Psalm 44

Psalm 44, Accounted as Sheep to the Slaughter

This section covers Psalm 44 in full, including the title, the sons of Korah, Israel’s remembrance of God’s past victories, the conquest under Joshua, the confession that Israel did not gain the land by her own sword, the prayer for present victory, Israel’s current defeat and shame, the repeated recognition that God Himself had allowed the crisis, Israel’s protest of covenant faithfulness, the meaning of suffering “for thy sake,” Paul’s use of Psalm 44:22 in Romans 8, and the final plea for God to arise and redeem His people for His mercy’s sake.

Title and Setting

Psalm 44 is titled, “To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil.” As with Psalm 42, this psalm is associated with the sons of Korah. The sons of Korah were Levites from the family of Kohath. By David’s time, they appear to have served in the musical ministry connected with temple worship.

2 Chronicles 20:19, “And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, And of the children of the Korhites, Stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.”

This background is significant because Korah himself led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron during Israel’s wilderness journey. The rebellion was judged by God, yet Numbers 26 makes clear that the children of Korah did not die. Their descendants became associated with worship and praise. This is a remarkable testimony to mercy. A family line connected with rebellion was, by God’s grace, later connected with temple song.

Psalm 44 speaks from the perspective of the nation of Israel during a season of great defeat, humiliation, and distress. The people remember the great works of God in the past and then compare those works with their present condition. The difficulty of the psalm is that Israel does not present the crisis as a result of obvious covenant rebellion. They do not say, “We have sinned, and therefore God has judged us.” Instead, they protest that they have not forgotten God, have not dealt falsely with His covenant, and have not turned aside to foreign gods. Yet they are still suffering severe defeat.

Some have suggested that Psalm 44 belongs to the period of exile or even to the later Maccabean period. However, there is enough reason to keep the psalm within the days of Israel’s monarchy. Derek Kidner notes that references to scattering among the nations do not demand a postexilic setting because deportations occurred before the full Babylonian exile. Defeat was also not unknown even in the reigns of loyal kings. Psalm 60, a Davidic psalm with similarities to Psalm 44, reminds us that covenant Israel could experience military crisis even when the king was faithful.

Psalm 44 became significant beyond its immediate Old Testament setting. Derek Kidner notes that Thomas Cranmer’s Anglican Litany of 1544 joined the first and last lines of the psalm as both declaration and petition. The priest declared that God’s people had heard with their ears and that their fathers had told them the noble works God had done in former days, and the choir responded by pleading for the Lord to arise, help, and deliver for His honor. Kidner observed that this treated the prayer as a Christian inheritance, not merely an Israelite relic. That is appropriate because Paul quotes Psalm 44:22 in Romans 8 and applies its language to the suffering people of Christ.

Psalm 44 therefore deals with one of the hardest realities in the life of faith, the suffering of God’s people when there is no obvious act of rebellion to explain the suffering. It teaches that not all suffering is punishment. Sometimes suffering is the cost of loyalty in a world hostile to God. Sometimes the people of God are accounted as sheep for the slaughter, not because God has abandoned them, but because they belong to Him.

Psalm 44:1 to Psalm 44:3, God’s Victory for Israel in the Days of Joshua’s Conquest

Psalm 44:1, “We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, What work thou didst in their days, In the times of old.”

Psalm 44:2, “How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, And plantedst them; How thou didst afflict the people, And cast them out.”

Psalm 44:3, “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, Neither did their own arm save them: But thy right hand, and thine arm, And the light of thy countenance, Because thou hadst a favour unto them.”

The psalm begins with memory, “We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us.” The sons of Korah speak as men who received a spiritual inheritance from the generation before them. Their fathers did not remain silent about the works of God. They taught their children what the LORD had done in former days. Trapp beautifully said that the fathers made their mouths like books, in which the noble acts of the LORD could be read to His praise and to the drawing of their children’s hearts unto Him.

This is an important principle. God’s mighty works are not to be buried in the past. They are to be told to the next generation. Israel’s faith was historical. It was rooted in what God had done in real time and real places. The fathers were responsible to teach the children, and the children were responsible to remember. Biblical faith does not begin each generation from scratch. It receives, guards, and transmits the testimony of God’s works.

