Psalm 44

PSALM FORTY-FOUR

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.

In this psalm we are faced with a historical problem. If we maintain that this psalm was written by the Korahites, that is during the reign of David and Solomon, then is becomes difficult to place the verses 9-16 in this period, at least not as a description of a prevailing condition of that time. Yet, we do not want to assume that the psalm was written during the Babylonian captivity, and predated to the time of the Korahites, because in that case the verses 17-21 would be out of place. From the writings of that time, that is in the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, we get the impression that the Jews who were in captivity knew quite well why all this had happened to them. The only way to escape the snares of Higher Criticism is to treat this psalm as a prophecy, which looks back in the past, and forward to the future, and applies this to the present. True prophecy is three dimensional: it does not pertain only to the future, but also to the past and the present. That which God did in the past, and the witness of the previous generations, ought to be of great importance to us in our present relationship with God. He, who does not see his life in historical perspective, does not know where he goes, and consequently, he does not know his own identity. God performed great miracles for Israel. The exodus from Egypt, the crossing of the desert, and the entrance into Canaan can only be explained by supernatural intervention. The meaning of these facts of salvation went far beyond the comprehension of the Israelites. God did much more than liberate a group of people from slavery, and give them a country to live in, and an identity as a nation; He set up the people of Israel as a monument of His righteousness in this world, which meant both judgment, and glorification. Egypt and Canaan fell under God's judgment; Israel was redeemed and rehabilitated. But the ultimate goal was the coming of the Messiah, the salvation of the world, and the renewal of the whole of creation. Who can ever understand the cosmic proportions of the acts of salvation God performs in the lives of His people? The sons of Korah who wrote this psalm were discouraged. They found no reason whatsoever in the circumstances of their lives to praise God. They, therefore, did not see any future hope for themselves, or for their people. They did, consequently, the most reasonable thing a man can do, that is, they went back to the past to recall what God had done yesterday, in the preceding years and ages. If we believe, what the author of the epistle to the Hebrews says: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,"¹ we should, logically, ask ourselves who Jesus was yesterday. He is the God who saved us, and who called us. He is the God of Hudson Taylor, and George Mueller. He is the God who saved the Netherlands from Spanish tyranny, and who destroyed the Armada with His breath. He is the God of the martyrs who were burned on the stake. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The difference between the Old Testament and the New is probably nowhere as profound as in the opening verses of this psalm and those of the Apostle John's first epistle. The Korahites said: "We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us …" John writes: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life…."² In the New Testament, not only is the generation gap bridged, but also the shadow has become reality. In the psalm people speak about what they have heard from others; John speaks as an eyewitness. The conquest of Canaan was an image of the resurrection from the dead, not the reality of the new life itself. In this psalm, the Korahites grope for this reality which is our heritage. They appeal to legends and stories that had been transmitted from generation to generation. They had to go back in history some 500 years to find the picture of Jesus Christ. We, however, have fellowship with the living Lord who dwells in us through the Holy Spirit. The Israelite knew that he lived in Canaan, and that he was born there. He did not accept this fact as a matter of course; he knew that God had performed a great miracle to bring this about. He may have asked himself why God had chosen him above others in this world. All those considerations would have been an indication of a healthy, and realistic philosophy. The historical facts mentioned in this psalm are recorded in the book of Joshua. The name Joshua, or Jehoshua, is the same name as Jesus: "YHWH saves." The book of Joshua is in the Old Testament what the Four Gospels are in the New. The sons of Korah are correct in their interpretation of history. They understood that the conquest of Canaan and the subjection of the original inhabitants were more than an invasion of one nation by another nation. They realized that it had been no "struggle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."³ They knew this because the power their ancestors had received to do what they had to do surpassed all human abilities. The conquest of Canaan had been due to God's supernatural intervention. It was not the Israelites who had dried up the water of the Jordan River, or who made the walls of Jericho crumble. It was not Joshua who had caused the sun to stand still.⁴ It was God's mighty miracles that were at the basis of the great victory. Israel's weapons had very little to do with the victory. This also makes the difference, in our view of the conquest of Canaan, between human tyranny and God's judgment over people who were totally corrupt. Israel was guided to Canaan by God, because the sin of the Amorites had reached its full measure, as God had predicted to Abraham.