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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms XLIV].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM XLIV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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We are not told either who was the penmen of this psalm or when and
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upon what occasion it was penned, upon a melancholy occasion, we are
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sure, not so much to the penman himself (then we could have found
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occasions enough for it in the history of David and his afflictions),
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but to the church of God in general; and therefore, if we suppose it
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penned by David, yet we must attribute it purely to the Spirit of
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prophecy, and must conclude that the Spirit (whatever he himself had)
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had in view the captivity of Babylon, or the sufferings of the Jewish
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church under Antiochus, or rather the afflicted state of the Christian
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church in its early days (to which
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:22">ver. 22</A>
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is applied by the apostle,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:36">Rom. viii. 36</A>),
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and indeed in all its days on earth, for it is its determined lot that
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it must enter into the kingdom of heaven through many tribulations.
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And, if we have any gospel-psalms pointing at the privileges and
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comforts of Christians, why should we not have one pointing at their
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trials and exercises? It is a psalm calculated for a day of fasting and
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humiliation upon occasion of some public calamity, either pressing or
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threatening. In it the church is taught,
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I. To own with thankfulness, to the glory of God, the great things God
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has done for their fathers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:1-8">ver. 1-8</A>.
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II. To exhibit a memorial of their present calamitous estate,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:9-16">ver. 9-16</A>.
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III. To file a protestation of their integrity and adherence to God
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notwithstanding,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:17-22">ver. 17-22</A>.
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IV. To lodge a petition at the throne of grace for succour and relief,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:22-26">ver. 22-26</A>.
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In singing this psalm we ought to give God the praise of what he has
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formerly done for his people, to represent our own grievances, or
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sympathize with those parts of the church that are in distress, to
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engage ourselves, whatever happens, to cleave to God and duty, and then
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cheerfully to wait the event.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps44_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Grateful Acknowledgment of Past Mercies; Consecration to God.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>To the chief musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, <I>what</I>
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work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.
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2 <I>How</I> thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and
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plantedst them; <I>how</I> thou didst afflict the people, and cast
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them out.
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3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword,
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neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and
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thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a
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favour unto them.
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4 Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
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5 Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name
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will we tread them under that rise up against us.
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6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save
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me.
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7 But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to
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shame that hated us.
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8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for
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ever. Selah.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Some observe that most of the psalms that are entitled
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<I>Maschil--psalms of instruction,</I> are sorrowful psalms; for
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afflictions give instructions, and sorrow of spirit opens the ear to
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them. <I>Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest and teachest.</I></P>
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<P>
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In these verses the church, though now trampled upon, calls to
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remembrance the days of her triumph, of her triumph in God and over her
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enemies. This is very largely mentioned here,
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1. As an aggravation of the present distress. The yoke of servitude
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cannot but lie very heavily on the necks of those that used to wear the
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crown of victory; and the tokens of God's displeasure must needs be
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most grievous to those that have been long accustomed to the tokens of
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his favour.
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2. As an encouragement to hope that God would yet turn again their
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captivity and return in mercy to them; accordingly he mixes prayers and
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comfortable expectations with his record of former mercies.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. Their commemoration of the great things God had formerly done for
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them.</P>
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<P>
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1. In general
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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<I>Our fathers have told us what work thou didst in their days.</I>
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Observe,
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(1.) The many operations of providence are here spoken of as one
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work--"They have told us the <I>work</I> which thou didst;" for there
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is a wonderful harmony and uniformity in all that God does, and the
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many wheels make but one wheel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+10:13">Ezek. x. 13</A>),
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many works make but one work.
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(2.) It is a debt which every age owes to posterity to keep an account
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of God's works of wonder, and to transmit the knowledge of them to the
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next generation. Those that went before us told us what God did in
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their days, we are bound to tell those that come after us what he has
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done in our days, and let them do the like justice to those that shall
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succeed them; thus shall <I>one generation praise his works to
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another</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+145:4">Ps. cxlv. 4</A>),
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the <I>fathers to the children shall make known his truth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+38:19">Isa. xxxviii. 19</A>.
