A Study by Scott Sperling Psalm 44 - God’s People Under Heavy Trial, pt. 1   For the director of music. Of the sons of Korah. A maskil.   1 We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers 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 fathers; You crushed the peoples and made our fathers 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 do not 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.   Selah    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 My disgrace is before me 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 happened to us, though we had not forgotten You or 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 and 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, O 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; redeem us because of Your unfailing love.      Neither the inscription, nor the contents of this psalm suggest who the author was.  And it is just as well, for this psalm is representative of the words that any of God’s people may speak under heavy trial.  This psalm is a structured, well-argued appeal to God for help in time of trouble.  First, the speaker recalls the testimony of the history of God’s intervention for His people (vss. 1-3); then, the Psalmist points out that God’s people have trusted in Him (vss. 4-8); next, he asks God why He has deserted them (vss. 9-12), bringing to God’s attention the reproach they face for His desertion of them (vss. 13-16); the psalmist then makes the case to God as to why His people do not deserve the affliction they are facing (vss. 17-22); finally, he prays that God return to His people (vss. 23-26).  The inclusion of this psalm in the inspired Word of God is evidence that God’s people will face persecution. Also, I believe that God has inspired this psalm in order to encourage believers to wrestle with Him in prayer during times of affliction.  We should wrestle with God as vehemently as Jacob wrestled with God:  through the night, not letting go until we receive a blessing. The Psalmist begins by recalling God’s work in the past:  “We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what You did in their days, in days long ago.  With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers; You crushed the peoples and made our fathers 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” (vss. 1-3).  The Psalmist gives special emphasis here to the miraculous intervention by God on behalf of His people.  The Psalmist does this because, as we shall see later in the psalm, he does not see that God is working for His people in his present circumstance.  It is an effective argument before God to use examples from His Word. “We ought diligently to study God’s mercies to others in times past; for though the memory of them may cast us down if we presently experience no deliverance, yet a mind rightly guided by faith will be led to say, ‘He, who helped others, will in His time help me’; and so hope and courage will both be revived.” [Plumer, 511]. It is well worth noting that the Psalmist heard the testimony of God’s past work from “our fathers”.  If you are a parent, it is a duty of yours to educate your children concerning the works of God. “They could not have had better informants.  Schoolmasters are well enough, but godly fathers are, both by the order of nature and grace, the best instructors of their sons, nor can they delegate the sacred duty… When fathers are tongue-tied religiously with their offspring, need they wonder if their children’s hearts remain sin-tied?” [Spurgeon, 299]. The Psalmist gives strong emphasis that it was the power of God, not the people, that did those great works.  He says:  “…what You did”, “…With Your hand You drove out…”, “…You crushed…”, “…It was not by their sword…”, “…It was Your right hand, Your arm…”.  “The Lord’s part in a work is best seen, when man’s part and all that he, as an instrument, hath done, or could have done, is all declared null; being considered as separate from God, who moved the instruments, and wrought by them what He pleased” [Dickson, 244]. The Psalmist next points out that, at the time of writing, he and the rest of God’s people facing affliction have responded to the testimony of God’s work in the past by trusting in God:  “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 do not 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” (vss. 4-8).  The testimony of the Psalmist’s fathers has shaped his relationship to God, as well as shaping his attitude toward everything that happens to him.  He states:  “You are my King and my God.”  For the Psalmist, this statement is not merely an abstract statement about his relationship to God, but he sees his whole life as a reflection of God’s Kingship.  He is nothing without God.  He cannot trust in his own abilities to accomplish anything.  It is God who works through him. “The less confidence we have in ourselves or in anything beside God, the more evidence have we of the sincerity of our faith in God” [Dickson, in Spurgeon, 308].  The Psalmist does not boast in his own abilities.  