Deuteronomy 6:6, “And these words, which I command thee this day, Shall be in thine heart:”

Deuteronomy 6:7, “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, And shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, And when thou walkest by the way, And when thou liest down, And when thou risest up.”

Psalm 78:4, “We will not hide them from their children, Shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.”

Psalm 78:5, “For he established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children:”

Psalm 78:6, “That the generation to come might know them, Even the children which should be born; Who should arise and declare them to their children:”

The fathers told the psalmist of the deeds God did “in the times of old.” These were not merely the personal experiences of the previous generation. They included the ancient works of God, especially the conquest of Canaan in the days of Joshua. The fathers taught not only what they themselves had seen, but what God had done many generations before. This is the proper way to handle sacred history. The works of God in the past belong to the faith of the present generation.

Boice compares this kind of memory to Christian reflection on spiritual heritage, such as the Protestant Reformation, the Wesleyan revivals, or the Great Awakenings. In a Baptist and Protestant framework, we can rightly remember the recovery of biblical doctrine, the preaching of justification by faith, the missionary movements, and seasons of revival, not as replacements for Scripture, but as testimonies of God’s faithfulness in history. The point is that God’s past faithfulness should strengthen present faith and provoke present prayer.

The psalmist recalls that God drove out the nations with His hand and planted Israel in the land. The nations of Canaan were removed, and Israel was planted. The imagery is agricultural. God uprooted one and planted another. The conquest was not ultimately Israel’s achievement. It was God’s act. He drove out the heathen. He afflicted the peoples. He cast them out. He planted Israel.

This refers to the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The land was not seized because Israel was naturally superior, but because God had sworn to give it to the descendants of the patriarchs and because the iniquity of the Amorites had come to its fullness.

Genesis 12:7, “And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: And there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.”

Genesis 15:16, “But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

Joshua 21:43, “And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; And they possessed it, and dwelt therein.”

Joshua 21:44, “And the LORD gave them rest round about, According to all that he sware unto their fathers: And there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; The LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.”

Joshua 21:45, “There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; All came to pass.”

Verse 3 makes the theology explicit, “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, Neither did their own arm save them.” Israel did fight in many battles, but their sword was not the decisive cause of possession. Their arm did not save them. The conquest cannot be explained by military skill alone. It was the LORD who gave victory.

There were times in Joshua’s conquest when Israel did almost nothing militarily, and God acted decisively. The fall of Jericho is an obvious example. Israel marched, obeyed, shouted, and God brought down the walls. At other times Israel fought, but their fighting would have accomplished nothing without the hand of God.

Joshua 6:20, “So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: And it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, And the people shouted with a great shout, That the wall fell down flat, So that the people went up into the city, Every man straight before him, And they took the city.”

Joshua later reminded Israel that God had given them the land and victories they did not produce by their own power.

Joshua 24:12, “And I sent the hornet before you, Which drave them out from before you, Even the two kings of the Amorites; But not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.”

Joshua 24:13, “And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, And cities which ye built not, And ye dwell in them; Of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.”

The psalmist says the victory came by “thy right hand, and thine arm, And the light of thy countenance.” The right hand and arm speak of power. God fought for Israel. But the light of His countenance speaks of divine favor. The favor of God was more foundational than military strength. Israel needed God’s face before it needed God’s arm. The shining of God’s countenance meant favor, blessing, and covenant kindness.

Numbers 6:24, “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:”

Numbers 6:25, “The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:”

Numbers 6:26, “The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”

The final phrase is the explanation, “Because thou hadst a favour unto them.” God’s favor was the cause. Israel was not planted because she was mighty, righteous in herself, or superior among nations. God favored them according to His covenant mercy.

Deuteronomy 7:6, “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: The LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, Above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”

Deuteronomy 7:7, “The LORD did not set his love upon you, Nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; For ye were the fewest of all people:”

Deuteronomy 7:8, “But because the LORD loved you, And because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, Hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, And redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, From the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

This opening section establishes the theological foundation of the psalm. Israel exists in the land because of God’s power, God’s covenant, and God’s favor. Therefore, when Israel now experiences defeat, the issue is not merely military. It is theological. If past victory came from God’s favor, then present defeat raises painful questions about God’s present dealings with His people.