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(3.) We must not only make mention of the work God has done in our own
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days, but must also acquaint ourselves and our children with what he
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did in the times of old, long before our own days; and of this we have
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in the scripture a sure word of history, as sure as the word of
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prophecy.
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(4.) Children must diligently attend to what their parents tell them of
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the wonderful works of God, and keep it in remembrance, as that which
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will be of great use to them.
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(5.) Former experiences of God's power and goodness are strong supports
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to faith and powerful pleas in prayer under present calamities. See how
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Gideon insists upon it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:13">Judg. vi. 13</A>):
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<I>Where are all his miracles which our fathers told us of?</I></P>
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<P>
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2. In particular, their fathers had told them,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) How wonderfully God planted Israel in Canaan at first,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
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He drove out the natives, to make room for Israel, afflicted them, and
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cast them out, gave them as dust to Israel's sword and as driven
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stubble to their bow. The many complete victories which Israel obtained
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over the Canaanites, under the command of Joshua, were not to be
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attributed to themselves, nor could they challenge the glory of them.
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[1.] They were not owing to their own merit, but to God's favour and
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free grace: It was <I>through the light of thy countenance, because
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thou hadst a favour to them. Not for thy righteousness, or the
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uprightness of thy heart, doth God drive them out from before thee</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:5,6">Deut. ix. 5, 6</A>),
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but because God would <I>perform the oath which he swore unto their
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fathers,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:8">Deut. vii. 8</A>.
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The less praise this allows us the more comfort it administers to us,
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that we may see all our successes and enlargements coming to us from
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the favour of God and the light of his countenance.
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[2.] They were not owing to their own might, but to God's power engaged
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for them, without which all their own efforts and endeavours would have
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been fruitless. It was not by their own sword that they got the land
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in possession, though they had great numbers of mighty men; nor did
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their own arm save them from being driven back by the Canaanites and
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put to shame; but it was God's <I>right hand</I> and his <I>arm.</I> He
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fought for Israel, else they would have fought in vain; it was through
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him that they did valiantly and victoriously. It was God that planted
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Israel in that good land, as the careful husbandman plants a tree, from
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which he promises himself fruit. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+80:8">Ps. lxxx. 8</A>.
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This is applicable to the planting of the Christian church in the
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world, by the preaching of the gospel. Paganism was wonderfully driven
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out, as the Canaanites, not all at once, but by little and little, not
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by any human policy or power (for God chose to do it by the weak and
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foolish things of the world), but by the wisdom and power of
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God--Christ by his Spirit went forth conquering and to conquer; and the
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remembrance of that is a great support and comfort to those that groan
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under the yoke of antichristian tyranny, for to the state of the church
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under the power of the New-Testament Babylon, some think (and
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particularly the learned Amyraldus), the complaints in the latter part
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of this psalm may very fitly be accommodated. He that by his power and
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goodness planted a church for himself in the world will certainly
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support it by the same power and goodness; and the <I>gates of hell
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shall not prevail against it.</I></P>
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<P>
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(2.) How frequently he had given them success against their enemies
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that attempted to disturb them in the possession of that good land
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>Thou hast,</I> many a time, <I>saved us from our enemies,</I> and
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hast put to flight, and so put to shame, <I>those that hated us,</I>
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witness the successes of the judges against the nations that oppressed
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Israel. Many a time have the persecutors of the Christian church, and
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those that hate it, been put to shame by the power of truth,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:10">Acts vi. 10</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. The good use they make of this record, and had formerly made of it,
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in consideration of the great things God had done for their fathers of
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old.</P>
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<P>
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1. They had taken God for their sovereign Lord, had sworn allegiance to
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him, and put themselves under his protection
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>Thou art my King, O God!</I> He speaks in the name of the church, as
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:12">Ps. lxxiv. 12</A>),
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<I>Thou art my King of old.</I> God, as a king, has made laws for his
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church, provided for the peace and good order of it, judged for it,
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pleaded its cause, fought its battles, and protected it; it is his
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kingdom in the world, and ought to be subject to him, and to pay him
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tribute. Or the psalmist speaks for himself here: "Lord, <I>Thou art my
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King;</I> whither shall I go with my petitions, but to thee? The favour
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I ask is not for myself, but for thy church." Note, It is every one's
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duty to improve his personal interest at the throne of grace for the
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public welfare and prosperity of the people of God; as Moses, "<I>If I
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have found grace in thy sight,</I> guide thy people,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+33:13">Exod. xxxiii. 13</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. They had always applied to him by prayer for deliverance when at any
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time they were in distress: <I>Command deliverances for Jacob.</I>
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Observe,
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(1.) The enlargedness of their desire. They pray for deliverances, not
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one, but many, as many as they had need of, how many soever they were,
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a series of deliverances, a deliverance from every danger.
