Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 44:4
Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
4. my King ] Cp. Psa 47:6; Psa 74:12; 1Sa 12:12. The Psalmist speaks in the name of the nation. Cp. Psa 44:6.
command ] Cp. Psa 42:8. It is the duty of a king to defend his people (1Sa 10:19); and the authority of the divine King is supreme. He has but to speak the word and it must needs be obeyed.
deliverances ] R.V. deliverance, marg., victories (cp. Psa 44:3). The Heb. word is plural, denoting deliverance full and complete. Cp. Psa 18:50; Psa 42:5 (note).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
4 8. The recollection of the past gives confidence for the present and the future. God’s strength must still avail for the deliverance of His people, and in Him alone do they trust.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou art my King, O God – literally, Thou art He, my King, O God; that is, Thou art the same: the same King, and the same God, who didst interpose in the time of the fathers, and thou art he whom I recognize as King, as the Sovereign Ruler of thy people. The psalmist here uses the singular number, my King, as expressive of his own feelings, though he doubtless means also to speak in the name of the people. It would seem not improbable from this, that the author of the psalm was the reigning monarch in the time of the troubles referred to. If not, it was evidently one who personated him, and who meant to represent his feelings. The language shows the strong confidence of the author of the psalm in God, and perhaps also is designed to express his personal responsibility at the time, and his consciousness that his only refuge in conducting the troubled affairs of the nation was God.
Command deliverances for Jacob – As if all was under His command, and He had only to give direction, and salvation would come. The word Jacob here is used to denote the descendants of Jacob, or the people of God. See the notes at Psa 24:6.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. Thou art my king] What thou wert to them, be to us. We believe in thee as they did; we have sinned and are in captivity, but we repent and turn unto thee; command, therefore, deliverances to Jacob, for we are the descendants of him in whose behalf thou hast wrought such wonders.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
My King; Jacobs or Israels King, in a peculiar manner. The whole people speak like one man, as being united together in one body.
Command, i.e. effectually procure by thy commanding word.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Thou art my Kingliterally,”he who is my King,” sustaining the same covenant relationas to the “fathers.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou art my King, O God,…. Besides the favours God had done for his people in time past, the church takes notice of her interest in God as her King, who was able to protect and defend her, and to deliver her out of all her distresses, in order the more to strengthen her faith and hope in him; and, claiming her interest in him, she draws nigh to him with an holy boldness, and desires him as a King, that by a word of his (for where the word of a king is, there is power) he would
command deliverances for Jacob; not literally, but mystically understood; the spiritual Jacob, and people of God; all Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile; meaning herself and members: the blessing desired is “deliverances”, or “salvations”; so called, because the, deliverance or salvation the Lord commands grants, and works out for his people, is of different kinds, both spiritual and, temporal, and is a deliverance from various things; from sin, Satan, the present evil world, wrath to come, and all enemies; and out of various temptations and afflictions, and which follow successively one upon another; and at last it is complete and perfect.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 44:5-9) Out of the retrospective glance at the past, so rich in mercy springs up (Psa 44:5) the confident prayer concerning the present, based upon the fact of the theocratic relationship which began in the time of the deliverance wrought under Moses (Deu 33:5). In the substantival clause , is neither logical copula nor predicate (as in Psa 102:28; Deu 32:39, there equivalent to , cf. 1Ch 21:17), but an expressive resumption of the subject, as in Isa 43:25; Jer 49:12; Neh 9:6., Ezr 5:11, and in the frequently recurring expression ; it is therefore to be rendered: Thou-He who (such an one) is my King. May He therefore, by virtue of His duty as king which He has voluntarily taken upon Himself, and of the kingly authority and power indwelling in Him, command the salvation of Jacob, full and entire (Ps 18:51; 53:7). as in Psa 42:9. Jacob is used for Israel just as Elohim is used instead of Jahve. If Elohim, Jacob’s King, now turns graciously to His people, they will again be victorious and invincible, as Psa 44:6 affirms. with reference to as a figure and emblem of strength, as in Psa 89:25 and frequently; equivalent to . But only in the strength of God ( as in Psa 18:30); for not in my bow do I trust, etc., Psa 44:7. This teaching Israel has gathered from the history of the former times; there is no bidding defiance with the bow and sword and all the carnal weapons of attack, but Thou, etc., Psa 44:8. This “Thou” in is the emphatic word; the preterites describe facts of experience belonging to history. It is not Israel’s own might that gives them the supremacy, but God’s gracious might in Israel’s weakness. Elohim is, therefore, Israel’s glory or pride: “In Elohim do we praise,” i.e., we glory or make our boast in Him; cf. , Psa 10:3. The music here joins in after the manner of a hymn. The Psalm here soars aloft to the more joyous height of praise, from which it now falls abruptly into bitter complaint.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