Psalm 44:4 to Psalm 44:8, Confident Prayer for God’s Victory in the Psalmist’s Own Day

Psalm 44:4, “Thou art my King, O God: Command deliverances for Jacob.”

Psalm 44:5, “Through thee will we push down our enemies: Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.”

Psalm 44:6, “For I will not trust in my bow, Neither shall my sword save me.”

Psalm 44:7, “But thou hast saved us from our enemies, And hast put them to shame that hated us.”

Psalm 44:8, “In God we boast all the day long, And praise thy name for ever. Selah.”

The memory of God’s past works leads directly to prayer for present deliverance. The psalmist says, “Thou art my King, O God: Command deliverances for Jacob.” The faith of the fathers becomes the prayer of the sons. The psalmist does not want the works of God to remain merely in old stories. He wants God to act again in his own generation.

This is the proper use of sacred memory. We do not remember God’s past works merely to admire history. We remember them in order to pray with confidence in the present. If God was King then, He is King now. If God commanded victory then, He can command deliverance now. The psalmist’s inherited testimony makes him dissatisfied with spiritual barrenness in his own day.

The words “Command deliverances for Jacob” are strong. The psalmist asks God to issue victory as a royal decree. He knows that if God commands deliverance, no enemy can prevent it. Israel’s hope is not ultimately in strategy, military strength, or human resolve, but in the command of God.

The prayer is offered with faith, “Through thee will we push down our enemies: Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.” The psalmist speaks with confidence, anticipating God’s answer as though victory is certain. He does not say, “Through ourselves.” He says, “Through thee.” He does not say, “Through our name.” He says, “Through thy name.”

Clarke explains that “push down” literally carries the image of tossing enemies in the air with the horn, like an ox or bull tossing attacking dogs. Maclaren similarly notes that the image comes from horned animals such as buffaloes, which first throw down the foe by fierce charge and then trample him. The language is vivid. Israel expects, through God, to overthrow those who rise against them.

The phrase “through thy name” is significant. In Scripture, God’s name represents His revealed character, authority, covenant faithfulness, and power. To act through God’s name is to rely upon who He is and what He has pledged Himself to be.

Proverbs 18:10, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: The righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”

Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”

Verse 6 clarifies the psalmist’s confidence, “For I will not trust in my bow, Neither shall my sword save me.” This does not mean Israel refused to use weapons. It means they refused to trust in weapons. There is a major difference between using appointed means and trusting in appointed means. Horne rightly said that in spiritual as well as temporal warfare, appointed means are to be used but not trusted in. Man is to fight, but God gives the victory, and to Him must be ascribed the praise, power, and glory.

This is a balanced biblical principle. Faith is not laziness. Israel still fought. David still used a sling. Soldiers still carried swords. Nehemiah’s builders carried tools and weapons. But faith refuses to make the instrument into the savior. The bow is useful, but the bow is not God. The sword may be necessary, but the sword cannot save apart from God.

1 Samuel 17:45, “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: But I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, The God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.”

1 Samuel 17:46, “This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; And I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; And I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, And to the wild beasts of the earth; That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”

1 Samuel 17:47, “And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: For the battle is the LORD'S, And he will give you into our hands.”

Verse 7 looks back to recent experience, “But thou hast saved us from our enemies, And hast put them to shame that hated us.” The psalmist is not saying God had only acted in ancient days. God had also saved them in their own historical memory. This deepens the tension of the psalm. They know God has delivered before. They know He can do it again. Yet they are now in crisis.

Verse 8 says, “In God we boast all the day long, And praise thy name for ever. Selah.” Their boasting is not in themselves. It is in God. Their praise is not occasional. It is all day long and forever. They praise God for what He did in the distant past, for what He has done in their own day, and for what they believe He can still do.

