When You Are Innocent But Still Suffer - Psalm 44
Psalm 44
To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.
1 O God, we have heard with our ears,
our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and the light of your face,
for you delighted in them.
4 You are my King, O God;
ordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For not in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But you have rejected us and disgraced us
and have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter
and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from your way;
19 yet you have broken us in the place of jackals
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
24 Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; come to our help!
Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!
“The words of the psalm suggest that the people have gathered together in a sanctuary or in Jerusalem to cry out to God about a situation of grave danger—a military attack, political persecution, or some unjust action against them. The speakers of Psalm 44 alternate between the gathered people and a leader in their midst who praise God for God’s goodness and recount God’s provisions to the ancestors of Israel; move on to declare their innocence to God in the face of the current circumstances; call God to account for what is happening—that is, accuse God of not remembering the covenant with them; and finally offer a concluding prayer to God….”
“Psalm 44 is unique… because in it the gathered congregation declares its absolute innocence before the Lord and claims that its suffering and shame are undeserved.” --Nancy deClaissé-Walford
To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.
The “sons of Korah” served as Temple staff and singers during the reigns of David and Solomon (1 Chronicles 6:31-31). A “maskil” is probably some sort of teaching song, and the superscription “to the choirmaster” tells us that this psalm was used in Israelite worship.
1 O God, we have heard with our ears,
our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and the light of your face,
for you delighted in them.
The people recount what their ancestors told them of God’s mighty acts in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.
4 You are my King, O God;
ordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For not in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
Rather than the whole congregation, now one leader sings and states that Israel’s true ruler is the Lord, and that it is he who provides their true strength.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
The people praise God for his deliverance in the past.
And then the tone of the psalm changes….
9 But you have rejected us and disgraced us
and have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter
and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.
In spite of their commitment to the Lord, the people accuse God of abandoning them to their enemies. The unasked question is, “Why?”
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.
The leader’s voice returns and speaks of his personal pain and shame.
17 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from your way;
19 yet you have broken us in the place of jackals
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
The people claim to be innocent and bewildered at their circumstances. “God, if we’d done bad things, we’d understand, but as it is we’ve done nothing, and yet this is still the way you treat us, like sheep to be slaughtered?”
(Paul quotes from v. 22 in Romans 8:36, when he is writing about how even persecution is not stronger than the love of Christ.)
23 Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
24 Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; come to our help!
Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!
The people close the song shouting to God: “Wake up! Do something!”
I’m reminded of the disciples waking Jesus in the stern of the boat as the storm builds on the Sea of Galilee. “Rabbi, don’t you care that we’re about to drown?!”
I like how Nancy deClaissé-Walford closes her remarks on this psalm:
“Psalm 44 gives the reader a wonderful glimpse into a liturgy of ancient Israelite worship. People and leader gather at the temple or sanctuary and alternate their voices as they cry out to the Lord, protesting their innocence in the face of a grave danger and demanding that the Lord act on their behalf…. They base their pleas on the bold, blunt accusation that God has, for absolutely no reason, withheld his power, failed to rescue them, and did not even inform, them of their wrongs because (so they claim) there were none. Theologically, their song appeals to God’s character and voices the common experience of believers of God’s mysterious ways.
“Every person will have an experience of feeling unjustly punished at some point in life. And every believer will question God concerning justice at some point in life. The words of Psalm 44 affirms that God invites believers to cry out, ask questions, reflect on our own faithfulness, and call God to account for what is happening in our lives. And while answers may elude us, we may affirm, along with the psalmist, that God’s hesed [i.e., his steadfast, covenant faithfulness and long-suffering kindness] is the compelling reason for us to be confident that, in the end, God will redeem us and be a help for us.” --Nancy deClaissé-Walford