Psalm 44
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Psalm 44[a]
God’s Past Favor and Israel’s Present Need
1 For the leader. A maskil of the Korahites.
I
2 O God, we have heard with our own ears;
our ancestors have told us(A)
The deeds you did in their days,
with your own hand in days of old:
3 You rooted out nations to plant them,(B)
crushed peoples and expelled them.
4 Not with their own swords did they conquer the land,(C)
nor did their own arms bring victory;
It was your right hand, your own arm,
the light of your face for you favored them.(D)
5 You are my king and my God,(E)
who bestows victories on Jacob.
6 Through you we batter our foes;
through your name we trample our adversaries.
7 Not in my bow do I trust,
nor does my sword bring me victory.
8 You have brought us victory over our enemies,
shamed those who hate us.
9 In God we have boasted all the day long;
your name we will praise forever.
Selah
II
10 (F)But now you have rejected and disgraced us;
you do not march out with our armies.(G)
11 You make us retreat[b] before the foe;
those who hate us plunder us at will.(H)
12 You hand us over like sheep to be slaughtered,
scatter us among the nations.(I)
13 You sell your people for nothing;
you make no profit from their sale.(J)
14 You make us the reproach of our neighbors,(K)
the mockery and scorn of those around us.
15 You make us a byword among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads at us.
16 All day long my disgrace is before me;
shame has covered my face
17 At the sound of those who taunt and revile,
at the sight of the enemy and avenger.
III
18 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
nor been disloyal to your covenant.
19 [c]Our hearts have not turned back,
nor have our steps strayed from your path.
20 Yet you have left us crushed,
desolate in a place of jackals;[d](L)
you have covered us with a shadow of death.
21 If we had forgotten the name of our God,
stretched out our hands to another god,
22 Would not God have discovered this,
God who knows the secrets of the heart?
23 For you we are slain all the day long,
considered only as sheep to be slaughtered.(M)
IV
24 Awake! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Rise up! Do not reject us forever!(N)
25 Why do you hide your face;(O)
why forget our pain and misery?
26 For our soul has been humiliated in the dust;(P)
our belly is pressed to the earth.
27 Rise up, help us!
Redeem us in your mercy.
Footnotes
- Psalm 44 In this lament the community reminds God of past favors which it has always acknowledged (Ps 44:2–9). But now God has abandoned Israel to defeat and humiliation (Ps 44:10–17), though the people are not conscious of any sin against the covenant (Ps 44:18–23). They struggle with being God’s special people amid divine silence; yet they continue to pray (Ps 44:24–26).
- 44:11 You make us retreat: the corollary of Ps 44:3. Defeat, like victory, is God’s doing; neither Israel nor its enemies can claim credit (Ps 44:23).
- 44:19 Our hearts have not turned back: Israel’s defeat was not caused by its lack of fidelity.
- 44:20 A place of jackals: following Israel’s defeat and exile (Ps 44:11–12), the land lies desolate, inhabited only by jackals, cf. Is 13:22; Jer 9:10; 10:22. Others take tannim as “sea monster” (cf. Ez 29:3; 32:2) and render: “you crushed us as you did the sea monster.”
Psalm 44
World English Bible
For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. A contemplative psalm.
44 We have heard with our ears, God;
our fathers have told us what work you did in their days,
in the days of old.
2 You drove out the nations with your hand,
but you planted them.
You afflicted the peoples,
but you spread them abroad.
3 For they didn’t get the land in possession by their own sword,
neither did their own arm save them;
but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face,
because you were favorable to them.
4 God, you are my King.
Command victories for Jacob!
5 Through you, we will push down our adversaries.
Through your name, we will tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow,
neither will my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our adversaries,
and have shamed those who hate us.
8 In God we have made our boast all day long.
We will give thanks to your name forever. Selah.
9 But now you rejected us, and brought us to dishonor,
and don’t go out with our armies.
10 You make us turn back from the adversary.
Those who hate us take plunder for themselves.
11 You have made us like sheep for food,
and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell your people for nothing,
and have gained nothing from their sale.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations,
a shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me,
and shame covers my face,
16 at the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses,
because of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come on us,
yet we haven’t forgotten you.
We haven’t been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
neither have our steps strayed from your path,
19 though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals,
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God,
or spread out our hands to a strange god,
21 won’t God search this out?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long.
We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Wake up!
Why do you sleep, Lord?[a]
Arise!
Don’t reject us forever.
24 Why do you hide your face,
and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust.
Our body clings to the earth.
26 Rise up to help us.
Redeem us for your loving kindness’ sake.
Footnotes
- 44:23 The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai.”
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