4. Thou, even thou, art my King, O God! In this verse the faithful express still more plainly what I have already alluded to a little before, namely, that the goodness of God was not only apparent in the deliverance of his people, but also flowed upon them in continued succession from age to age; and therefore it is said, Thou, even thou, art my King In my judgment, the demonstrative pronoun הוא, hu, imports as much as if the prophet had put together a long series of the benefits of God after the first deliverance; so that it might appear, that God, who had once been the deliverer of his people, did not show himself otherwise towards their posterity: unless, perhaps, it might be considered as emphatic, and employed for the purpose of asserting the thing stated the more strongly, namely, that the faithful praise God alone as the guardian of their welfare to the exclusion of all others, and the renunciation of aid from any other quarter. Hence they also present the prayer, that God would ordain and send forth new deliverances to his people; for, as he has in his power innumerable means of preservation and deliverance, he is said to appoint and send forth deliverances as his messengers wherever it seems good to him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) Thou art my King.Literally, Thou, He, my king, an idiomatic way of making a strong assertion, Thou, even thou, art my king, O God. (Comp. Isa. 43:25.) What God has done in the past may be expected again, and for a moment the poet forgets the weight of actual trouble in the faith that has sprung from the grateful retrospect over the past.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Thou art my King Literally, Thou art he, my King. This same God is still confessed to be Israel’s King. The retrospect emboldens faith.
Deliverances Salvations; the plural used for fulness, completeness.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Psalmist Expresses His General Confidence In the Fact That God Will In The Future Fight For Them And Act On Their Behalf As He Has In The Past ( Psa 44:4-8 ).
The Psalmist speaks in the singular as well as in the plural, and speaks of ‘my sword’, which suggests that he is the king. But here he allots the supreme Kingship to God, and calls on Him to act as their King and deliver His people. This was part of a King’s responsibility. He points out that he is putting all his trust in Him.
Psa 44:4-5
‘You are my King, O God,
Command deliverances for Jacob.
Through you will we push down our adversaries,
Through your name will we trample upon under those who rise up against us.’
Addressing God as ‘my King’, he calls on Him to exercise His divine power and ‘command’ deliverances for Israel (Jacob). Once God has done that he has no doubt that through Him and His mighty power His people will be able to ‘push down’ their adversaries, as a wild ox pushes down its foes with its horns, and that through His Name they will be able to trample on those who rise against them, as the wild ox tramples its foes beneath its feet.
‘Through your Name.’ The name was seen as expressing the full attributes and character of the One named. It may be that, as YHWH is nowhere mentioned, the ‘Name’ referred to is ‘King’.
Psa 44:6-8
‘For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
But you have saved us from our adversaries,
And have put them to shame who hate us.
In God have we made our boast all the day long,
And we will give thanks to your name for ever. [Selah
He is not prepared to trust to any weapon of his own, neither sword or bow, for he knows the power of his enemies, but his trust will be in God, Who has in the past saved His people from their adversaries, and has put to shame those who hate them. Thus it is in God that they have boasted all the day long, and it is their intention to give thanks to Him for ever. Their whole confidence is in Him. (It is this that makes it so surprising to him that they have faced defeat at the hands of their enemies).
‘Selah.’ This may have been a pause in the music, possibly indicating ‘think of that’, or a signal for a special blast of music signalling the importance of what has just been said..
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 44:4. Thou art my king, O God Thouthe same, art my king, O God: command victories for Jacob. As he was the same God who was still their king, it was equally in his power now to give them success, which they would take care never to attribute to their own strength, but to the blessing of God upon them. Mudge.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
What an unanswerable appeal this is for success in player! If God be our king, will he not help and defend his own subjects? And, if we use the same argument in a gospel sense; if Jesus be our Redeemer and hath bought us with his blood, will he not have an eye to his own property? What a charming encouragement the apostle took from hence. Who delivered us (saith he) from so great a death, and doth deliver, in whom we trust he will yet deliver. 2Co 1:10 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 44:4 Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
Ver. 4. Thou art my King, O God ] Heb. Thou art he, my King; Or, Thou art the same, my King, i.e. the same that thou wast to those of old. Oh, see to thy subjects, as ever thou hast done.
