Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 44:9
But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.
9. But now ] The conjunction is peculiar, and implies surprise. And then, after all these proofs of Thy good will, and in spite of our loyalty to Thee, hast thou cast us off and dishonoured us, and goest not forth with our hosts; leading them to victory as in the days of old, as the God of the armies of Israel. Almost the same words recur in Psa 60:10. In ancient times the Ark was carried to battle as the symbol of Jehovah’s presence. See Num 10:35; Jos 6:6; 1Sa 4:3; 2Sa 11:11. Cp. also Jdg 6:14; 2Sa 5:24.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9 16. But the present circumstances of the nation contradict these expressions of faith based upon past experience. Israel is abandoned to be the scorn and prey of its foes. Comp. the transition in Psa 89:38.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But thou hast cast off – The author of the psalm now commences a description of the existing circumstances of the nation, so strongly in contrast with what had existed in former times when God interposed in their behalf, and when he gave them success. This is properly the commencement of the second part of the psalm, and the description is continued to Psa 44:16. The Hebrew word here rendered hast cast off implies disgust and abhorrence, as the casting away of that which is loathsome. See the word explained in the notes at Psa 43:2. The reference is to what had occurred at the time when the psalm was written. See introduction to this psalm. The allusion is to the invasion of the land by foreigners; their own discomfiture in their wars; and the calamities consequent on these invasions and defeats.
And put us to shame – By defeat and disgrace. See the word explained above, Psa 44:7. For the defeat and discomfiture supposed to be referred to, see 2Ch 35:20-27; 2Ch 36:5-6.
And goest not forth with our armies – See the places referred to above. Thus Josiah was defeated and slain; and thus the land was conquered by the invaders.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. But thou hast cast off] Our enemies have dominion over us.
And goest not forth with our armies.] Were we to attempt to muster our several tribes, and form a host, like our fathers when they came out of Egypt, thou wouldst not accompany us as thou didst them: the horses and chariots of the Babylonians would soon overtake and destroy us.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou hast cast us off; but now thy countenance and course is quite changed to us.
Put us to shame; made us ashamed of our boasting, and trust in thee, which we have oft professed to the face of our enemies.
Goest not forth with our armies, to lead them, and fight for them, as this phrase signifies, Jdg 4:14; 1Sa 8:20. He seems to allude to Gods marching with and before the Israelites in the wilderness, and afterwards, as occasion was offered. Compare Psa 68:7.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. Butcontrasting, castoff as abhorrent (Ps 43:2).
goest not forthliterally,”will not go” (2Sa 5:23).In several consecutive verses the leading verb is future, andthe following one past (in Hebrew), thus denoting thecauses and effects. Thus (Ps44:10-12), when defeated, spoiling follows; when delivered assheep, dispersion follows, &c.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But thou hast cast off,…. This, with what follows to
Ps 44:17, describe the desolate and afflicted state of the church, under the Gospel dispensation, in some parts and ages of it; and in the light in which it was viewed by the church, previous to the encouragement she took from the consideration of favours and benefits formerly bestowed, and of her covenant interest in God, related in the preceding verses. She looked upon herself as cast off, because afflicted and persecuted, and the Lord did not arise to her immediate help and deliverance; this may regard the ten persecutions under Rome Pagan; [See comments on Ps 43:2];
and put us to shame; before men, at the taking of the ark, as Arama; rather for their faith in God, and boasting of him, when he did not appear for them, but suffered them to continue in their afflictions and distresses; which occasioned their enemies to triumph over them, and say unto them, where is your God? and also before God, who being forsaken by him, could not come before him with that holy boldness and confidence they were wont to do; see So 2:14;
and goest not forth with our armies; as the Generalissimo of them; see 1Sa 8:20; not leading them forth, and going before them; not teaching their hands to war and their fingers to fight; nor inspiring them with courage and valour; nor giving success and victory to them as formerly; but seeing that Christians, at least in the first ages of Christianity, had no armies in a literal sense, this may rather be understood of the lack of success of the Gospel in some period of it, and of the power and prevalence of antichrist, the man of sin. The Gospel ministry is a warfare; the preachers of it are good soldiers of Christ under him; their weapons are not carnal, but spiritual; great success attended the word in the first times of the Gospel; Christ went forth with his armies conquering and to conquer; and multitudes were subdued by him, and became subjects of him; but in some ages there has been but little success, few have believed the report of the Gospel, and been converted by it; Christ’s ministers have laboured in vain, Satan’s kingdom, though attacked, yet not weakened, nor Christ’s kingdom enlarged, but rather all the reverse; antichrist has been suffered, as to make war with the saints, so to prevail and overcome, and will do so, Re 13:4; but it will not be always the case, Christ will go forth with his armies, and make great conquests again,