At this point, Boice notes that we might expect Psalm 44 to continue as a thanksgiving psalm, a praise psalm, or a psalm of confidence. Everything so far has sounded like praise, remembrance, and confidence. But the word “But” at the beginning of verse 9 completely changes the tone. The psalm will descend from triumph to anguish.

The word “Selah” marks a pause. Spurgeon observed that the pause is fitting here because the psalm is about to descend from the highest to the lowest key. We no longer hear Miriam’s timbrel, but Rachel’s weeping. The first section remembered triumph. The next section faces humiliation.

Psalm 44:9 to Psalm 44:16, Israel’s Defeat, Crisis, and the Hand of the LORD in It

Psalm 44:9, “But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; And goest not forth with our armies.”

Psalm 44:10, “Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: And they which hate us spoil for themselves.”

Psalm 44:11, “Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; And hast scattered us among the heathen.”

Psalm 44:12, “Thou sellest thy people for nought, And dost not increase thy wealth by their price.”

Psalm 44:13, “Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, A scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.”

Psalm 44:14, “Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, A shaking of the head among the people.”

Psalm 44:15, “My confusion is continually before me, And the shame of my face hath covered me,”

Psalm 44:16, “For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; By reason of the enemy and avenger.”

The sharp turn comes in verse 9, “But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; And goest not forth with our armies.” Israel’s great problem is not first that their armies are weak. It is that God does not seem to be going with their armies. The psalmist understands that Israel cannot prevail unless God fights for them. The key to victory over enemies is first being right with God and having God’s presence with His people.

Poole explains “put us to shame” as God making them ashamed of their boasting and trust in Him, which they had often professed before their enemies. This is part of the pain. Israel had openly claimed confidence in the LORD, but now their defeat made them look foolish before the nations. The enemies could mock not only Israel, but Israel’s God.

The psalmist repeatedly attributes the crisis to God. “Thou hast cast off.” “Thou makest us to turn back.” “Thou hast given us.” “Thou hast scattered us.” “Thou sellest thy people.” “Thou makest us a reproach.” “Thou makest us a byword.” The repeated “thou” is theologically important. The psalmist knows that for covenant Israel, victory and defeat are not random. If Israel is defeated, God has allowed it, and in some sense His hand is behind it.

This does not make the enemies righteous. They still hate, spoil, reproach, and blaspheme. But Israel’s covenant theology recognizes God’s sovereignty over national defeat. The enemy may be the instrument, but God is not absent.

Verse 10 says, “Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: And they which hate us spoil for themselves.” Israel is routed. Instead of pushing down enemies through God, they are driven back by enemies. Instead of trampling those who rise up, they are plundered by those who hate them. The contrast with verses 5 through 8 is deliberate and painful.

Verse 11 intensifies the humiliation, “Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; And hast scattered us among the heathen.” Israel feels defenseless, like sheep destined for slaughter or consumption. Sheep are not war animals. They do not defend themselves well. They are vulnerable. This image prepares for verse 22, where the psalmist says they are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Kidner notes that the distress deepens with every line in verses 10 through 12, with rout, spoil, slaughter, scattering, and slavery. That is the progression. Military defeat becomes plunder. Plunder becomes slaughter. Slaughter becomes scattering. Scattering becomes the sale of God’s people.

Verse 12 says, “Thou sellest thy people for nought, And dost not increase thy wealth by their price.” The language is startling. Israel feels as though God has sold them cheaply, as if He received nothing worthwhile in exchange. The point is not that God literally profits or fails to profit financially. The point is that their humiliation seems senseless. If God has given them up, what has been gained? From the psalmist’s perspective, nothing appears to justify the severity of the suffering.

Verse 13 says, “Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, A scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.” The defeat is not only military, it is social and religious humiliation. Neighboring peoples mock Israel. They scorn them. They deride them. In the ancient world, national defeat was often interpreted as the defeat or weakness of a nation’s god. Therefore, Israel’s humiliation gave surrounding nations an excuse to reproach the LORD.

Verse 14 says, “Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, A shaking of the head among the people.” Clarke captures the sense, Israel has become a proverb among the peoples, an example of misery and wretchedness, as though others could say, “See the Hebrews, see how low the wrath of God has brought an offending people.” To become a byword means to become a public example of disgrace. The shaking of the head is a gesture of contempt and astonishment.

