When Life’s Not Fair (Psalm 44)

Read Psalm 44

A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

¹ O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old: ² you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free; ³ for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them. ⁴ You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob! ⁵ Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. ⁶ For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. ⁷ But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. ⁸ In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

⁹ But you have rejected us and disgraced us and have not gone out with our armies. ¹⁰ You have made us turn back from the foe, and those who hate us have gotten spoil. ¹¹ You have made us like sheep for slaughter and have scattered us among the nations. ¹² You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them. ¹³ You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those around us. ¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. ¹⁵ All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face ¹⁶ at the sound of the taunter and reviler, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷ All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant. ¹⁸ Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way; ¹⁹ yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. ²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, ²¹ would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart. ²² Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. ²³ Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! ²⁴ Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? ²⁵ For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. ²⁶ Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies.

Understand Psalm 44

The Sons of Korah were a priestly family chosen by King David himself to lead God’s people in worship (1 Chr 25:1-8). So, they have composed Psalm 44 as “A Maskil” to lament the nation’s suffering.[1] For although God’s people have been faithful, it feels like he abandoned them. Thus, the psalmist proclaims three truths to remember when life’s not fair.

God Saves Us by His Victorious Might (vv. 1-8)

First, recall God’s previous victories to infuse courage in the present: “O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old” (Ps 44:1). By oral tradition, God’s people passed along his wondrous works in salvation history to each successive generation (Deut 6:6-7, 20-23). Israel’s story included both the exodus from Egypt and the conquest of the promised land: “You with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free; for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them” (Ps 44:2-3). The psalmist echoes the biblical claim that victory is of the Lord. Salvation does not come by Israel’s sword or strength, but by the mighty hand and resplendent face of God (see Num 6:24-26; Pss 4:6; 89:15).

In the exodus, God rescued his people out of slavery (see Exod 15:6; Pss 17:7; 118:16). He plucked them from Egypt’s grasp and planted them firmly in the land (see Exod 15:17; 2 Sam 7:10; Isa 5:1-7; Ps 80:8-12; Amos 9:15). The Lord saved Israel because he promised that he would. He chose them because he loved them (see Deut 7:7-8; see 4:37-38; 8:17-18; 9:4-6). Then, at the conquest, Joshua exhorted the people, “For the LORD, has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day” (Josh 23:9; see 24:12-13). Israel was not victorious because they were such a great nation, but because they were loved by such a great God. As the psalmist exclaims: “You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob!” (Ps 44:4). Although the psalmist serves a human king, he trusts the ultimate King to save them. Although his people are embattled, he attributes their deliverance to the covenant-keeping God who has done it before and will surely do it again.

The psalmist continues, “Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us” (vv. 5-7).[2] Salvation comes not from military might nor the king’s charisma—not from the size of an army nor the security of a bank account—not from our own abilities, but from the God who sovereignly loves us. Israel still has to fight her foes and tread down those who rise against her. She must still bring weapons to the battle. Yet victory is of the Lord and salvation by his great power. Therefore, verse 8 concludes with everlasting praise: “In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah.” God does the work, so God gets the praise (1 Cor 1:31). Our role is to remain forever thankful.[3]

God Sustains Us Amidst Adversity (vv. 9-16)

The God who saved us in the past continues to sustain us through many adversities. The tone now changes dramatically to portray the psalmist’s distress: “But you have rejected us and disgraced us and have not gone out with our armies” (Ps 44:9). An army trembles if its strongest warrior sits out the battle. It seems like God has let his people down.[4] Their Protector did not provide them refuge (see 60:10). Their Good Shepherd led them like sheep to the slaughter and scattered them in exile among the nations (see Lev 26:33; Deut 4:27; 28:37, 64). Their Redeemer sold them to the lowest bidder as if he couldn’t wait to be rid of them (see Deut 32:30; Judg 2:14; 3:8). Such despair speak not so much about Israel’s defeat, but about God as the author of their defeat. We who trust God’s sovereignty can begin to doubt his love: “Lord, how could you allow this? Surely, we don’t deserve our suffering.” And soon, defeat turns into shame: “You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face at the sound of the taunter and reviler, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger” (Ps 44:13-16). The psalmist buries himself beneath these terms for shame until he is demoralized. So also, when the Rock on which we stand appears to crush us, we lament, “Why is this happening? Lord, don’t you love me? Have you left my side?”

