Psalm 44 is the 44th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint version of the bible, and generally in its Latin translations, this psalm is Psalm 43. In the Vulgate, it begins "Deus auribus nostris audivimus patres nostri adnuntiaverunt". The psalm was composed by the sons of Korah and is classified in the series of lamentations of the people. The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies and has often been set to music.

Text

Hebrew

The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).

King James Version

Structure

Usually, the Psalm is organized as follows: Another scheme put forward to reflect the flow of Psalm 44 is as follows (using English versification): As a central message of the psalm Hermann Gunkel noted the contrast between past and present events. In Jewish traditions, it is viewed as suffering in the face of the golden past, which all the more shows the plight of the current situation.

Structure and theme

The psalm begins with a recounting of the days of old in verse 2, that God had driven out the nations and planted the Israelites, placing this well after the periods of |the conquest and the judges. The reference to scattering the Israelites among the nations in verse 11 could point to a date after either the Assyrian captivity in 722 B.C. or after the Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C. However, some have noted that the reference to God not going out with their armies in verse 9 would indicate that the Jewish nation still had standing armies at the time of the writing of this psalm, and thus the setting would be prior to Judah's exile to Babylon. In addition, the psalmist's insistence in verses 17 and 18 that their plight was not due to national sin is further confirmation that the psalmist is not referring to a time after the Babylonian exile, which the prophets made clear was, in fact, a result of idolatry and turning away from the Lord. By no means conclusive, a conflict is recorded in Isaiah 36, 2 Chronicles 32, and 2 Kings 18 matching the above suggested timeline for Psalm 44. The writer of the Explaining the Book commentary notes that neither Charles Spurgeon nor Matthew Henry felt that they could be clear about the setting for this psalm. The Jerusalem Bible suggests that verses 17-22 "may perhaps have been added later to adapt the psalm to the persecutions of the Maccabean period".

Uses

Judaism

New Testament

Verse 22 is referenced by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament book "the Epistle to the Romans 8:36" in the context of realities that can make Christians think that they are separated from God's love.

Book of Common Prayer

In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the ninth day of the month.

Literary form

Psalm 44 is a psalm of communal lament, indicating that the suffering, in this case from being defeated by enemies, is communal. This Psalm reflects each of five key elements of a lament, or complaint, Psalm: "We have heard with our ears, O God, our ancestors have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old" (44:1) In this case, the Psalmist is speaking directly to God. In these verses, the Psalmist laments that God has been slow to act and has a responsibility to save these people from their enemies. The Psalmist recites a history of God's saving acts, which includes reference to God commanding victories for Jacob. These petitions can be quite specific. In verse 26, the Psalmist gives a direct command to God to "Rise up, come to our help." This particular Psalm includes a brief vow of thanksgiving in verse 8, when the Psalmist writes "In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever" (44:8)

A note about superscripts

The superscript of Psalm 44 reads "To the Leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil". It is addressed to the leader of the Korahites, who were likely a group of people who played a role in the music or worship of the temple. The term "Maskil" means "artistic song" and its inclusion in the superscript of this Psalm indicates that it was originally written with artistic skill.

Musical settings

Heinrich Schütz wrote a setting of a paraphrase of Psalm 44 in German, "Wir haben, Herr, mit Fleiß gehört", SWV 141, for the Becker Psalter, published first in 1628.