Verse 15 says, “My confusion is continually before me, And the shame of my face hath covered me.” The psalmist personally feels the national disgrace. He cannot escape it. His dishonor is continually before him. Shame covers his face. This is not detached analysis. This is grief.

Worse than defeat itself is the sense that God has abandoned Israel or is against them. That is the deepest pain. If God is for them, defeat can be endured. If God has cast them off, the soul is crushed. The psalmist’s question is not merely, “Why did we lose?” It is, “Why has God not gone forth with us?”

Verse 16 explains the shame, “For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; By reason of the enemy and avenger.” The enemies do not stop with mocking Israel. Spurgeon notes that they advance from mocking the people of God to reviling God Himself, moving from persecution to blasphemy. This is why the matter is so serious. The honor of God’s name is involved.

Psalm 74:10, “O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?”

Psalm 74:18, “Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, And that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.”

The psalmist is not merely embarrassed that Israel looks weak. He is grieved that God’s name is reproached through Israel’s humiliation. This is a godly concern. The honor of God matters more than national pride.

Psalm 44:17 to Psalm 44:19, The Psalmist Protests That Israel Had Kept Faithful to God

Psalm 44:17, “All this is come upon us; Yet have we not forgotten thee, Neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.”

Psalm 44:18, “Our heart is not turned back, Neither have our steps declined from thy way;”

Psalm 44:19, “Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, And covered us with the shadow of death.”

Now the psalm enters its most difficult section. The psalmist says, “All this is come upon us; Yet have we not forgotten thee, Neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.” Israel has been defeated, shamed, scattered, and reproached, yet the psalmist insists they have not forgotten God or betrayed His covenant.

This is important because under the Mosaic Covenant, God had promised blessing for obedience and curse for disobedience. Deuteronomy 28 clearly warned that if Israel forsook the LORD, she would experience defeat, plunder, exile, and scattering among the nations. VanGemeren notes that the law of Moses had warned that disobedience would lead to God’s displeasure and ultimately to being defeated, despoiled, exiled, and dispersed.

Deuteronomy 28:15, “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, To observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; That all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:”

Deuteronomy 28:25, “The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: Thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: And shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.”

Deuteronomy 28:37, “And thou shalt become an astonishment, A proverb, and a byword, Among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.”

Deuteronomy 28:64, “And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, From the one end of the earth even unto the other; And there thou shalt serve other gods, Which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.”

Because of this covenant background, Israel’s suffering would normally lead to self examination and repentance. But Psalm 44 makes an unusual claim. The psalmist does not deny that Israel is suffering covenant like calamities, but he says this suffering has not come because of national apostasy in his day. They have not forgotten God. They have not dealt falsely with His covenant.

This does not mean the psalmist claims sinless perfection for every Israelite. Scripture is clear that no man is sinless. Rather, he claims that as a people, they had not abandoned the LORD, had not turned to idols, and had not broken covenant in the way that would explain this disaster. They were not in a state of open rebellion.

Verse 18 says, “Our heart is not turned back, Neither have our steps declined from thy way.” This statement covers both inward and outward faithfulness. The heart has not turned back, and the steps have not departed. They have remained committed to God in desire and conduct. They have not merely preserved outward religion while inwardly defecting. Nor have they merely claimed inward loyalty while walking in outward disobedience.

This is why the psalm may be called an honest, anti penitential psalm. Many psalms are full of confession and contrition, and rightly so. But Psalm 44 is different. Here the psalmist honestly and without self righteousness argues that the present distress is not due to unaddressed rebellion. Morgan states that the arresting fact is that this song reveals defeat, humiliation, and suffering for which no cause is found in the conduct of the sufferers.

Kidner also notes that the psalm explores baffling fluctuations that have counterparts in Christian history, periods of blessing and barrenness, advance and retreat, which may correspond to no apparent changes in loyalty or methods. That is spiritually important. There are seasons when God’s people experience hardship even though there has been no clear decline in faithfulness. The presence of suffering does not automatically prove the presence of hidden rebellion.