Command deliverances for Jacob
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 44:4-8
4You are my King, O God;
Command victories for Jacob.
5Through You we will push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.
6For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7But You have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have put to shame those who hate us.
8In God we have boasted all day long,
And we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah.
Psa 44:4-8 If the first strophe, dominated by perfect verbs, denotes the past, this one, dominated by imperfects, denotes the present. Both deal with the concept of holy war or God as Warrior. YHWH (or His name, Psa 44:5; Psa 44:8) is the source of Israel’s victories, not their military.
Psa 44:4 You are my King YHWH as king probably comes from 1Sa 8:7. The Israelite king was only an earthly representative of YHWH’s rule and reign (cf. Isa 24:23; Isa 52:7; Psa 93:1; Psa 96:10; Psa 97:1; Psa 99:1). In Jewish literature and ritual, YHWH is called King of the Universe. See Special Topic: The Kingdom of God.
Command victories for Jacob This is an imperative of request (BDB 845, KB 1010, Piel imperative.
The word victories is literally salvation (BDB 447). In the OT it denotes deliverance from physical problems and enemies.
It is possible that the ending letter on Elohim could go with the next word, making it my Commander (AB, p. 265), which would be parallel to My King. AB thinks the next phrase should also be a parallel title, the Savior of Jacob.
for Jacob This is an allusion to YHWH’s promises to the Patriarchs (i.e., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, cf. Genesis 12-35). YHWH has an eternal revelatory, redemptive purpose for the whole world in which Israel and Jesus are key components (see SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH’s ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN )!
Psa 44:8 Notice the parallelism of Psa 44:8.
1. boasted give thanks
2. all day long forever
Selah See Introduction to Psalms, VII and note at Psa 3:2.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Thou = Thou Thyself.
art my King = art He my King.
deliverances. Plural of majesty = a great deliverance.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
my king: Psa 74:12, Psa 89:18, Psa 149:2, Isa 33:22
command: Psa 42:8, Mar 1:25, Mar 1:26, Mar 1:31, Mar 1:41, Mar 9:25
Reciprocal: Gen 45:7 – to preserve you a posterity Num 21:1 – then Deu 28:8 – command Jos 23:10 – Lord 1Sa 11:13 – the Lord 2Sa 7:10 – plant them Psa 5:2 – my King Psa 20:9 – let Psa 43:5 – health Psa 68:28 – commanded Psa 71:3 – thou hast Psa 83:13 – O my Psa 105:19 – his word Psa 144:1 – teacheth Psa 145:1 – my God Son 5:14 – hands Hos 13:10 – I will be thy king
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 44:4-8. Thou art my king, O God And thou, O God, who didst such astonishing things for them, art still the very same almighty Being, whom I honour as my sovereign, my governor, and protector. The whole people speak as one man, being united together in one body. Command That is, effectually procure by thy commanding word, deliverances for Jacob For the posterity of Jacob, the Israelites. Through thee will we push down our enemies Hebrew, , nenaggeeach, cornu feriemus, we will smite with the horn, that is, subdue and destroy them. The phrase is taken from Deu 33:17, and alludes to cattle pushing with their horns. As if he had said, If thou wouldst but appear for us, the most powerful enemies would not be able to stand before us. Through thy name will we tread them under That is, by the help of thy power. I will not trust in my bow I have no confidence in my arms, but in thee only, (as the next verse implies,) and therefore do not frustrate my hope and expectation, placed only on thee. In God we boast all the day In this we glory continually, that we have such a King, such a mighty Saviour and Deliverer, who has wrought such wonderful things for us and our forefathers.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
44:4 Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for {g} Jacob.
(g) Because you are our king, therefore deliver your people from their misery.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Israel needed God’s help again in her present conflicts with enemy nations. On the basis of parallels between this psalm and Psalms 60, Wiersbe suggested that the enemies in view may have been the Edomites and the Arameans (cf. Psa 44:3 and Psa 60:5; Psa 44:5 and Psa 60:12; Psa 44:9; Psa 44:23 and Psa 60:1; Psa 60:10). [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 177.] The writer led the nation in looking to Yahweh as her King and military commander (cf. Jos 5:13-15). He not only affirmed his confidence in God but also renounced reliance on military armaments. He intended his statement that the nation had boasted in the Lord and would thank Him forever (Psa 44:8) to move God to save His people again.
"Only when the Israelites had put aside their confidence in weaponry and bravery could they become instruments in the hands of God." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 339.]