Surely, God sustains us amidst adversity, but not always in the way that we expect. For at the cross, God sent his Son to conquer sin with love. At the cross, Christ Jesus surrendered his flesh to secure our victory. At the cross, our Good Shepherd was slaughtered like a Lamb (Isa 53:6-7) as he gave his life to spare us certain death (Rom 6:23). Our suffering, therefore, points us to our Savior as we taste his momentary defeat (Ps 44:9-12) and rejoice to bear his shame (vv. 13-16; 1 Pet 4:13). For Jesus faced more adversity than any other man, though he did not deserve to suffer (2:22). They mocked him with taunts, derision, and scorn (Ps 44:13). They falsely accused their own messiah promised in the Scriptures (Matt 27:1-10). He was surrendered to be crucified (vv. 20-26), then dressed up in a royal robe, a crown of thorns, and given a reed for his scepter (vv. 27-31). “And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’” (v. 29). They divided up his garments by casting lots and offered him only bitter gall to drink (vv. 34-36, 48). “And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews’” (v. 37). So, as our Savior hung upon that cross, the passersby derided him with scorn (vv. 39-43, 49) and even those crucified on his left and right “reviled him” (vv. 38, 44). His name became a byword among the nations and a laughingstock among the peoples (Ps 44:14) such that he could cry out with the psalmist, “All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face at the sound of the taunter and reviler, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger” (vv. 15-16). Yet perhaps the greatest pain in his defeat and shame was that his death had been the Father’s will. It was the Lord who had done these things—the Lord who put him to death (Isa 53:9-10). As Jesus would cry out in lament, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46).

Our suffering drives us to the arms of Christ who offers help in times of need (Prov 18:10). It lets him say, “I love you!” and reminds us that we are his. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:15-16). Then, as we share in the sufferings of Christ, we share also in his glory (Rom 8:17b).

God Shepherds Us with His Steadfast Love (vv. 17-26)

God saved us in the past by his victorious might and presently sustains us amidst adversity. The third truth to remember is that God will also shepherd us with steadfast love. The psalmist follows his lament with a protest and a plea. First, he protests his peoples’ innocence: “All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant” (Ps 44:17). They had not broken their end of the bargain or turned from God’s commandments. Surely, they did not deserve these curses, for they had not been disobedient. They followed the Lord in both their attitude and behavior: “Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way; yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death” (vv. 18-19). Yet God their Protector has turned their cities into ruins. God their Shepherd has led them into “the valley of the shadow of death” (23:4). God their Light has covered them with a shroud of deep darkness. As the protest continues, “If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart” (44:20). Surely, God the Judge perceives their hearts. Although they were not sinless, they were loyal to Yahweh’s covenant. They had not worshiped idols or bowed before the foreign gods. So, with a clear conscience, the psalmist protests his peoples’ innocence (see 7:3-9; 18:20-24; 26:1-12).

The Lord’s purposes, however, are higher than the psalmist can comprehend: “Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered” (44:22). God’s people could picture the sacrificial lambs being slaughtered for sin’s atonement. Some might gag as the priests methodically slit each throat until the streets of Jerusalem ran red with blood. It did not fully make sense how killing innocent lambs brought glory to their God, yet still they slaughtered them for his sake. Psalm 44 unveils God’s holiness, justice, and wrath against man’s sin. Yet thankfully that was not the final word as the psalmist gave it “to the choirmaster” for all to sing (45:1). Centuries later, this psalm still resonates in the corporate worship of God’s people. Then, in God’s redemptive plan, it reveals his glory at the cross. For Christ would be that innocent Lamb—the full and final sacrifice for the splendor of his Father. He would be “pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isa 53:5).[5] God shepherds us with steadfast love by leading his own Son to the slaughter. Thus, Paul declares, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (Rom 8:35). “As it is written,” in Psalm 44, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered” (Rom 8:36). Although it feels like God has given us over to adversity, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (v. 37). The depth of our troubles is the measure of God’s love.

The psalmist’s protest then compels him to plea for God to act: “Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help!” (Ps 44:23-26a). Both his inner man and outer man are sunk down into death (104:29). And God’s face, which once had saved him (44:3), now seems turned away. Yet the psalmist rests his entire argument upon God’s covenant: “Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!” (v. 26b). For in some mysterious way, our suffering is a mark of fellowship and not God’s alienation. Our suffering reveals to us God’s love even when it feels like he’s abandoned us. So, we trust him to be our Shepherd and to surely keep his promises. The final hope of faithful people is the faithfulness of our God (see 2 Tim 2:13). Our suffering is another way for God to say, “I love you!”