Verse 19 says, “Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, And covered us with the shadow of death.” The word “dragons” in the KJV is often understood as jackals, creatures associated with desolate places. Israel feels broken in a desolate place. They are covered with the shadow of death. The imagery is dark, wilderness like, and severe.

Yet even here, the psalmist says God has done it, “thou hast sore broken us.” This is not atheistic despair. He still sees God as sovereign. He protests, but he protests to God. He laments, but he does not deny God’s rule.

Spurgeon says, “Better to be broken by God than from God. Better to be in the place of dragons than of deceivers.” That is a hard but true statement. If God breaks His people, He can also heal them. If God brings them low, He can raise them. Better to be afflicted under God’s hand while still belonging to Him than to prosper in deceit and rebellion apart from Him.

Hosea 6:1, “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: For he hath torn, and he will heal us; He hath smitten, and he will bind us up.”

Psalm 44:20 to Psalm 44:22, Israel’s Obedience Answered With Defeat

Psalm 44:20, “If we have forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched out our hands to a strange god;”

Psalm 44:21, “Shall not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.”

Psalm 44:22, “Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”

The psalmist continues the protest of faithfulness, “If we have forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched out our hands to a strange god; Shall not God search this out?” To forget the name of God means to abandon His revealed character, covenant, worship, and authority. To stretch out the hands to a strange god means to pray to idols. Clarke explains that among the ancients, it was customary in prayer to stretch out the hands toward the heavens or toward the image being worshiped, as though expecting to receive favor.

The psalmist says they have not done this. They have not forgotten the LORD. They have not prayed to idols. And if they had, God would know. “For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.” There is no use pretending before God. He sees the hidden places. He knows whether their public claim of faithfulness is true.

1 Samuel 16:7, “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, Or on the height of his stature; Because I have refused him: For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; For man looketh on the outward appearance, But the LORD looketh on the heart.”

Psalm 139:1, “O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.”

Psalm 139:2, “Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off.”

Psalm 139:3, “Thou compassest my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways.”

Psalm 139:4, “For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.”

Boice explains the phrase “Shall not God search this out?” as meaning, “Would not God have discovered it to us?” In other words, if there were an Achan like hidden sin responsible for this calamity, would not God have revealed it? In Joshua 7, Israel was defeated at Ai because of hidden sin in the camp. Achan had taken what was devoted to destruction, and Israel suffered defeat until the sin was exposed and judged.

Joshua 7:10, “And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; Wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?”

Joshua 7:11, “Israel hath sinned, And they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: For they have even taken of the accursed thing, And have also stolen, and dissembled also, And they have put it even among their own stuff.”

Joshua 7:12, “Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, But turned their backs before their enemies, Because they were accursed: Neither will I be with you any more, Except ye destroy the accursed from among you.”

The psalmist’s point is that they have sought God and found no such explanation. There is no known Achan moment. There is no known national apostasy. There is no idolatrous defection. Yet they suffer.

Verse 22 gives the startling conclusion, “Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.” The key words are “for thy sake.” The psalmist does not merely say they are suffering while still faithful to God. He says they are suffering because of their relationship to God. Their loyalty to the LORD has made them targets in a hostile world.

This is a revolutionary concept in the Old Testament context. Under the Mosaic Covenant, obedience often brought blessing and disobedience brought curse in visible earthly terms. Psalm 44 introduces, or at least strongly emphasizes, the reality that suffering may not be punishment. It may be a battle scar. Kidner describes it as the price of loyalty in a world at war with God. VanGemeren says they suffer for God’s sake, receiving greater abuse in their fidelity to the LORD than they would have received if they conformed to the pagan world.

Spurgeon captures the helplessness of the image, “As if we were only meant to be killed, and made on purpose to be victims; as if it were as easy and as innocent a thing to slay us as to slaughter sheep.” Maclaren adds that the routed fugitives are defenseless and unresisting as sheep, and their fate is the usual butchery of a defeated army.

This verse becomes crucial in the New Testament because Paul quotes it in Romans 8. He applies it to the suffering people of Christ.

