Catholic Commentary on Psalm 44

"Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." (Psalm 44:22)

The Community Lament

Psalm 44 is one of the great communal lament psalms, and it is among the most theologically courageous passages in the Bible. The community has been defeated in battle, scattered among the nations, sold for a pittance. They have not forgotten God. They have not turned to another god. They have not violated the covenant. And yet disaster has come. The psalm refuses to explain this away. It sits in the gap between the people's faithfulness and their suffering, and it presses the question to God directly.

The opening verses rehearse the great acts of God in history: you drove out the nations and planted our fathers; you performed great deeds that only your arm could accomplish. Then the pivot: but now you have rejected and humbled us. You sold your people for a pittance. You made us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to those around us. The catalogue of disasters is direct, unsparing, and addressed to God himself as the one responsible. This is not rebellion. It is the cry of a community that has done what was asked of it and cannot understand what is happening.

We Have Not Forgotten You

All this came upon us, though we had not forgotten you; we had not been false to your covenant. Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path. This is the theodicy of the righteous sufferer: not David's personal guilt of Psalm 51 but the community's genuine fidelity in the face of disaster. St. Paul quotes verse 22, "we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered," in Romans 8 as a description of the Christian life in its most difficult moments. The community that suffers for God's sake is not abandoned; nothing can separate it from the love of God in Christ.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Psalm 44 gives permission to the community that suffers without explanation. When the Church is persecuted, when Christians are scattered, when faithful people suffer without obvious reason, they can pray Psalm 44: we have not forgotten you; we have not been false to your covenant. Awake, Lord. Rise up and help us. The prayer is itself an act of faith. Only the person who still believes can address God this way.

Prayer

Lord God, you know our faithfulness and our suffering. We have not forgotten you. Rise up and help us; redeem us because of your unfailing love. Let nothing separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

44
Redeem Us, O God
(Romans 8:35–39)
For the choirmaster. A Maskil * 44:0 Maskil is probably a musical or liturgical term; used for Psalms 32, 42, 44–45, 52–55, 74, 78, 88–89, and 142. of the sons of Korah.
 
1 We have heard with our ears, O God;
our fathers have told us
the work You did in their days,
in the days of old.
2 With Your hand You drove out the nations
and planted our fathers there;
You crushed the peoples
and cast them out.
3 For it was not by their sword that they took the land;
their arm did not bring them victory.
It was by Your right hand,
Your arm, and the light of Your face,
because You favored them.
 
4 You are my King, O God,
who ordains victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we repel our foes;
through Your name we trample our enemies.
6 For I do not trust in my bow,
nor does my sword save me.† 44:6 Or give me victory; similarly in verse 7
7 For You save us from our enemies;
You put those who hate us to shame.
8 In God we have boasted all day long,
and Your name we will praise forever.
Selah
9 But You have rejected and humbled us;
You no longer go forth with our armies.
10 You have made us retreat from the foe,
and those who hate us have plundered us.
11 You have given us up as sheep to be devoured;
You have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell Your people for nothing;
no profit do You gain from their sale.
 
13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
a mockery and derision to those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock ‡ 44:14 Literally a shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face,
16 at the voice of the scorner and reviler,
because of the enemy, bent on revenge.
 
17 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten You
or betrayed Your covenant.
18 Our hearts have not turned back;
our steps have not strayed from Your path.
19 But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals;§ 44:19 Or serpents or dragons
You have covered us with deepest darkness.
 
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God have discovered,
since He knows the secrets of the heart?
22 Yet for Your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.* 44:22 Cited in Romans 8:36
 
23 Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping?
Arise! Do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You hide Your face
and forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our soul has sunk to the dust;
our bodies cling to the earth.
26 Rise up; be our help!
Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.

*^ 44:0 Maskil is probably a musical or liturgical term; used for Psalms 32, 42, 44–45, 52–55, 74, 78, 88–89, and 142.

†44:6 44:6 Or give me victory; similarly in verse 7

‡44:14 44:14 Literally a shaking of the head

§44:19 44:19 Or serpents or dragons

*44:22 44:22 Cited in Romans 8:36

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