrous defeat.