Romans 8:35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, Or persecution, or famine, Or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”

Romans 8:36, “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Romans 8:37, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

Romans 8:38, “For I am persuaded, That neither death, nor life, Nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, Nor things present, nor things to come,”

Romans 8:39, “Nor height, nor depth, Nor any other creature, Shall be able to separate us from the love of God, Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul’s use of Psalm 44 is extremely important. He does not quote the verse to say that suffering means God’s people are separated from Christ’s love. He quotes it to prove the opposite. The people of God have always suffered for God’s sake, yet such suffering cannot separate them from His love. Even when accounted as sheep for the slaughter, believers are more than conquerors through Him who loved them.

This is not triumphalism that denies pain. It is victory through suffering, not escape from all suffering. The Christian life does not promise that the faithful will never be wounded, oppressed, hated, or killed. It promises that none of these things can sever the believer from the love of God in Christ.

Morgan rightly says that those who are the people of God may be called to endure suffering for which there is no explanation at the time, and certainly no explanation in their own disloyalty. Such sufferings are part of the high and holy privilege of fellowship with God. That is a hard doctrine, but it is biblical. The faithful may suffer not because they have failed, but because they belong to the Lord.

2 Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

Philippians 1:29, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, Not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;”

Psalm 44:23 to Psalm 44:26, A Plea and Hopeful Prayer for Help

Psalm 44:23, “Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, cast us not off for ever.”

Psalm 44:24, “Wherefore hidest thou thy face, And forgettest our affliction and our oppression?”

Psalm 44:25, “For our soul is bowed down to the dust: Our belly cleaveth unto the earth.”

Psalm 44:26, “Arise for our help, And redeem us for thy mercies' sake.”

The psalm ends with a bold plea, “Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, cast us not off for ever.” The psalmist speaks with remarkable freedom. He feels as though God is asleep, inactive, hidden, and distant. He asks God to awake and arise. Clarke rightly notes that the psalmist does not literally believe God sleeps. The language is figurative, expressing how the situation feels from the standpoint of suffering faith.

This kind of language is only safe in the mouth of faith. The psalmist is not mocking God. He is not denying God’s nature. He is crying out from the anguish of covenant relationship. God, in His grace, not only hears such a prayer, but records it in His Word. That should comfort believers who have prayed in anguish. God is not fragile. He is not threatened by the honest cries of His suffering people when those cries are brought to Him in faith.

The image of the sleeping Lord is acted out in the New Testament when Jesus sleeps in the boat during the storm on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples feared they were perishing while He slept, and they cried out for Him to save them.

Mark 4:37, “And there arose a great storm of wind, And the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.”

Mark 4:38, “And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: And they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?”

Mark 4:39, “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, And said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

Mark 4:40, “And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?”

The disciples’ cry, “Carest thou not that we perish?” is similar in spirit to Psalm 44’s cry, “Why sleepest thou?” In both cases, God’s people feel abandoned in danger. In both cases, the Lord is not actually powerless or indifferent. The issue is not whether He reigns, but whether His people trust Him when He seems inactive.

Verse 24 says, “Wherefore hidest thou thy face, And forgettest our affliction and our oppression?” Earlier, the psalmist said Israel’s victories came through the light of God’s countenance. Now he asks why God hides His face. The hidden face of God is the opposite of felt favor. The people do not merely need military help. They need God’s face turned toward them again.

They also feel forgotten in their affliction and oppression. Again, the psalmist does not actually believe God lacks knowledge. He knows God searches the heart. But it feels as though God has forgotten because deliverance has not yet come. This is the tension of lament. Faith knows one thing about God’s character, while experience feels another. Biblical lament brings the tension into prayer.

Verse 25 says, “For our soul is bowed down to the dust: Our belly cleaveth unto the earth.” This is total humiliation. The soul is bowed down, and the body clings to the ground. Both inwardly and outwardly, Israel is brought low. They are at the crisis point. They are in the dust of shame and defeat.

Horne observes that those who are not brought into this state of humiliation by outward suffering should bring themselves into it by inward mortification, self denial, contrition, and abasement if they would offer prayers that the Majesty of heaven will receive and answer. That is a sobering application. If suffering has not humbled us, repentance should. God receives the lowly, not the proud.

