Psalm 44 is the 44th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint version of the bible, and generally in its Latin translations, this psalm is Psalm 43. In the Vulgate, it begins "Deus auribus nostris audivimus patres nostri adnuntiaverunt".[1] The psalm was composed by the sons of Korah and is classified in the series of lamentations of the people.
The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies and has often been set to music.
Text
Hebrew
The following table shows the Hebrew text[2][3] of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).
Verse
Hebrew
English translation (JPS 1917)
1
לַמְנַצֵּ֬חַ ׀ לִבְנֵי־קֹ֬רַח מַשְׂכִּֽיל׃
For the Leader; [a Psalm] of the sons of Korah. Maschil.
For not by their own sword did they get the land in possession, Neither did their own arm save them; but Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou wast favourable unto them.
Arise for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercy's sake.
King James Version
We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.
How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.
For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.
Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.
But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.
In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.
But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.
Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.
Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price.
Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.
Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,
For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger.
All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;
Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake.
Structure
Usually, the Psalm is organized as follows:[4][5][6]
Verses 2–9: Healing Historical Review.
Verses 10–23: describing the current disaster.
Verses 24–27: Final request for termination of the disaster through the intervention of God.
Another scheme put forward to reflect the flow of Psalm 44 is as follows (using English versification):
Remembering that God performed mighty deeds in the past for his people (vv. 1–3)
Desiring God to perform mighty deeds now (vv. 4–8)
Lamenting God's "recent" chastening of his people (vv. 9–16)
Appealing to God that his chastening is not a result of their sin (vv. 17–22)
Calling on God to again engage in his mighty deeds on their behalf (vv. 23–26).[7]
As a central message of the psalm Hermann Gunkel noted the contrast between past and present events.[8]
In Jewish traditions, it is viewed as suffering in the face of the golden past, which all the more shows the plight of the current situation.[clarification needed]
Structure and theme
The psalm begins with a recounting of the days of old in verse 2, that God had driven out the nations and planted the Israelites, placing this well after the periods of conquest and the judges. The reference to scattering the Israelites among the nations in verse 11 could point to a date after either the Assyrian captivity in 722 B.C. or after the Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C. However, some have noted that the reference to God not going out with their armies in verse 9 would indicate that the Jewish nation still had standing armies at the time of the writing of this psalm, and thus the setting would be prior to Judah's exile to Babylon. In addition, the psalmist's insistence in verses 17 and 18 that their plight was not due to national sin is further confirmation that the psalmist is not referring to a time after the Babylonian exile,[7] which the prophets made clear was, in fact, a result of idolatry and turning away from the Lord. By no means conclusive, a conflict is recorded in Isaiah 36, 2 Chronicles 32, and 2 Kings 18 matching the above suggested timeline for Psalm 44.[according to whom?] The writer of the Explaining the Book commentary notes that neither Charles Spurgeon nor Matthew Henry felt that they could be clear about the setting for this psalm.[7] The Jerusalem Bible suggests that verses 17-22 "may perhaps have been added later to adapt the psalm to the persecutions of the Maccabean period".[9]
Psalm 44 is a psalm of communal lament, indicating that the suffering, in this case from being defeated by enemies, is communal.[15]
This Psalm reflects each of five key elements[16] of a lament, or complaint, Psalm:
Address: Verse 1
"We have heard with our ears, O God, our ancestors have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old" (44:1)
In this case, the Psalmist is speaking directly to God.
Complaint: verses 9–16, 17–19
In these verses, the Psalmist laments that God has been slow to act and has a responsibility to save these people from their enemies.
Statement of trust in the reliability of God as known by the Psalmist or community: verses 4–8
The Psalmist recites a history of God's saving acts, which includes reference to God commanding victories for Jacob.
Petition for God's active intervention: verses 23–26
These petitions can be quite specific. In verse 26, the Psalmist gives a direct command to God to "Rise up, come to our help."
Vow of Thanksgiving: verse 8
This particular Psalm includes a brief vow of thanksgiving in verse 8, when the Psalmist writes "In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever" (44:8)
A note about superscripts
The superscript of Psalm 44 reads "To the Leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil". It is addressed to the leader of the Korahites, who were likely a group of people who played a role in the music or worship of the temple.[citation needed] The term "Maskil" means "artistic song" and its inclusion in the superscript of this Psalm indicates that it was originally written with artistic skill.[citation needed]
Musical settings
Heinrich Schütz wrote a setting of a paraphrase of Psalm 44 in German, "Wir haben, Herr, mit Fleiß gehört", SWV 141, for the Becker Psalter, published first in 1628.
