สดุดี 44:13 วิจารณ์

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.

Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours,.... Which is the common lot of Christians: Christ and his apostles have given reason for the saints in all ages to expect it, and have fortified their minds to bear it patiently, yea, to esteem it an honour, and greater riches than the treasures of the antichristian Egypt; a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us; being always represented as mean and despicable, and reckoned ignorant and accursed, and as the faith of the world, and the offscouring of all things.

"You made us a reproach to our neighbours; a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us" [Psalm 44:13].

"You have made us." Above, the Psalmist set forth the oppression of the saints; here he sets forth their vilification. And first he sets forth the vilification they suffered outwardly. Second he shows what results from this in the heart, at "All the day my shame." Concerning the first he sets forth the process of vilification from the point of view of the baseness of men and from the point of view of the baseness of the thing. From the point of view of the baseness of men, it is that first a reproach is spoken to someone, namely that he is a thief or an adulterer. Second he suffers this as a mockery. Third it grows into a byword, that is, into infamy. From the point of view of persons: first from his companion; second it passes to others; third it is spread abroad. And as to the first he says, "We have been made a reproach to our neighbors," that is, to brothers and relatives, because the saints were called sacrilegious, murderers, or other such things. And this mocking is done by gestures; hence he says, "a scoff." And by words; hence he says, "and a derision." A scoff is when someone mocks by wrinkling his nose. Derision is when with amusement or laughter he speaks things that pertain to blame. Jer. 20: "I am made a derision; all the day long everyone scoffs at me." And he says, "to those who are round about us"; as if to say: not only to neighbors, but now to others we have become an object of reproach and shame. Thus also the holy martyrs were derided by all. 1 Cor. 4: "We have become as the refuse of this world."

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).

(Compare Deu 28:37; Psa 79:4).

(Heb.: 44:14-17) To this defeat is now also added the shame that springs out of it. A distinction is made between the neighbouring nations, or those countries lying immediately round about Israel (סביבות, as in the exactly similar passage Psa 79:4, cf. Psa 80:7, which closely resembles it), and the nations of the earth that dwell farther away from Israel. משׁל is here a jesting, taunting proverb, and one that holds Israel up as an example of a nation undergoing chastisement (vid., Hab 2:6). The shaking of the head is, as in Psa 22:8, a gesture of malicious astonishment. In נגדּי תּמיד (as in Psa 38:18) we have both the permanent aspect or look and the perpetual consciousness. Instead of "shame covers my face," the expression is "the shame of my face covers me," i.e., it has overwhelmed my entire inward and outward being (cf. concerning the radical notions of בּושׁ, Ps 6:11, and חפר, Psa 34:6). The juxtaposition of "enemy and revengeful man" has its origin in Psa 8:3. In Psa 44:17 מקּול and מפּני alternate; the former is used of the impression made by the jeering voice, the other of the impression produced by the enraged mien.