Re 11:15; this may refer to the wars of the Papists with the Waldenses and Albigenses, who were vanquished by the former.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 44:10-13) Just as signifies imo vero (Psa 58:3) when it comes after an antecedent clause that is expressly or virtually a negative, it may mean “nevertheless, ho’moos ,” when it opposes a contrastive to an affirmative assertion, as is very frequently the case with or . True, it does not mean this in itself, but in virtue of its logical relation: we praise Thee, we celebrate Thy name unceasingly – also (= nevertheless) Thou hast cast off. From this point the Psalm comes into closest connection with Psa 89:39, on a still more extended scale, however, with Psa 60:1-12, which dates from the time of the Syro-Ammonitish war, in which Psalm Psa 44:10 recurs almost word for word. The are not exactly standing armies (an objection which has been raised against the Maccabean explanation), they are the hosts of the people that are drafted into battle, as in Exo 12:41, the hosts that went forth out of Egypt. Instead of leading these to victory as their victorious Captain (2Sa 5:24), God leaves them to themselves and allows them to be smitten by the enemy. The enemy spoil , i.e., just as they like, without meeting with any resistance, to their hearts’ content. And whilst He gives over ( as in Mic 5:2, and the first in Isa 41:2) one portion of the people as “sheep appointed for food,” another becomes a diaspora or dispersion among the heathen, viz., by being sold to them as slaves, and that , “for not-riches,” i.e., for a very low price, a mere nothing. We see from Joe 3:3 in what way this is intended. The form of the litotes is continued in Psa 44:13: Thou didst not go high in the matter of their purchase-money; the rendering of Maurer is correct: in statuendis pretiis eorum . The is in this instance not the Beth of the price as in Psa 44:13, but, as in the phrase , the Beth of the sphere and thereby indirectly of the object. in the sense of the Aramaic (cf. Pro 22:16, and the derivatives , ), to make a profit, to practise usury (Hupfeld), produces a though that is unworthy of God; vid., on the other hand, Isa 52:3. At the heads of the strophe stands ( Psa 44:10) a perfect with an aorist following: is consequently a negative . And Psa 44:18, which sums up the whole, shows that all the rest is also intended to be retrospective.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Afflicted Condition of Israel. | |
9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies. 10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves. 11 Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen. 12 Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price. 13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. 14 Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people. 15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me, 16 For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger.
The people of God here complain to him of the low and afflicted condition that they were now in, under the prevailing power of their enemies and oppressors, which was the more grievous to them because they were now trampled upon, who had always been used, in their struggles with their neighbours, to win the day and get the upper hand, and because those were now their oppressors whom they had many a time triumphed over and made tributaries, and especially because they had boasted in their God with great assurance that he would still protect and prosper them, which made the distress they were in, and the disgrace they were under, the more shameful. Let us see what the complaint is.
I. That they wanted the usual tokens of God’s favour to them and presence with them (v. 9): “Thou hast cast off; thou seemest to have cast us off and our cause, and to have cast off thy wonted care of us and concern for us, and so hast put us to shame, for we boasted of the constancy and perpetuity of thy favour. Our armies go forth as usual, but they are put to flight; we gain no ground, but lose what we have gained, for thou goest not forth with them, for, if thou didst, which way soever they turned they would prosper; but it is quite contrary.” Note, God’s people, when they are cast down, are tempted to think themselves cast off and forsaken of God; but it is a mistake. Hath God cast away his people? God forbid, Rom. xi. 1.
II. That they were put to the worst before their enemies in the field of battle (v. 10): Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy, as Joshua complained when they met with a repulse at Ai (Josh. vii. 8): “We are dispirited, and have lost the ancient valour of Israelites; we flee, we fall, before those that used to flee and fall before us; and then those that hate us have the plunder of our camp and of our country; they spoil for themselves, and reckon all their own that they can lay their hands on. Attempts to shake off the Babylonish yoke have been ineffectual, and we have rather lost ground by them.”