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(2.) The strength of their faith in the power of God. They do not say,
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<I>Work deliverances,</I> but <I>Command them,</I> which denotes his
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doing it easily and instantly--<I>Speak and it is done</I> (such was
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the faith of the centurion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+8:8">Matt. viii. 8</A>,
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<I>Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed</I>); it denotes
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also his doing it effectually: "Command it, as one having authority,
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whose command will be obeyed." <I>Where the word of a king is there is
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power,</I> much more the word of the King of kings.</P>
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<P>
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3. They had trusted and triumphed in him. As they owned it was not
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their own sword and bow that had saved them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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so neither did they trust to their own sword or bow to save them for
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the future
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>I will not trust in my bow,</I> nor in any of my military
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preparations, as if those would stand me in stead without God. No;
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<I>through thee will we push down our enemies</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>);
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we will attempt it in thy strength, relying only upon that, and not
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upon the number or valour of our forces; and, having thee on our side,
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we will not doubt of success in the attempt. <I>Through thy name</I>
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(by virtue of thy wisdom directing us, thy power strengthening us and
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working for us, and thy promise securing success to us) we shall, we
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<I>will, tread those under that rise up against us.</I>"</P>
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<P>
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4. They had made him their joy and praise
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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"<I>In God we have boasted;</I> in him we do and will boast, every day,
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and all the day long." When their enemies boasted of their strength and
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successes, as Sennacherib and Rabshakeh hectored Hezekiah, they owned
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they had nothing to boast of, in answer thereunto, but their relation
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to God and their interest in him; and, if he were for them, they could
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set all the world at defiance. <I>Let him that glories glory in the
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Lord,</I> and let that for ever exclude all other boasting. Let those
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that trust in God make their boast in him, for they know whom they have
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trusted; let them <I>boast in him all the day long,</I> for it is a
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subject that can never be exhausted. But let them withal <I>praise his
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name for ever;</I> if they have the comfort of his name, let them give
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unto him the glory due to it.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps44_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps44_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Afflicted Condition of Israel.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not
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forth with our armies.
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10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which
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hate us spoil for themselves.
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11 Thou hast given us like sheep <I>appointed</I> for meat; and hast
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scattered us among the heathen.
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12 Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase
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<I>thy wealth</I> by their price.
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13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a
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derision to them that are round about us.
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14 Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the
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head among the people.
