Psalm 44: a psalm of collective lamentation

Psalm 44 is a psalm of collective lamentation, in which the people of Israel ask God to help them, on one occasion of great distress for all. See the meaning and interpretation of this psalm.

The power of the sacred words of psalm 44

Read carefully and faithfully the excerpts from the poem below:

¹ We have heard it with our ears, O God;
our ancestors have told us
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.
² With your hand you drove out the nations
and planted our ancestors;
you crushed the peoples
and made our ancestors flourish.
³ It was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face, for you loved them.

⁴ You are my King and my God,
who decrees victories for Jacob.
⁵ Through you we push back our enemies;
through your name we trample our foes.
⁶ I put no trust in my bow,
my sword does not bring me victory;
⁷ but you give us victory over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.
⁸ In God we make our boast all day long,
and we will praise your name forever.^[d]

⁹ But now you have rejected and humbled us;
you no longer go out with our armies.
¹⁰ You made us retreat before the enemy,
and our adversaries have plundered us.
¹¹ You gave us up to be devoured like sheep
and have scattered us among the nations.
¹² You sold your people for a pittance,
gaining nothing from their sale.

¹³ You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.
¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads at us.
¹⁵ I live in disgrace all day long,
and my face is covered with shame
¹⁶ at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,
because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

¹⁷ All this came upon us,
though we had not forgotten you;
we had not been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our hearts had not turned back;
our feet had not strayed from your path.
¹⁹ But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals;
you covered us over with deep darkness.

²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
²¹ would not God have discovered it,
since he knows the secrets of the heart?
²² Yet for your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³ Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
²⁴ Why do you hide your face
and forget our misery and oppression?

²⁵ We are brought down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.
²⁶ Rise up and help us;
rescue us because of your unfailing love.
(Psalm 44: 1-26)

Interpretation of psalm 44

In order for you to interpret the entire message of the mighty Psalm 44, the WeMystic Team made a detailed description of each passage.

Verses 1 to 3

In this passage from Psalm 44 we have the longing of the wonderful divine intervention to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. The scriptures say that every generation of Israelites had an obligation to report to their children and grandchildren what God had done for their people. It was a story of praise and description of the character of God.

Verses 4 and 5

In this communal lament, the people ask for Jacob’s deliverance by swearing that by the name of God he would overthrow all adversaries, trusting that victory would be gained only by the Spirit of God.

Verses 6 to 12

In this passage from the 44^th Psalm, the mourning section begins. In history, Israel thought that their army should not be regarded as a mere group of warriors, but rather the Warriors of the Almighty. Since all the victories were attributed to God, the defeats were considered commands that He would send to the punishment. But when God delivered the group from suffering, it was portrayed as if God had rescued their people.

Verses 13 to 20

The people of Israel claim never to have rejected God. They say that if they had rejected Him, they would be worthy of the problems, but they had not. They claim to have remained faithful to the one God in prayer, never having praised other pagan gods.

Verses 21 to 26

They ask God to awake, but the God of Israel does not sleep. The people cry out to God calling for him to act on behalf of his faithful. They only nourish their faith on the basis of divine forgiveness and therefore trust in their mercy and ransom. They finally ask God to rescue them.

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