III. That they were doomed to the sword and to captivity (v. 11): “Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat. They make no more scruple of killing an Israelite than of killing a sheep; nay, like the butcher, they make a trade of it, they take a pleasure in it as a hungry man in his meat; and we are led with as much ease, and as little resistance, as a lamb to the slaughter; many are slain, and the rest scattered among the heathen, continually insulted by their malice or in danger of being infected by their iniquities.” They looked upon themselves as bought and sold, and charged it upon God, Thou sellest thy people, when they should have charged it upon their own sin. For your iniquities have you sold yourselves, Isa. l. 1. However, thus far was right that they looked above the instruments of their trouble and kept their eye upon God, as well knowing that their worst enemies had no power against them but what was given them from above; they own it was God that delivered them into the hand of the ungodly, as that which is sold is delivered to the buyer. Thou sellest them for nought, and dost not increase in their price (so it may be read); “thou dost not sell them by auction, to those that will bid most for them, but in haste, to those that will bid first for them; any one shall have them that will.” Or, as we read it, Thou dost not increase thy wealth by their price, intimating that they could have suffered this contentedly if they had been sure that it would redound to the glory of God and that his interest might be some way served by their sufferings; but it was quite contrary: Israel’s disgrace turned to God’s dishonour, so that he was so far from being a gainer in his glory by the sale of them that it should seem he was greatly a loser by it; see Isa 52:5; Eze 36:20.
IV. That they were loaded with contempt, and all possible ignominy was put upon them. In this also they acknowledge God: “Thou makest us a reproach; thou bringest those calamities upon us which occasion the reproach, and thou permittest their virulent tongues to smite us.” They complain, 1. That they were ridiculed and bantered, and were looked upon as the most contemptible people under the sun; their troubles were turned to their reproach, and upon the account of them they were derided. 2. That their neighbours, those about them, from whom they could not withdraw, were most abusive to them, v. 13. 3. That the heathen, the people that were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel and aliens to the covenants of promise, made them a by-word, and shook the head at them, as triumphing in their fall, v. 14. 4. That the reproach was constant and incessant (v. 15): My confusion is continually before me. The church in general, the psalmist in particular, were continually teased and vexed with the insults of the enemy. Concerning those that are going down every one cries, “Down with them.” 5. That it was very grievous, and in a manner overwhelmed him: The shame of my face has covered me. He blushed for sin, or rather for the dishonour done to God, and then it was a holy blushing. 6. That it reflected upon God himself; the reproach which the enemy and the avenger cast upon them was downright blasphemy against God, v. 16, and 2 Kings xix. 3. There was therefore strong reason to believe that God would appear for them. As there is no trouble more grievous to a generous and ingenuous mind than reproach and calumny, so there is none more grievous to a holy gracious soul than blasphemy and dishonour done to God.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
9. Nevertheless thou hast abhorred us Here follows a complaint, in which they bewail their present miseries and extreme calamity. There is here described such a change as showed not only that God had ceased to exercise towards them his accustomed favor, but also, that he was openly adverse and hostile to his people. First, they complain that they have been rejected as through hatred, for such is the proper import of the word זנחת, zanachta, which, along with others, I have translated abhorred If, however, any would rather translate it to forget, or to be cast off, I have no great objection to it. They next add, that they had been put to shame, namely, because it must necessarily follow that every thing should go ill with them when deprived of the protection of God. This they declare immediately after, when they say, that God no longer goes forth with their armies — goes forth as their leader or standard-bearer when they go forth to war.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
9-16. The strain suddenly turns to lamentation and complaint, and the poet spreads the national distress before God. Psa 44:9-12 clearly portray a state of war, of general defeat, and of the captivity and slavery of multitudes. See introduction, and reference there made.
Thou hast cast off All their distress results from this one cause.
Goest not forth with our armies In vain did they muster their hosts when God was not with them.
They spoil for themselves That is, at will, to their heart’s content, with none to hinder.
Like sheep appointed for meat Hebrew, sheep of food, or, as Psa 44:22, sheep for slaughter, sheep counted out for slaughter. The figure is expressive of great numbers and helplessness. Sheep make, when attacked, a feeble and vain resistance.
Scattered us among the heathen Anciently captivity and dispersion followed in the train of defeat.