⁵ The conquest of Canaan had been nothing more than the kicking in of an open door. God had already conquered Canaan before the Israelites entered it. In that respect, this period of world history is an image of the victory we have in Jesus Christ. Our victorious life is, in fact, nothing more than our standing upon the victory of Christ and our holding this position. In the verses 4-8 the psalmists draw a line from the ancestors to their own generation, from ancient history to the present, which gives meaning to history. If the facts of salvation, which are recorded in the past, do not form the foundation of our salvation, we have failed to understand their significance. Calling God "my King" presupposes an act of surrender, a subjection of oneself to authority, and a promise of obedience. Interestingly, the name Jacob is used here for Israel. Jacob is the name of the one who tripped others, the deceiver, the man who used ruses to achieve his goals. The use of this name places salvation in a different light. The original Jacob was delivered from himself because he confessed his sin and asked for forgiveness. As the prophet Hosea says: "He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor."⁶ Before the enemy outside can be conquered, the enemy inside has to be subjugated. God brings about deliverance if we ask Him. We cannot bring about our own salvation; He does it for us if we confess what we are, and beg for His grace. Once we are delivered from "self," the devil has no more ground to stand on in our lives. If our hearts do not condemn us, the enemy outside will be conquered also.⁷ God involves us in the victory over Satan, as the Apostle Paul says: "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet."⁸ Much more is at stake than the forgiveness of our sins, and the salvation of our lives. Those are just elements of the cosmic struggle of which we are a part. God is in the process of crushing His archenemy by means of our life and testimony, and He uses our feet for this purpose. So this psalm suggests that much more is involved than the conquest of Canaan, and the subjugation of people. The enemy which previous generations faced is, 500 years later, still active and on the attack. When this psalm was written, Canaan had already been securely in Israelite hands for centuries. It is as C. S. Lewis says in The Chronicles of Narnia: "Every century has a witch of the different color, but their goal is always the same." In the context of this battle, the psalmists say: "I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory." Victory is in the blood of the Lamb, as we read in Revelation: "They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."⁹ Our share in the victory consists in the word of our testimony, and our willingness to give our lives for the Lord. The fact that the psalmists do not trust in their bow or their sword does not make them pacifists. Israel did certainly use those weapons. There is, however, a difference between using the sword, and putting one's trust in the sword. This principle applies to all facets of life. We can use money, and even build up reserves of it, without putting our trust in it. The Netherlands, for instance, does not owe its independence to the fact that it was victorious in battle, but to the covenant William the Taciturn had made with the Potentate of potentates. God delivers us from our enemies, in whatever form they may present themselves to us. He elevates us and honors us, but He puts the devil to shame. If we praise and honor Him, He will praise and honor us. The words "all day long," and "forever" indicate that our praising God should be done under all circumstances. Expression of our gratitude should not depend upon our circumstances. Paul and Silas prayed and praised God in the middle of the night in prison.¹⁰ This principle is evinced in the verses 9-16, where God has apparently abandoned His people. The importance of this portion of Scripture lies in the fact that there was no period in Israel's history in which they suffered defeat by enemies, or were deported to foreign countries, without their seeing this experience as a punishment for their sin. This fact makes it the more amazing that this psalm was written by the Korahites during the reign of David or Solomon, when Israel was in its golden age. We can, therefore, only interpret this psalm as a prophecy about Jesus Christ in His suffering and death. This supposition is reinforced by the fact that in vs. 15 the mode suddenly changes from plural to singular. It suggests that one takes the place of all. What happens to this one happens in the place of all; He takes upon Himself the disgrace of the whole nation. That which should happen to all the people comes down upon Him alone. We also find expressions in this psalm that are later used in other prophecies about the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus. We find the phrase "we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered" also in Isaiah's prophecy: "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter."¹¹ And the concept "You sold your people for a pittance, gaining nothing from their sale" is found in the payment Judas received for betraying Jesus.¹² The disgrace, mockery, and derision are found in abundance at Jesus' crucifixion. It is, therefore, an obvious conclusion that the Holy Spirit speaks here, in the first place, about the suffering that would be experienced by our Lord Jesus Christ. Also, the protestation of innocence, which we find in the verses 17-21, point toward Him who had no sin and who was made sin for us.¹³ The matter goes in both directions: He took upon Himself our iniquities, in order that His righteousness would be imputed to us. It may be true that our protestation of innocence is not a proven fact, but it is based on judicial truth. The fact that humanity suffers pain, and sickness, and death has always been an unsolved mystery. This problem is even more acute for those who, through regeneration, have become a new creation. Once sin is atoned for, one would expect that the curse would also be abolished. Yet, even people who have eternal life die. There are no simple answers to the problem of pain. This psalm poses the question in its most urgent form. Most people can understand at least some of the truth, when looking at the sufferings of Christ. "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows."