Introduction
Although we are not told about the actual historical background to this psalm, it appears to be written about a time when there was national despair when the psalmist was in captivity, Psalm 44:11.
Some believe it’s referring to the Babylonian captivity, whilst others believe it could be referring to a time when Israel was restrained by the nations around them, just before Judah fell in 586 B.C. Others believe it could be referring to a time when Israel suffered a defeat by their enemies.
Heading
‘For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.’
Although the headings aren’t inspired by God, they are important because they give us some understanding of the Psalm and they help us to see why it was written. The headings usually tell us four things.
1. Who wrote them, probably wrote them or possibly wrote them.
2. Information about the historical background to the Psalm. Why it was written.
3. They tell us of the tune the Psalm was written to.
4. How it was used.
The heading tells us that this is a psalm for the director of music. Some commentators believe that the ‘director of music’ is God Himself and others believe that it is a song leader who led choirs or musicians, 1 Chronicles 6:33 / 1 Chronicles 16:17 / 1 Chronicles 25:6.
No one really knows what the word ‘maskil’ means, some believe it’s a musical term or a literary term. The word is used thirteen times throughout the Psalms, Psalm 32 / Psalm 42 / Psalm 44 / Psalm 45 / Psalm 52 / Psalm 53 / Psalm 54 / Psalm 55 / Psalm 74 / Psalm 78 / Psalm 88 / Psalm 89 / Psalm 142. The word is also used in Amos 5:13.
The sons of Korah were Levites, from the family of Kohath, who by the time of David, served in the musical aspect of the temple worship, 1 Chronicles 9:19 / 1 Chronicles 26:1 / 1 Chronicles 26:19 / 2 Chronicles 20:19. It was David who originally organised the temple singers, 1 Chronicles 15:17 / 1 Chronicles 16:41-42 / 1 Chronicles 25:4-5.
Korah is probably most famous for his role in the rebellion against Moses during the wilderness days of the Exodus, Numbers 16 / Jude 11. God judged Korah and his leaders and they all died, but the sons of Korah remained, Numbers 26:9-11. It’s possible they were so grateful for this mercy that they became prominent in Israel for praising God.
‘We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago. With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our ancestors; you crushed the peoples and made our ancestors flourish. 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.’ Psalm 44:1-3
The psalmist begins by bringing back to their memories the time when God delivered the nations of the land into their hand.
Notice that their ancestors told them, which means the account was told over and over again, from one generation to the next, Exodus 10:2 / Exodus 12:26-27 / Psalm 145:4.
It was God who drove out the nations, Genesis 3:23 / 1 Kings 9:7, not Israel, it was God who drove out the Canaanites and planted Israel in the land promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Psalm 80:8-11.
It was by the hand of God that the nations were driven out, not by the sword of Israel, Deuteronomy 8:10-18 / Deuteronomy 9:3-6 / Joshua 24:12-13. The words, ‘light of your face’, meaning that they had God’s favour, Psalm 4:6 / Psalm 11:7 / Psalm 21:6 / Psalm 44:3 / Psalm 89:15.
‘You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob. Through you we push back our enemies; through your name, we trample our foes. I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.’ Psalm 44:4-8
The psalmist pleads with God, his King that Israel would once again be delivered from their enemies by the strong arm of God working through them.
They prayed that God would command victories for Jacob in the present day, in other words, if God would remember His people, they would once again humble their enemies in order to boast that God worked for them.
Notice how confident the psalmist’s prayer is to God, if God is with them and working through them, then though God’s name, Psalm 44:4, they will push back their enemies, Deuteronomy 33:17 / 1 Kings 22:11, and trample their foes, Psalm 7:5 / Psalm 18:40 / Job 40:12 / Isaiah 10:6 / Isaiah 63:3 / Daniel 7:23. The psalmist’s confidence is seen in the fact that they pray as if it has already occurred.
The psalmist told us earlier that their ancestors didn’t take the land by themselves, it was all God’s doing and now the psalmist says their hope is not in their bow or sword, their hope is in God. Just like their ancestors, they recognise it is God who gives the victory and puts their adversaries to shame.
Because of what God has done in the past and will do in the future, the psalmist says that God’s people will boast all day long and praise His name forever. This again demonstrates the confidence in the psalmist’s prayer that God will deliver them.
You may notice at the end of verse eight, some translations have the word, ‘selah’. Although no one really knows what this word means, it likely means to pause. It’s a time to stop and reflect upon what has just been said, Psalm 92:3.
We can imagine the psalmist pausing for a breath as they reflect upon how God fought for Israel in the past and will hopefully fight for them again in the present.
‘But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies. You made us retreat before the enemy, and our adversaries have plundered us. You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations. You sold your people for a pittance, gaining nothing from their sale. You have made us a reproach to our neighbours, the scorn and derision of those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us. I live in disgrace all day long, and my face is covered with shame at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me, because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.’ Psalm 44:9-16
Notice in these verses how many times the psalmist uses the word, ‘You’, to refer to God. The psalmist tells us that ‘you’, God, had rejected them and humbled them, Psalm 44:7. The reason God rejected Israel was simply because Israel had rejected God, this was the reality of their situation at the time the psalmist wrote.