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15 My confusion <I>is</I> continually before me, and the shame of my
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face hath covered me,
|
|
16 For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by
|
|
reason of the enemy and avenger.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The people of God here complain to him of the low and afflicted
|
|
condition that they were now in, under the prevailing power of their
|
|
enemies and oppressors, which was the more grievous to them because
|
|
<I>they</I> were now trampled upon, who had always been used, in their
|
|
struggles with their neighbours, to win the day and get the upper hand,
|
|
and because those were now their oppressors whom they had many a time
|
|
triumphed over and made tributaries, and especially because they had
|
|
boasted in their God with great assurance that he would still protect
|
|
and prosper them, which made the distress they were in, and the
|
|
disgrace they were under, the more shameful. Let us see what the
|
|
complaint is.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. That they wanted the usual tokens of God's favour to them and
|
|
presence with them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou hast cast off;</I> thou seemest to have cast us off and our
|
|
cause, and to have cast off thy wonted care of us and concern for us,
|
|
and so hast put us to shame, for we boasted of the constancy and
|
|
perpetuity of thy favour. Our armies go forth as usual, but they are
|
|
put to flight; we gain no ground, but lose what we have gained, for
|
|
thou goest not forth with them, for, if thou didst, which way soever
|
|
they turned they would prosper; but it is quite contrary." Note, God's
|
|
people, when they are cast down, are tempted to think themselves cast
|
|
off and forsaken of God; but it is a mistake. <I>Hath God cast away
|
|
his people? God forbid,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:1">Rom. xi. 1</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. That they were put to the worst before their enemies in the field
|
|
of battle
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy,</I> as Joshua complained
|
|
when they met with a repulse at Ai
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+7:8">Josh. vii. 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
"We are dispirited, and have lost the ancient valour of Israelites; we
|
|
flee, we fall, before those that used to flee and fall before us; and
|
|
then those that hate us have the plunder of our camp and of our
|
|
country; they spoil for themselves, and reckon all their own that they
|
|
can lay their hands on. Attempts to shake off the Babylonish yoke have
|
|
been ineffectual, and we have rather lost ground by them."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. That they were doomed to the sword and to captivity
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat.</I> They make no
|
|
more scruple of killing an Israelite than of killing a sheep; nay, like
|
|
the butcher, they make a trade of it, they take a pleasure in it as a
|
|
hungry man in his meat; and we are led with as much ease, and as little
|
|
resistance, as a lamb to the slaughter; many are slain, and the rest
|
|
scattered among the heathen, continually insulted by their malice or in
|
|
danger of being infected by their iniquities." They looked upon
|
|
themselves as bought and sold, and charged it upon God, <I>Thou sellest
|
|
thy people,</I> when they should have charged it upon their own sin.
|
|
<I>For your iniquities have you sold yourselves,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:1">Isa. l. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
However, thus far was right that they looked above the instruments of
|
|
their trouble and kept their eye upon God, as well knowing that their
|
|
worst enemies had no power against them <I>but what was given them from
|
|
above;</I> they own it was God that <I>delivered them into the hand of
|
|
the ungodly,</I> as that which is sold is delivered to the buyer.
|
|
<I>Thou sellest them for nought, and dost not increase in their
|
|
price</I> (so it may be read); "thou dost not sell them by auction, to
|
|
those that will bid most for them, but in haste, to those that will bid
|
|
first for them; any one shall have them that will." Or, as we read it,
|
|
<I>Thou dost not increase thy wealth by their price,</I> intimating
|
|
that they could have suffered this contentedly if they had been sure
|
|
that it would redound to the glory of God and that his interest might
|
|
be some way served by their sufferings; but it was quite contrary:
|
|
Israel's disgrace turned to God's dishonour, so that he was so far from
|
|
being a gainer in his glory by the sale of them that it should seem he
|
|
was greatly a loser by it; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+Isa+52:5,Eze+36:20">Isa. lii. 5; Ezek. xxxvi. 20</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. That they were loaded with contempt, and all possible ignominy was
|
|
put upon them. In this also they acknowledge God: "<I>Thou makest us a
|
|
reproach;</I> thou bringest those calamities upon us which occasion the
|
|
reproach, and thou permittest their virulent tongues to smite us." They
|
|
complain,
|
|
|
|
1. That they were ridiculed and bantered, and were looked upon as the
|
|
most contemptible people under the sun; their troubles were turned to
|
|
their reproach, and upon the account of them they were derided.