As Psalm 44 concludes, the psalmist still has no answer. Yet he has not lost faith. For the answer would come in Jesus Christ, the royal Bridegroom (Ps 45) and the King of kings (Ps 46), the sovereign Lion and the sacrificial Lamb. Our Savior was the one who would awake from that cold, dark grave on the third day after death. Each day, he still awakes to sustain us amidst adversity and to shepherd us through trials. So, Paul continues in Romans 8, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vv. 38-39). One day, there will no longer be shame or sickness, defeat or death—an eternal day when we “shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Ps 23:6b). And on that day, we will praise the Lion and the Lamb who saved us, sustained us, and shepherded us with steadfast love.

Self-Reflection (Psalm 44)

1. Memorize Psalm 44:1 and recall God’s previous victories in your life. How does God’s almighty sovereignty in the past infuse you with courage for your present struggles? What marvelous truths in biblical history and in your own personal history direct your gaze to the steadfast love of God (vv. 1-8)?

2. How do life’s defeats (vv. 9-12) often lead to shame (vv. 13-16)? In what ways does God sustain you amidst adversity?
3. How does Paul’s quote of Psalm 44:22 in Romans 8:36 reveal God’s promises fulfilled in Christ? How did the slaughter of animals bring God glory in the Old Testament sacrifices? Recount the sufferings of Christ in Matthew 27 as the fulfillment of Psalm 44.
4. Meditate on the glory of the Lord as the:
   • Creator of his people (Deut 7:7-8)
   • Redeemer in the exodus (Exod 15:6, 17)
   • Warrior in the conquest (Josh 23:9)
   • King over all the nations (Ps 44:4)
   • Shepherd amidst adversity (Ps 23:4-6)

Counsel Psalm 44

In the midst of personal suffering, believers often feel that life’s not fair. We must remind them of God’s past salvation (vv. 1-8), his present sustaining grace (vv. 9-16), and his promised steadfast love (vv. 17-26).[6]

Projects for Growth (Psalm 44)

1. Have you ever felt like your trials were undeserved or that life wasn’t fair? How does your suffering help you to remember God’s gracious love?
2. Use Psalm 44:9-22 as a guide for your lament, then recall his past salvation in your life (vv. 1-8). Memorize verse 26 has your plea for him to act.
3. Why does God sometimes seem to be sleeping on the job (vv. 23-26)? How can you endure your present suffering for the sake of his glorious name (v. 22)?
4. Read Matthew 27 and recount the sufferings of Christ which he did not deserve. How does the cross display God’s hatred of our sin? How does it express his merciful love?

Pray Psalm 44

1. Thank you, God, for saving us when we could not save ourselves (vv. 1-3, 5-7).
2. You alone are the Almighty King I worship, serve, and trust (vv. 4, 8).
3. Examine my heart, O Lord, and test my love for you (vv. 17-21).
4. Teach me how to suffer well for your name’s sake (v. 22).
5. Then, sustain me by your grace amidst all life’s adversity (vv. 9-16, 23-26).

[1] The term “maskil” conveys wisdom (sakal) as Psalm 44 expands the individual lament of Psalms 42-43 to the nation as a whole.

[2] God’s military prowess is like a beast which tramples his enemies underfoot (see Num 23:22; 24:8; Dan 8:5-7).

[3] Such worship is a group activity as we call one another to praise the Lord. Psalm 44 can be read antiphonally—a call-and-response between leader and congregation.

[4] The repeated litany of “You!” in verses 9-14 accuses God as failing his people: “You yourself have done this!” Though “victory” was the repeated theme in verses 1-8, the psalmist now laments defeat: “You have made us turn back from the foe, and those who hate us have gotten spoil. You have made us like sheep for slaughter and have scattered us among the nations. You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them” (vv. 10-12).

[5] Psalm 44:19 uses the same the same word for “crushed” (dakah).

[6] For further study, read John Hindley, Suffering and Singing: Knowing God’s Love in the Pain and Despair (Leyland, UK: 10 Publishing, 2015).