Thou sellest thy people for naught The allusion is to the selling of captives as slaves. The market is overstocked, and the price is as nothing. See Deu 28:68 and Joe 3:3. The Hebrew reads, for no wealth. This was the last downward step in their degradation. The multitude of captives and the hatred of the nations towards the Hebrews, made them unvaluable as slaves. The northern and eastern tribes had gone into captivity, and the kingdom of Judah itself was invaded. [The final fall of the nation by the Romans, A.D. 70, was still more dreadful.]
Dost not increase A delicate figure of speech (the litotes) for thou decreasest. The idea, though not literally a parallel, is well expressed Pro 22:16. God is confessed as the author of the national judgments, and it is reverently pleaded that they appeared in excess of profitable chastisement. Psa 44:13-14, show the extent of the humiliation of the people, by the terms reproach, scorn, derision, byword, shaking of the head, and how these had taken effect is confessed Psa 44:15.
Enemy and avenger The words may mean any opponent or adversary of revengeful temper, (Psa 8:2,) and may fitly apply to Sennacherib, who also “reproached and blasphemed.” Isa 37:17; Isa 37:23
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
In View Of Their Trust In God They Cannot Understand Why Therefore They Have Faced Defeat At The Hands Of Their Enemies So That Some Of His People Have Been Taken Captive And Are Now Slaves In The Hands of Their Enemies, While The Remainder Of The Nation Is Dishonoured By What Has Happened ( Psa 44:9-16 ).
Psa 44:9-10
‘But now you have cast us off, and brought us to dishonour,
And you do not go forth with our hosts.
You make us to turn back from the adversary,
And those who hate us take spoil for themselves.
It is clear that at some stage they have received a resounding defeat at the hands of their enemies, and that this has shaken the king’s confidence in God (Psa 44:15). This would suggest that it followed a long period when they had been triumphant in all their battles. But now there had been a reverse, and it seemed that God appeared to have washed His hands of them and brought dishonour on them.
In his view their defeat could only mean that God had not gone with the army into battle, and had not given them the strength to face the enemy. The result was that they had fled before the enemy, leaving them to take what spoil they would.
It could be that their problem had been overconfidence, and not waiting on God before they decided on their action. We must always be careful not to run ahead of God. Or there may have been some lesson that God wanted to teach them. It had certainly made them think.
Psa 44:11-12
‘You have made us like sheep appointed for food,
And have scattered us among the nations.
You sell your people for nothing,
And have not increased your wealth by their price.
As a consequence the enemy had been able to slaughter them, like sheep are slaughtered for food, and had been able to take many captives who had been scattered among the nations. This suggests that they had been fighting an alliance of nations. Alternately it many signify that so many had been taken prisoner that the surplus were sold on as slaves to other nations.
And what has God gained by it? Absolutely nothing. He has sold them for nothing, and is no better off than He was before. In this we find a clue to what has happened. Their faith in God had become based on the assumption that God blessed and delivered them because it was to His benefit, rather than because they were truly living in accordance with His will. Seeing themselves as His prized possession they had allowed the keen edge of their dedication to Him to diminish on the grounds that He would still look after them whatever they did.
Psa 44:13
You make us a reproach to our neighbours,
A scoffing and a derision to those who are round about us.
You make us a byword among the nations,
A shaking of the head among the peoples.
The consequence of what has happened is that their enemies are gloating. Their neighbours are reproaching them (‘Where is your God?’). They are scoffing at them and deriding them. They had made such boasts in their God that their neighbours saw what had happened to them as demonstrating their folly. They had become a byword, among the nations, who were shaking their heads at them because of what they saw as their foolishness in making such a big thing of their God.
Psa 44:15-16
All the day long is my dishonour before me,
And the shame of my face has covered me,
For the voice of him who reproaches and blasphemes,
By reason of the enemy and the avenger.
And it especially reflected on the king. He was shamed by what had happened, and the dishonour of it was with him all the day long. He could not get over it. And the shame reflected on his face covered his whole being. He was totally ashamed from head to foot. For all around him he heard those who reproached him, and even reproached God, because of the avenging enemy who had so dealt with them. Their utter defeat was hard to face.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 44:9. But ap: The force of the particle seems to be this: “Instead of giving us victory, thou hast even cast us off.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Here is a melancholy state described: and what added to the affliction, the church beheld the Lord’s hand in the appointment. Though the Lord’s afflictions are always, sooner or later, sanctified afflictions to God’s people, yet when the Lord frowns in his providences, the dark cloud is heavier.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 44:9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.