|
|
|
|
2. That their neighbours, those about them, from whom they could not
|
|
withdraw, were most abusive to them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. That the heathen, the people that were strangers to the commonwealth
|
|
of Israel and aliens to the covenants of promise, made them a by-word,
|
|
and shook the head at them, as triumphing in their fall,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
4. That the reproach was constant and incessant
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>My confusion is continually before me.</I> The church in general,
|
|
the psalmist in particular, were continually teased and vexed with the
|
|
insults of the enemy. Concerning those that are going down every one
|
|
cries, "Down with them."
|
|
|
|
5. That it was very grievous, and in a manner overwhelmed him: <I>The
|
|
shame of my face has covered me.</I> He blushed for sin, or rather for
|
|
the dishonour done to God, and then it was a holy blushing.
|
|
|
|
6. That it reflected upon God himself; the reproach which the enemy and
|
|
the avenger cast upon them was downright blasphemy against God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:16">
|
|
<I>v.</I> 16</A>,
|
|
|
|
and
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+19:3">2 Kings xix. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
There was therefore strong reason to believe that God would appear for
|
|
them. As there is no trouble more grievous to a generous and ingenuous
|
|
mind than reproach and calumny, so there is none more grievous to a
|
|
holy gracious soul than blasphemy and dishonour done to God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ps44_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps44_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps44_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps44_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps44_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps44_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps44_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps44_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps44_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps44_26"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Israel's Appeal to God.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>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 <I>us</I> not off
|
|
for ever.
|
|
24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, <I>and</I> 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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The people of God, being greatly afflicted and oppressed, here apply to
|
|
him; whither else should they go?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. By way of appeal, concerning their integrity, which he only is an
|
|
infallible judge of, and which he will certainly be the rewarder of.
|
|
Two things they call God to witness to:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. That, though they suffered these hard things, yet they kept close to
|
|
God and to their duty
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>All this has come upon us,</I> and it is as bad perhaps as bad can
|
|
be, <I>yet have we not forgotten thee,</I> neither cast off the
|
|
thoughts of thee nor deserted the worship of thee; for, though we
|
|
cannot deny but that we have dealt foolishly, yet we have not <I>dealt
|
|
falsely in thy covenant,</I> so as to cast thee off and take to other
|
|
gods. Though idolaters were our conquerors, we did not therefore
|
|
entertain any more favourable thoughts of their idols and idolatries;
|
|
though thou hast seemed to forsake us and withdraw from us, yet we have
|
|
not therefore forsaken thee." The trouble they had been long in was
|
|
very great: "We have been <I>sorely broken in the place of dragons,</I>
|
|
among men as fierce, and furious, and cruel, as dragons. We have been
|
|
<I>covered with the shadow of death,</I> that is, we have been under
|
|
deep melancholy and apprehensive of nothing short of death. We have
|
|
been wrapped up in obscurity, and buried alive; and thou hast thus
|
|
broken us, thou hast thus covered us
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet we have not harboured any hard thoughts of thee, nor meditated a
|
|
retreat from thy service. Though thou hast slain us, we have continued
|
|
to trust in thee: <I>Our heart has not turned back;</I> we have not
|
|
secretly withdrawn our affections from thee, neither have our steps,
|
|
either in our religious worship or in our conversation, <I>declined
|
|
from they way</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
the way which thou hast appointed us to walk in." When the heart turns
|
|
back the steps will soon decline; for it is the evil heart of unbelief
|
|
that inclines to depart from God. Note, We may the better bear our
|
|
troubles, how pressing soever, if in them we still hold fast our
|
|
integrity. While our troubles do not drive us from our duty to God we
|
|
should not suffer them to drive us from our comfort in God; for he will
|
|
not leave us if we do not leave him. For the proof of their integrity
|
|
they take God's omniscience to witness, which is as much the comfort of
|
|
the upright in heart as it is the terror of hypocrites
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>If we have forgotten the name of our God,</I> under pretence that
|
|
he had forgotten us, or in our distress have <I>stretched out our hands
|
|
to a strange god,</I> as more likely to help us, <I>shall not God
|
|
search this out?</I> Shall he not know it more fully and distinctly
|
|
than we know that which we have with the greatest care and diligence
|
|
searched out? Shall he not judge it, and call us to an account for it?"
