Psalm 44:24 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.

Wherefore hidest thou thy face?.... See Psa 10:1; and forgettest our affliction and our oppression. Not that the Lord does really forget either the persons of his people, which he cannot, since they are engraven on the palms of his hands, and a book of remembrance is written for them: nor the afflictions of his people; he knows their souls in adversity; he chooses them in the furnace of affliction; he makes all afflictions work together for good, and delivers out of them. But because deliverance is not immediately wrought, and they sometimes continue long under their afflictions and oppressions, they seem to be forgotten by him, as during the ten persecutions and the long reign of antichrist.

We cannot see God’s face. But there is a place where, by faith, God shows himself to us. The place is with God; and if we were to stand on the rock—that is, in awareness of this flesh and in firmness of faith—we will see as much as can be allowed to us to see. We cannot see the fullness, but we can, in a certain sense, drink in some remnant of his light. Moses did not see the full and entire divinity that dwells in Christ corporeally. But he saw the back of Christ. As man he saw his splendor, he saw the glory of his passion, he saw him draw back for us the bolts of the heavenly kingdom.

"Wherefore hidest Thou Your face:" as if You were not present; as if you had forgotten us? "And forgettest our misery and trouble?" [Psalm 44:24].

"Why do you turn away your face?" The defect of knowledge happens in two ways: either because he does not see, and therefore he says, "You turn away." When God helps, he seems to look upon us; when he does not, he seems to turn away. Ex. 3: "Seeing I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt," etc. Ps. 27: "Turn not your face from me." Or, "Why do you turn away your face," so that we may not see it; for if we could see it, we would suffer no evil. Or because he has forgotten. And therefore he says, "You forget our need and our tribulation." Here he enumerates the evils we suffer. And there is a threefold evil: in external things, in the body, and in the soul. As to the first he says, "You forget our need," because literally they were poor on account of goods taken away. Heb. 10: "You received with joy the plundering of your goods." As to the second he says, "our tribulation," because "many are the tribulations of the just," Ps. 34.

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).