Ver. 9. But thou hast cut off, and put us to shame ] Here is a sudden change, and a sad complaint, but handsomely brought in, the better to insinuate, the sooner to prevail for redress. Only this, it should have been remembered that the Lord’s hand was not shortened but their iniquities had separated between them and their God, Isa 59:1-2 . That noble General Trajan told Valens, the Arian emperor, that by warring against God he had abandoned the victory, and sent it to the enemies (Niceph. l. 11, c. 40).
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 44:9-16
9Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor,
And do not go out with our armies.
10You cause us to turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
11You give us as sheep to be eaten
And have scattered us among the nations.
12You sell Your people cheaply,
And have not profited by their sale.
13You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a derision to those around us.
14You make us a byword among the nations,
A laughingstock among the peoples.
15All day long my dishonor is before me
And my humiliation has overwhelmed me,
16Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.
Psa 44:9-16 This strophe is a stark reversal of Psa 44:1-8. Instead of YHWH fighting for Israel (i.e., Psa 44:9 b; Psa 60:10; Psa 108:11), He is fighting against them. It does not specifically mention why, but the problem was covenant disobedience and its consequences (cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-30).
The terrible consequences were not just military defeat but exile, slavery, humiliation!
Psa 44:9 You have rejected us This verb (BDB 276, KB 276, Qal perfect) is used often in the Psalms where YHWH rejects His covenant people (cf. Psa 44:9; Psa 44:23; Psa 60:1; Psa 60:10; Psa 74:1; Psa 77:7; Psa 108:11). The reason why is the big question.
1. covenant disobedience (i.e., Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-30)
2. their relationship with YHWH (i.e., Job, Psalms 73, Habakkuk)
3. a test of their loyalty not related to blessings (see SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD TESTS HIS PEOPLE )
The Psalm does not answer this, unless Psa 44:22 is the key to the whole Psalm.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
But = But now. Hebrew. ‘aph (not ki, as in Psa 44:3 and Psa 44:7). Very emphatic, marking great contrast, as in Psa 68:16 (“Yea”). Some codices, with Aramaean, read “Howbeit”.
cast off (as with contempt). Compare Psa 43:2. Some codices, with Syriac, read “cast us off”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 44:9-16
Psa 44:9-16
THE CURRENT EMERGENCY
“But now thou hast cast us off, and brought us to dishonor,
And goest not forth with our hosts.
Thou makest us to turn back from our adversary;
And they that hate us take spoil for themselves.
Thou hast made us like sheep appointed for food,
And hast scattered us among the nations.
Thou sellest thy people for naught,
And hast not increased thy wealth by their price.
Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a derision to them that are round about us.
Thou makest us a byword among the nations,
A shaking of the head among the people.
All the day long is my dishonor before me;
And the shame of my face hath covered me,
For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth.”
These verses describe the situation which so troubled the psalmist. The mention here of Israel’s being scattered among the nations (Psa 44:11) seems to indicate a post-exilic period; and that no doubt influenced Calvin’s finding a date for this psalm in the times of the Maccabees; but that “guess” like all the others is unacceptable because nearly a century before the Maccabees, the LXX published this psalm about 250 B.C.
If the psalm was written by David, these central verses are a prophecy, describing what is in store for Christians in the era of the Messiah, and probably inspired by some events in David’s reign with which we are not familiar. The terminology here could be partially based upon what occurred at that time. Paul’s application of these words to conditions that certainly existed in the first century of the Christian era harmonizes with this view. The reign that fit all those which are in evidence here is of no significance. There are innumerable things that men of today do not know.
Leupold called attention to “a possible period” in David’s reign when the psalm might have been written.
The conditions reflected by this psalm seem to be met by what is recorded in 2Sa 8:13-14. David was defeated by the Assyrians, allied with the Edomites; and 1Ki 11:15 mentions Joab’s burying the dead secretly to conceal the extent of his weakness from the enemy.
Despite such opinions, there is no evidence that Israel was at that time “scattered among the nations,” and a byword all over the earth (Psa 44:11; Psa 44:14).