Isaiah 57:15, “For thus saith the high and lofty One That inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, With him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

James 4:10, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, And he shall lift you up.”

The final verse is the heart of the prayer, “Arise for our help, And redeem us for thy mercies' sake.” This is short, simple, urgent, and comprehensive. Spurgeon rightly said it is a short but sweet prayer, much to the point, clear, simple, and urgent, as all prayers should be.

The psalmist has stated Israel’s case as strongly as possible. He has remembered God’s past works. He has confessed trust in God rather than weapons. He has described national defeat. He has acknowledged that God has allowed the disaster. He has protested that Israel has not forgotten God or worshiped idols. He has said they suffer for God’s sake. He has cried for God to awake and arise. But when he makes his final appeal, he does not say, “Redeem us because we deserve it.” He says, “Redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.”

This is crucial. Even though the psalmist has defended Israel’s covenant faithfulness, he does not finally rest his hope on Israel’s merit. Poole explains that the mention of sincerity and constancy in worship was an argument to move God to pity, not the ground of their trust or confidence, as though they merited deliverance. They expected and implored deliverance only on the account of God’s free and rich mercy.

This is the proper conclusion. God’s people may rightly bring their integrity before God when falsely accused or when suffering without known rebellion. But their final hope must always be God’s mercy. The cry is not, “Pay us what we have earned.” The cry is, “Redeem us for Thy mercy’s sake.”

Psalm 115:1, “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, But unto thy name give glory, For thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.”

Lamentations 3:22, “It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, Because his compassions fail not.”

Lamentations 3:23, “They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness.”

Psalm 44 therefore ends without an immediate visible resolution. God has not yet answered in the text. The enemies are still present. The shame is still real. The suffering is still severe. But the psalm ends in prayer, not unbelief. It ends with an appeal to mercy, not despair. That is faith under pressure.

Theological Summary

Psalm 44 teaches that God’s people must remember and transmit the works of God. The fathers told the children what God had done in former days. They taught them that Israel did not gain the land by her own sword or save herself by her own arm. The right hand of God, the arm of God, and the light of God’s countenance gave victory because God favored His people. A faithful generation teaches the next generation the works of the LORD.

Psalm 44 teaches that past grace should create present prayer. The psalmist does not remember Joshua’s conquest merely as history. He prays, “Command deliverances for Jacob.” If God gave victory before, He can give victory again. The memory of old mercies should not make God’s people passive. It should make them bold in prayer.

Psalm 44 teaches that God’s people must use means without trusting in means. Israel had bows and swords, but the psalmist says, “I will not trust in my bow, Neither shall my sword save me.” The same principle applies spiritually and practically. God may use instruments, strategies, preparation, and effort, but the believer’s confidence must rest in God Himself.

Psalm 44 teaches that suffering can be deeply confusing when it does not correspond to obvious rebellion. Israel is defeated and shamed, yet the psalmist insists they have not forgotten God, dealt falsely with the covenant, turned back in heart, departed in steps, or stretched out hands to a strange god. This is not a denial of human sinfulness, but a claim that their present suffering is not explained by national apostasy.

Psalm 44 teaches that suffering may be for God’s sake. The words “for thy sake are we killed all the day long” are central. God’s people may suffer not because they have abandoned God, but because they belong to Him. This anticipates the New Testament doctrine that believers may suffer for Christ’s sake.

Psalm 44 teaches that suffering for God does not separate believers from the love of God. Paul quotes Psalm 44:22 in Romans 8 to show that tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword cannot separate believers from the love of Christ. Even when accounted as sheep for the slaughter, believers are more than conquerors through Him who loved them.

Psalm 44 teaches that honest lament belongs in the life of faith. The psalmist asks God to awake, arise, and stop hiding His face. This is bold language, but it is brought to God in prayer. The psalmist does not walk away. He pleads with God because he still trusts God.

Psalm 44 finally teaches that mercy is the ultimate ground of hope. Even after protesting Israel’s faithfulness, the psalmist ends with, “Redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.” God’s people do not finally stand on their worthiness. They stand on God’s covenant mercy.