Psalm 44:18 Komentář

We are not told either who was the penmen of this psalm or when and upon what occasion it was penned, upon a melancholy occasion, we are sure, not so much to the penman himself (then we could have found occasions enough for it in the history of David and his afflictions), but to the church of God in general; and therefore, if we suppose it penned by David, yet we must attribute it purely to the Spirit of prophecy, and must conclude that the Spirit (whatever he himself had) had in view the captivity of Babylon, or the sufferings of the Jewish church under Antiochus, or rather the afflicted state of the Christian church in its early days (to which Psa 44:22 is applied by the apostle, Rom 8:36), and indeed in all its days on earth, for it is its determined lot that it must enter into the kingdom of heaven through many tribulations. And, if we have any gospel-psalms pointing at the privileges and comforts of Christians, why should we not have one pointing at their trials and exercises? It is a psalm calculated for a day of fasting and humiliation upon occasion of some public calamity, either pressing or threatening. In it the church is taught, I. To own with thankfulness, to the glory of God, the great things God has done for their fathers (Psa 44:1-8). II. To exhibit a memorial of their present calamitous estate (Psa 44:9-16). III. To file a protestation of their integrity and adherence to God notwithstanding (Psa 44:17-22). IV. To lodge a petition at the throne of grace for succour and relief (Psa 44:22-26). In singing this psalm we ought to give God the praise of what he has formerly done for his people, to represent our own grievances, or sympathize with those parts of the church that are in distress, to engage ourselves, whatever happens, to cleave to God and duty, and then cheerfully to wait the event. To the chief musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 44 To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil. It is not certain who was the writer of this psalm, nor when it was written, and to what time it belongs: some have thought it was composed by one of the Babylonish captivity, and that it gives an account of the church and people of God in those times; but what is said in Psa 44:17 does not seem to agree with Dan 9:5. It is most likely it was written by David, and to him the Targum ascribes it; though it does not respect his times; since what is said in Psa 44:9 cannot agree with them; yet he being a prophet might, under a prophetic influence, speak of future times, and represent the church in them. Some are of opinion that he prophetically speaks of the times of the Maccabees and of Antiochus, when the church and people of God suffered much for the true religion, and abode steadfast in it; so Theodoret: but rather the whole may be applied to the times of the New Testament, since Psa 44:22 is cited by the Apostle Paul, Rom 8:36, and is applied to his times, and as descriptive of the suffering state and condition of the church then; and which seems to be the guide and key for the opening of the whole psalm.

Our heart is not turned back,.... To its original hardness, blindness, and bondage, to its former sin and folly, to cherish, gratify, and fulfil its lusts and desires; not from God, from love to him, faith in him, and desires after him; nor from his worship and service; their trials had no such influence upon them as to cause them to apostatize from God, neither in heart, nor in action; neither have our steps declined from thy way; from the way of his commandments, from the paths of holiness, truth, and faith, being directed and guided therein by the counsel of the Lord, and kept and preserved by his power.

"Our heart has not turned back; and You have turned aside our goings out of Your way" [Psalm 44:18]. See here is "understanding," in that "our heart has not gone back;" that we have not "forgotten You, have not behaved frowardly in Your covenant;" placed as we are in great tribulations, and persecutions of the Gentiles. "You have turned aside our goings out of Your way." Our "goings" were in the pleasures of the world; our "goings" were in the midst of temporal prosperities. You have taken "our goings out of Your way;" and hast shown us how "strait and narrow is the way that leads unto life." [Matthew 7:14] What is meant by, "hast turned aside our goings out of Your way"? It is as if He said, You are placed in the midst of tribulation; you are suffering many things; you have already lost many things that you loved in this life: but I have not abandoned you on the way, the narrow way that I am teaching you. You were seeking "broad ways." What do I tell you? This is the way we go to everlasting life; by the way ye wish to walk, you are going to death. How "broad and wide is the road that leads to destruction: and" how "many there be that find it! How strait and narrow the way that leads unto life, and" how "few there be" that walk therein! [Matthew 7:13-14] Who are the few? They who patiently endure tribulations, patiently endure temptations; who in all these troubles do not "fall away:" who do not rejoice in the word "for a season" only; and in the time of tribulation fade away, as on the sun's arising; but who have the "root" of "love," according to what we have lately heard read in the Gospel....

"For You have brought us low in the place of infirmity" [Psalm 44:18]: therefore You will exalt us in the place of strength.

Likewise they are stable in the good works of justice, which proceed from an upright heart; and therefore he says, "Our heart has not turned back," through the abandonment of charity. Lk. 9: "No one putting his hand to the plow," etc. Is. 1: "They are turned away backward," namely sinners. But the charity of the martyrs was in no way diminished, as regards the works themselves. And he says, "Nor have you turned aside our steps from your way"; as if to say: you have not permitted our actions to turn aside from the way of your justice. Is. 30: "This is the way; walk in it." Or, "You have turned aside," according to another reading, "our steps," that is, our paths are those to which our nature leads us of itself, namely according to concupiscence. And thus, because it leads to the ways of our heart, in which one should not walk, you have driven such ways away from your way.

In a time of great national distress, probably in David's reign, the Psalmist recounts God's gracious dealings in former times, and the confidence they had learned to repose in Him. After a vivid picture of their calamities, he humbly expostulates against God's apparent forgetfulness, reminding Him of their faithfulness and mourning their heavy sorrows. (Psa. 44:1-26) This period is that of the settlement of Canaan (Jos 24:12; Jdg 6:3). have told--or, "related" (compare Exo 10:2).

declined--turned aside from God's law.