- (A special psalm for the people of Korah and for the music leader.) Our God, our ancestors told us what wonders you worked and we listened carefully.
- You chased off the nations by causing them trouble with your powerful arm. Then you let our ancestors take over their land.
- Their strength and weapons were not what won the land and gave them victory! You loved them and fought with your powerful arm and your shining glory.
- You are my God and King, and you give victory to the people of Jacob.
- By your great power, we knocked our enemies down and stomped on them.
- I don't depend on my arrows or my sword to save me.
- But you saved us from our hateful enemies, and you put them to shame.
- We boast about you, our God, and we are always grateful.
- But now you have rejected us; you don't lead us into battle, and we look foolish.
- You made us retreat, and our enemies have taken everything we own.
- You let us be slaughtered like sheep, and you scattered us among the nations.
- You sold your people for little or nothing, and you earned no profit.
- You made us look foolish to our neighbors, and people who live nearby insult us and sneer.
- Foreigners joke about us and shake their heads.
- I am embarrassed every day, and I blush with shame.
- But others mock and sneer, as they watch my enemies take revenge on me.
- All of this has happened to us, though we didn't forget you or break our agreement.
- We always kept you in mind and followed your teaching.
- But you crushed us, and you covered us with deepest darkness where wild animals live.
- We did not forget you or lift our hands in prayer to foreign gods.
- You would have known it because you discover every secret thought.
- We face death all day for you. We are like sheep on their way to be slaughtered.
- Wake up! Do something, Lord! Why are you sleeping? Don't desert us forever.
- Why do you keep looking away? Don't forget our sufferings and all of our troubles.
- We are flat on the ground, holding on to the dust.
- Do something! Help us! Show how kind you are and come to our rescue.
These were all questions that must have haunted the psalmist and his people at the time of this psalm. He pointed to the history of God's help for his ancestors for whom God drove out the nations in the land of promise and gave them the land. The psalmist attributed these victories completely to the Lord and not to the abilities of his ancestors in wielding the sword. He then spoke of victories God had given in his own lifetime and of his own trust in God rather than in the use of his bow or sword. It was God in whom they boasted "all day long" for the victories He had given them over their foes. But now it seemed that God had rejected them and humiliated them before their foes. He had allowed them to be defeated and handed them over to their enemy "to be eaten like sheep and scatter us among the nations." (44:11) The psalmist went on to say, "You make us a joke among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples." (44:14)
When trouble strikes, what is our first thought? For many, if not most, our first thought is that God is punishing us. And then we begin to take stock wondering what our sin might be. This is, no doubt, the assessment the psalmist made, and after taking stock concluded that, "we have not forgotten You or betrayed Your covenant. Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path." (44:17-18) He was innocent of sin and yet God had allowed all this to happen to him and his people. Then the psalmist went further to say not only that God had allowed their defeat but it was "Because of You we are slain all day long." (44:22) It was God's fault they were defeated.
In the end, what was the psalmist's conclusion? Was it to reject God and look elsewhere for help? No, in the end he still placed his trust in God by making a desperate plea for His help. "Wake up, Lord!" he said. "Why are You sleeping? Get up! Don't reject us forever!" (44:23) Do we dare approach God in this way? The psalmist dared, but he was not rejecting God or blaspheming Him. He was asking God to do what He has promised to do: "But if you will carefully . . . do everything I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes." (Exodus 23:22) In the end, the psalmist's appeal and his trust was in God's "faithful love."
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