สดุดี 44:5 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.

Through thee will we push down our enemies,.... The Chaldee paraphrase renders it, "through the Word": the essential Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the church's King and God, and has wrought out complete deliverance and salvation for his people; and he is the horn of salvation, by which, though weak in themselves, they push down their enemies, which are many and mighty, and they are more than conquerors over them: the metaphor is taken from creatures pushing with their horns those that oppose them, and in defence of themselves; and there seems to be an allusion to Deu 33:17; through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us; in the name of the Lord the saints set up their banners, and in his name they come forth and fight with their spiritual enemies, that rise up against them, as sin, Satan, and wicked men; and in the name, and through the power of the Lord, they tread them down as mire in the streets; and before long Satan will be wholly bruised under them; and the antichristian party shall be trodden down by them, and be as ashes under the soles of their feet; see Rom 16:20.

But perhaps it is only what is past that has been described to us: but nothing of the kind is to be hoped for by us for the future. Nay indeed, it is still to be hoped for. "Through You will we winnow away our enemies" [Psalm 44:5]. Our fathers then have declared to us a work that Thou did "in their days, and in the days of old," that Your hand destroyed the Gentiles: that Thou "cast out the peoples; and planted them." Such was the past; but what is to be hereafter? "Through You we shall winnow away our enemies." A time will come, when all the enemies of Christians will be winnowed away like chaff, be blown like dust, and be cast off from the earth....

In the Scriptures it is often the custom for horns to designate the eminence of faith and of the virtues with which we ought to strike out against and overcome the hostile advances of our ancient enemy, joining the prophet in saying to the Lord, “Through you we will fight against our enemies with the horn.”

"Through you we shall push back our enemies." Here he sets forth the confidence he has in God. And first he proposes what he hopes; second he shows that he attributes this to God; third he sets forth the cause. He hopes for help against enemies, against whom he has a twofold help: one, that he may conquer the enemy; and as to this he says, "Through you," that is, by your power, not by our own, "we shall scatter with our horn," that is, our enemies, whether in the present or in the future. And he says "horn," by way of likeness, because the attacking power of the ox is in its horn. And he says "we shall scatter," because on the threshing floor the chaff is separated from the wheat; so at the judgment the evil will be taken away and the good will remain. The other help is that he not be conquered by the enemy; and as to this he says, "In your name we shall despise those who rise up against us," that is, by your power we shall despise all our enemies in the future or in the present, because they could do us no harm.

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).

The figure drawn from the habits of the ox.