Rawlinson was probably correct when he wrote that, “These verses imply not a single defeat, but a prolonged period of depression. We believe that these verses represent `principles’ that are fulfilled and illustrated many times over throughout the history of both the Old and the New Israel, as we shall more fully explain below.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 44:9. From here on through several verses the psalmist seems to have reversed his feeling of triumph through the Lord. He complained of the misfortunes that he and his people had suffered at the hands of the enemies. Again it should be remembered that he wrote “as a man,” yet was directed in his expressions by the Lord so that they became prophetic of the experiences that God’s people will be suffered to receive in the future. (See comments at Psa 10:1.)
Psa 44:10. Turn back means to retreat from enemy. Spoil for themselves refers to the act of taking their possessions from them.
Psa 44:11. This means that the people of God had been given over to the enemy for slaughter. In attacking a flock of sheep, some would escape the immediate destruction by the wolves of the heathen, but would be scattered out over that territory and would be exposed to the dangers of future attacks.
Psa 44:12. This verse is a figurative reference to a bad bargain for the purpose of comparison. If an article should be sold for a price far below its true value it would be said that it was “just given away.” Of course such a transaction would not leave the “seller” any profit.
Psa 44:13. If the people were neglected by their master, the witnesses would take it as a victory for themselves and would give forth expressions of ridicule.
Psa 44:14. A byword as used here means that the enemies considered themselves superior to the Israelites and formed their witty sayings in the manner that would hold the victims in contempt. A shaking of the head was a gesture of fun-making of the unfortunate people of God.
Psa 44:15. An experience like that just described would affect a man of God with a feeling of humiliation. David was given that feeling by the treatment imposed on him.
Psa 44:16. Actual physical contact did not always take place between David and his enemies. A reproaching voice from them tortured him about as severely as if he had been attacked bodily.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
a Plea for Present Help
Psa 44:9-26
In Psa 44:11 Gods people are compared to sheep appointed for meat, which are sold by the shepherd for naught, so worthless are they. Before their savage foes sheep are defenseless and unresisting. Their bitter lot is aggravated by their fear lest the shepherd has forgotten them. The reference in Psa 44:19 to jackals suggests the further picture of a harried and panting flock. It is hardly to be wondered at that Gods tender mercies seemed withdrawn from his people!
But notice how the Apostle Paul uses these words in Rom 8:36. He does not complain of forsakenness, nor appeal for help. On the contrary, he declares that in all these things we are more than conquerors, and that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. This is the lesson of the New Testament-that we conquer when we are defeated; overcome when we are slain; are strongest when we are beaten to the dust; and ascend to the throne only when we fie in the grave where Jesus, our Master, lay! Joh 12:24; 2Co 13:3-4.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Psa 43:2, Psa 60:1, Psa 60:10, Psa 74:1, Psa 80:12, Psa 80:13, Psa 88:14, Psa 89:38-45, Psa 108:11, Jer 33:24-26, Lam 3:31, Lam 3:32, Rom 11:1-6
Reciprocal: Jdg 2:14 – could not 1Sa 4:2 – Israel Job 19:6 – God Job 29:5 – the Almighty Psa 44:23 – cast Lam 1:6 – her princes Lam 5:22 – But thou hast utterly rejected us
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 44:9-10. But thou hast cast us off Now thy countenance and course are quite changed to us; and hast put us to shame Hast made us ashamed of our boasting and trust in thee, which we have often professed to the face of our enemies. And goest not forth with our armies To lead them and fight for them, as this phrase signifies, Jdg 4:14; 1Sa 8:20. He seems to allude to Gods marching with and before the Israelites in the wilderness, and afterward as occasion was offered, Psa 68:7. Thou makest us to turn back We have lost the courage wherewith thou didst formerly inspire us, and cannot defend our cities and fortresses. For, according to thy threatening, (Lev 26:36,) thou hast sent a faintness into our hearts in the land of our enemies. And they which hate us spoil for themselves Plunder our camps, and take our estates, and other property for their own use; and that not with a view to comply with thy will, which was to punish us for our sins, nor for thy service and glory. They mind nothing but their own advantage.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
44:9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to {i} shame; and goest not forth with our armies.
(i) As they confessed before that their strength came from God, so now they acknowledge that this affliction came by his just judgment.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. Israel’s present defeated condition 44:9-16
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
God had allowed His people to suffer defeat recently for some reason. The nation had retreated and the enemy had taken spoils.