At a time when they trusted in God alone, God had worked through them to drive out Israel’s enemies out of the land of Palestine. But at this time in their history, they had put their trust in false gods, and so, God had ended His work through them in order to lead them to be victorious over their enemies, 2 Chronicles 35:20-27 / 2 Chronicles 36:5-6.
Because God rejected Israel, their enemies pushed them back and they plundered them, that is, they took off the spoils of war, this could be referring to the Babylonians, 2 Kings 23:33 / 2 Kings 24:13-16 / 2 Kings 25:13-17 / 2 Chronicles 36:7.
God gave up on them so that they be devoured like sheep for slaughter and had them scattered among the nations, Amos 1:6 / Amos 9. The psalmist is very much aware if Israel were victorious it was because of the hand of God, if they were defeated, scattered and sold, it was by the hand of God.
God sold them for a pittance, and gained nothing from selling them, which implies that God sold them into slavery, into the hands of their enemies, for next to nothing, Deuteronomy 32:30 / Judges 2:14 / Judges 3:8 / Judges 4:2 / Judges 4:9 / Judges 10:7 / Isaiah 52:3.
Israel became a ‘byword’ among the surrounding nations, Deuteronomy 28:37. They were reproached, scorned and ridiculed by their neighbours, Psalm 39:8, that is, when God had rejected them as His people, the nations around no longer held them in high regard.
Israel had brought disgrace upon themselves and God because of their disobedience.
‘All this came upon us, though we had not forgotten you; we had not been false to your covenant. Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path. But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals; you covered us over with deep darkness. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart? Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ Psalm 44:17-22
Despite knowing that God had rejected them and handed them over to their enemies, the psalmist declares that Israel didn’t forget about God and they were faithful to His covenant, Deuteronomy 28:15-68.
The psalmist, speaking on behalf of Israel, says that their faithfulness to God and His covenant was reason enough to call on God to deliver them.
Israel had been defeated, their cities and towns had been reduced to ruins, and their land had been laid waste, the place where they had been was crushed to the point it was only fit for wild animals like the jackal, Isaiah 13:22 / Isaiah 13:19-22 / Jeremiah 9:11. In other words, Israel’s faithfulness to God had been answered by the disaster sent by God.
The psalmist says if they had forgotten God’s name or committed idolatry, 1 Kings 8:22 / 2 Chronicles 6:12-13 / Isaiah 1:15, God would know about it. In other words, God would know they were guilty, 1 Chronicles 28:9 / Romans 8:27 / Revelation 2:23.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The idea here is, that this was not the cause or reason of their calamities, that if this had occurred, it would have been a sufficient reason for what had taken place but that no such cause actually existed, and therefore the reason must be found in something else. It was the fact of such calamities having come upon the nation when no such cause existed, that perplexed the author of the psalm, and led to the conclusion in his own mind, that these calamities were produced by the malignant designs of the enemies of the true religion, and that, instead of their suffering for their national sins, they were really martyrs in the cause of God, and were suffering for his sake.’
The words ‘deep darkness’ signifies death, and ruin, Israel’s land had been covered in deep darkness as if death had cast its shadow over the land, Job 3:5 / Psalm 23:4.
Despite Israel’s claims to be faithful to God and His covenant, they suffered death, like helpless sheep to the slaughter. Paul speaks about this in Romans 8:35-36, to point out that even though we face death all day long and are like helpless sheep to the slaughter, nothing can separate us from the love of God.
‘Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression? We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. Rise up and help us; rescue us because of your unfailing love.’ Psalm 44:23-26
The psalmist here speaks to God as though God was a man, John 4:24, obviously God doesn’t sleep, Psalm 121:1-4, but using human reasoning, the psalmist asks God to awake and rouse.
They felt that God had hidden Himself from them and forgotten their suffering, they thought that God had forsaken them to the will of their enemies. Israel was at a critical point in their history, they were in the dust of shame and defeat.
Despite how Israel was feeling and despite everything that Israel was going through, the psalmist ends by demonstrating their faith in God to help them and rescue them on the basis of God’s unfailing love, Psalm 25:22 / Psalm 31:5 / Isaiah 1:27 / Isaiah 52:3.
Conclusion
The psalmist began by reminding us of what God did for their ancestors in the past and how one generation after another shared those events with each other, Psalm 145:4.
It’s critically important that we teach our children about God and about what He has done in the past, Luke 22:19, in order that they, in turn, teach their children the ways of God. If we aren’t convicted by God and what He has done in the past, then it’s obvious our children won’t be and in turn, their children won’t be.
As Christian parents, we have a duty to teach our children about God and His ways, Deuteronomy 6:4-7 / Deuteronomy 11:19 / Proverbs 22:6 / Psalm 78:5-7 / Ephesians 6:1-4.
If parents don’t teach their children about God and His ways, then those children will grow up knowing nothing about Him, as a result, they won’t be equipped to teach their children about God and His ways.
The church also has a responsibility in teaching children about God and His ways, especially if those children don’t have Christian parents or if only one of their parents are Christians, Deuteronomy 31:10-13 / Acts 22:3.
The church also has the responsibility of equipping parents to teach their children about God and His ways, Deuteronomy 4:9 / Ephesians 4:11-12 / 1 Corinthians 14:20 / 2 Peter 3:18.