Rather:  “In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise Your name forever” (vs. 8).  This is the only sort of boasting that is right and proper. Verse 8 ends with a “Selah”.  Many commentators believe that this was a musical term, possibly denoting a pause or interlude.  Here, the “Selah” is quite appropriate, because after verse 8, the tone of the psalm noticeably changes.  The first eight verses speak of God’s favorable intervention on behalf of His people.  In the rest of the psalm, the Psalmist expresses to God that he feels rejected and forgotten by Him.   (We will continue our study of this psalm in the next issue.) ----------- Bibliography and Suggested Reading Alexander,     Joseph     Addison.     The     Psalms     Translated     and Explained .  Edinburgh: Andrew Elliot, 1864.  Anonymous.        A    Plain    Commentary    on    the    Book    of    Psalms . Philadelphia:  Henry Hooker and Co., 1857. Barnes,    Albert.        Notes    on    the    Book    of    Psalms .        New    York:      Harper & Brothers Publishing, 1871. Bonar,   Andrew.   Christ   and   His   Church   in   the   Book   of   Psalms .     New York:  Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860. Calvin,   John.      A   Commentary   on   the   Book   of   Psalms .      3   Vols.     Oxford:   D.   A.   Talboys,   1840.   (Originally   published   in   Latin in 1557).  Clarke,   Adam.   The   Holy   Bible   with   a   Commentary   and   Critical Notes .        Vol.    III.        London:        William    Tegg    &    Co.,    1854.      (Originally published in 1831).  Cowles,   Henry.      The   Psalms   with   Notes,   Critical,   Explanatory and Practical .  New York:  D. Appleton & Co., 1872. Darby,    John    Nelson.        Practical    Reflections    on    the    Psalms .      London:  Robert L. Allan, 1870. Delitzsch,     Franz.          Biblical     Commentary     on     the     Psalms. Edinburgh:        T    &    T    Clark,    1892.    (Originally    published    in 1860). Dickson,   David.   An   Explication   of   the   Other   Fifty   Psalms,   from Ps. 50 to Ps. 100. Cornhill, U.K.:  Ralph Smith, 1653.  Exell,    Joseph    S.    and    Henry    Donald    Spence-Jones,    eds.    The Pulpit   Commentary .   Vols.   17,   18,   &   19.   New   York:   Funk   & Wagnalls Company, 1884.  Hengstenberg,   F.   W.      Commentary   on   the   Psalms .      Edinburgh:     T & T Clark, 1864. Henry,   Matthew.      An   Exposition   of   All   the   Books   of   the   Old   and New     Testament .          Vol.     II.          London:     W.     Baynes,     1806. (Originally published in 1710). Horne,   George.   A   Commentary   on   the   Book   of   Psalms.       New York:  Robert Carter & Brothers, 1854. Jamieson,     Robert;     Fausset,     A.     R.;     Brown,     David.          A Commentary:   Critical,   Experimental,   and   Practical   on   the   Old and   New   Testaments.       Glasgow:      William   Collins,   Queen’s Printer, 1863. Kidner,    Derek.    Psalms     (in    2    Vols.).    Downers    Grove,    IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008 (first published in 1975). Kirkpatrick,   A.    F.    The    Book    of    Psalms    with    Introduction    and Notes    –    Books    II    and    III     (from    The    Cambridge    Bible    for Schools    and    Colleges).    Cambridge,    UK:    University    Press, 1895. Lange,   John   Peter,   ed.   and   Philip   Schaff,   trans.      A   Commentary on    the    Holy    Scriptures:    Critical,    Doctrinal,    and    Homiletical .      New York:  Charles Scribner & Co., 1865.  Maclaren,    Alexander.    The    Psalms     (in    3    Vols.,    from    The Expositor’s    Bible,    ed.    by    W.    R.    Nicoll).    New    York:   A.    C. Armstrong and Son, 1901. Perowne,   J.   J.   Stewart.      The   Book   of   Psalms:      A   New   Translation with Explanatory Notes .  London:  George Bell & Sons, 1880. Plumer,   William   S.      Studies   in   the   Book   of   Psalms .      Philadelphia:     J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1872. Scott,   Thomas.   Commentary   on   the   Holy   Bible ,   Vol.   III.   London: James Nisbet, 1866. Spurgeon,   Charles.      The   Treasury   of   David .      6   Vols.      London: Marshall Brothers, Ltd., 1885. Tholuck,   Augustus.      A   Translation   and   Commentary   of   the   Book of Psalms .  Philadelphia:  Martien, 1858. Trapp,   John.      A   Commentary   on   the   Old   and   New   Testaments . Vol.   II   (Ezra   to   Psalms).      Edmonton,   Canada:   Still   Waters Revival    Books    (www.PuritanDownloads.com).    (Originally published c. 1660). VanGemeren,   Willem A.,   (Gaebelein,   Frank   E.,   ed).      Expositor’s Bible   Commentary ,   Vol.   5   –   Psalms   to   Song   of   Songs.      Grand Rapids, MI:  Zondervan, 1991. -- Most    of    these    books    (those    in    the    public    domain)    can    be downloaded,    free    of    charge,    from    the    Classic    Christian Library,  at: http://www.ClassicChristianLibrary.com