Psalm 44:17 ¶ All this is
come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in
thy covenant. 18 Our heart is not turned
back, neither have our steps declined from thy way; 19 Though thou hast sore broken us in the place
of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. 20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or
stretched out our hands to a strange god; 21
Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all
the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. 23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast
us not off for ever. 24 Wherefore
hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the
dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth. 26
Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.
The Psalmist has gone from glorifying God and His actions on
Israel’s behalf to lamenting God’s anger at them, to here, in this passage,
pleading that in spite of the pain God has allowed to come into their lives
they have remained faithful to Him. He then pleads with God deliver them for
the sake of His mercies.
For verse 17 think of this;
Daniel 9:13 As it is
written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our
prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and
understand thy truth.
18 reminds of Job’s declaration;
Job 23:11 My foot hath held
his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. 12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment
of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary
food.
For verse 19 this stuck out to me;
Psalm 60:1 O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us,
thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.
For some reason the next two verses made me think of Job, chapter
31, declaring his own righteousness.
Job 31:1 ¶ I made a
covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? 2 For what portion of God is there from above?
and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? 3 Is
not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the
workers of iniquity? 4 Doth not he see
my ways, and count all my steps? 5 If I
have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; 6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that
God may know mine integrity. 7 If my
step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if
any blot hath cleaved to mine hands; 8
Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted
out.
9 ¶ If mine heart have been deceived by a woman,
or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door; 10 Then let my wife grind unto another, and let
others bow down upon her. 11 For this
is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the
judges. 12 For it is a fire that
consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase. 13 If I did despise the cause
of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with
me; 14 What then shall I do when God
riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? 15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him?
and did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 ¶ If I have withheld the poor from their
desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; 17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the
fatherless hath not eaten thereof; 18
(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father,
and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;) 19 If I have seen any perish for want of
clothing, or any poor without
covering; 20 If his loins
have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 If I have lifted up my hand against
the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: 22 Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder
blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. 23
For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness
I could not endure.
24 ¶ If I have made gold my hope, or have said to
the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; 25
If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had
gotten much; 26 If I
beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
27 And my heart hath been secretly
enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: 28
This also were an iniquity to be
punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is
above. 29 If I rejoiced at the
destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:
30 Neither have I
suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. 31 If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that
we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied. 32
The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the
traveller.
33 ¶ If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by
hiding mine iniquity in my bosom: 34 Did
I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I
kept silence, and
went not out of the door? 35
Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would
answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book. 36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and
bind it as a crown to me. 37 I would
declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.
38 If my land cry against me, or that
the furrows likewise thereof complain; 39
If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the
owners thereof to lose their life: 40
Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The
words of Job are ended.
Paul quotes verse 22 in Romans 8:36.
David used a turn of a phrase like in verse 23 earlier;
Psalm 7:6 Arise, O LORD, in
thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for
me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
And then verse 24 suggests also an earlier thought;
Psalm 10:1 ¶ Why standest
thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
Then;
Psalm 66:11 Thou broughtest
us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
It is clear to me that there is no lamentation you or I could
make, no feeling of being abandoned by God, no sorrow at His judgment or the
terrible things He might allow happen to us whether we deserved it or not that
isn’t reflected in the words of a Bible writer. It’s all right here in this
book.
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