¹⁴ But why then do we, as Christians, still bear some of the burdens? We may find some of the answer in vs. 22: "Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." The Apostle Paul uses this quote, and puts it in one of the most triumphant settings in his epistle to the Romans: "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-- how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-- more than that, who was raised to life-- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." The tension, in the life of a child of God, between suffering and glory exists for the Lord's sake. The psalmists says, by way of a confession of faith: "Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." The Hebrew word translated here with "yet" is kiy, which the KJV translates with "yea." In this context it can be considered as an equivalent of "amen," a confirmation, and an affirmation of the truth. The great question "why," with which the previous stanzas were filled, is not answered in this affirmation, but a solution is found in surrender to the will of the Lord. Our "amen" to the will of Jesus usually makes our questions melt away. We begin to understand that God wants to reach His goal in us through our pain, and that without this pain the goal could not be reached. Psalm 44:22 is one of the most profound verses in the whole Bible. The topic is not, primarily, physical death, but the surrender of "self" into death. Jesus repeatedly spoke about self denial and surrender of one's life. We read in Matthew's Gospel: "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."¹⁵ Facing death all day long indicates an attitude of life. The remarkable thing is that, facing death, we enter enemy territory. We were all born in enemy country, like Moses and the Israelites in Egypt. From the beginning, the devil planned to murder us. God saves our lives, and then He sends us back into the devil's empire to be slaughtered by the enemy. But our agreement to this, our "amen" will ultimately mean the defeat of the murderer. This paradox surpasses our comprehension, but we can witness that through the life, the suffering, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, victory is complete and eternal. "The one who can accept this should accept it." It is in this context that the Apostle Paul says: "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."¹⁶ The goal is not to win the battle, but to destroy the enemy. Christians are like sheep to be slaughtered. The devil can attack us, and kill us at will; at least it seems like that. This he did with the Lamb of God. The day will come, however, when he, and all his followers will panic and flee from the wrath of the Lamb. "They called to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!' "¹⁷ Our death will mean his eternal undoing, but we will enter life and eternal glory. Can a man wake up God? This may be one of the more comical anthropomorphisms in the Bible. Another psalm is closer to the truth, when the poet says: "He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."¹⁸ The living God is not subject to moments of inattention, or diminishing of consciousness. His omniscience, and energy are eternal, uninterrupted, and absolute attributes. Yet, the Lord of glory died, and He lay in a grave in the sleep of death. The impossible and the inconceivable did happen with our Lord Jesus Christ. The psalmists, of course, did not mean to say literally that God had fallen asleep. They used a human expression to vent their frustration under the pressure of circumstances. It seemed as if God was no longer there. He did not answer. Jesus' disciples panicked, and they woke up Jesus, saying: "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"¹⁹ We could, of course, analyze this, and find a psychological explanation, but that would not be fair. When people are under pressure of overwhelming circumstances and lives are in danger, it is no time to approach problems from a scientific angle. The devil knows this, and he exploits this kind of situation to the full. It is through his propaganda that we lose sight of reality. We have little or no defense against the false appearance of circumstances. Jesus answered the panicking disciples: "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"²⁰ We are helped through such episodes, not by what our eyes can see, but by what our hearts know to be true because of our fellowship with the Father. Fear can only be healed on a spiritual level. The Holy Spirit uses the words of the psalmists: "Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself!" to call for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Much more is involved than an effort to surmount an episode of depression. The psalmists say: "We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground." They want to be delivered from being dust and returning to dust. This is a prayer for immortality. They understand that God created man to live, not to die. It is true that our bodies are formed from the dust of the earth, but as men, we are created in the image of God. We are more than dust if we fellowship with the Father. The devil uses the pressure of circumstances to make us believe that we are only dust. It is against this that the psalmists rebel. The psalmists cry out to God not to let this be. They cry for the resurrection, for revival, for eternal life. God has heard this cry which has sounded through the ages, and He has answered it in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus lays His right hand on the sons of Korah, and He says: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."²¹ Does God sleep? Of course not!

² I John 1:1

³ See Eph. 6:12

⁴ See Josh. 3:14-17; 6:16-20, and 10:12-14

⁵ See Gen. 15:16

⁶ Hosea 12:4

⁷ See I John 3:21,22

⁸ Rom. 16:20

⁹ Rev. 12:11

¹⁰ See Acts 16:25

¹¹ Isa. 53:7

¹² Matt. 26:14-16

¹³ See II Cor. 5:21

¹⁴ Isa. 53:4

¹⁵ Matt. 10:39; 16:24,25

¹⁶ Rom. 8:37

¹⁷ Rev. 6:16

¹⁸ Ps. 121:3,4

¹⁹ Mark 4:38

²⁰ Mark 4:40

²¹ Rev. 1:17,18

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