|
|
Forgetting God was a heart-sin, and stretching our the hand to a
|
|
strange god was often a secret sin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:12">Ezek. viii. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
But heart-sins and secret sins are known to God, and must be reckoned
|
|
for; for <I>he knows the secrets of the heart,</I> and therefore is a
|
|
infallible judge of the words and actions.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That they suffered these hard things because they kept close to God
|
|
and to their duty
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
"It is <I>for thy sake that we are killed all the day long,</I> because
|
|
we stand related to thee, are called by thy name, call upon thy name,
|
|
and will not worship other gods." In this the Spirit of prophecy had
|
|
reference to those who suffered even unto death for the testimony of
|
|
Christ, to whom it is applied,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:36">Rom. viii. 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
So many were killed, and put to such lingering deaths, that they were
|
|
in the killing all the day long; so universally was this practised that
|
|
when a man became a Christian he reckoned himself as a <I>sheep
|
|
appointed for the slaughter.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. By way of petition, with reference to their present distress, that
|
|
God would, in his own due time, work deliverance for them.
|
|
|
|
1. Their request is very importunate: <I>Awake, arise,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Arise for our help; redeem us</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>);
|
|
|
|
come speedily and powerfully to our relief,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+80:2">Ps. lxxx. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Stir up thy strength, and come and save us.</I> They had complained
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
|
|
|
|
that God had sold them; here they pray
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>)
|
|
|
|
that God would redeem them; for there is no appealing from God, but by
|
|
appealing to him. If he sell us, it is not any one else that can redeem
|
|
us; the same hand that tears must heal, that smites must bind up,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:1">Hos. vi. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
They had complained
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou hast cast us off;</I> but here they pray
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>Cast us not off forever;</I> let us not be finally forsaken of
|
|
God."
|
|
|
|
2. The expostulations are very moving: <I>Why sleepest thou?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps; but, when he does not
|
|
immediately appear for the deliverance of his people, they are tempted
|
|
to think he sleeps. The expression is figurative (as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:65">Ps. lxxviii. 65</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep</I>); but it was applicable
|
|
to Christ in the letter
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+8:24">Matt. viii. 24</A>);
|
|
|
|
he was asleep when his disciples were in a storm, and they awoke him,
|
|
saying, <I>Lord, save us, we perish. "Wherefore hidest thou thy
|
|
face,</I> that we may not see thee and the light of thy countenance?"
|
|
Or, "that thou mayest not see us and our distresses? Thou forgettest
|
|
our affliction and our oppression, for it still continues, and we see
|
|
no way open for our deliverance." And,
|
|
|
|
3. The pleas are very proper, not their own merit and righteousness,
|
|
though they had the testimony of their consciences concerning their
|
|
integrity, but they plead the poor sinner's pleas.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Their own misery, which made them the proper objects of the divine
|
|
compassion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Our soul is bowed down to the dust</I> under prevailing grief and
|
|
fear. We have become as creeping things, the most despicable animals:
|
|
<I>Our belly cleaves unto the earth;</I> we cannot lift up ourselves,
|
|
neither revive our own drooping spirits nor recover ourselves out of
|
|
our low and sad condition, and we lie exposed to be trodden on by every
|
|
insulting foe."
|
|
|
|
2. God's mercy: "<I>O redeem us for they mercies' sake;</I> we depend
|
|
upon the goodness of thy nature, which is the glory of thy name
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+34:6">Exod. xxxiv. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and upon those sure mercies of David which are conveyed by the covenant
|
|
to all his spiritual seed."</P>
|
|
|
|
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