Psalm 44, 45

This sad Psalm is called Maskil which means contemplative poem, a psalm that causes one to think deeply. The sons of Korah are the singers as in a choir.

The Psalm begins with a recounting of the deliverance of God to former generations and then takes turn to their current situation in a bad way.

Psalm 44:1–3 (NASB95)

1 O God, we have heard with our ears,

Our fathers have told us

The work that You did in their days,

In the days of old.

Sometimes we can romanticize the past. The people were different, God was different. At least it can feel that way.

But the word tells us that God is the same yesterday today and forever! So what has changed?

2 You with Your own hand drove (caused to be driven out) out the nations;

Then You (continually) planted them;

You afflicted (continually caused to be afflicted) the peoples,

Then You spread (intensely caused them to be cast out) them abroad.

3 For by their own sword they did not possess the land,

And their own arm did not save them,

But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence,

For You (continually)favored them.

The sense is that God’s deliverance and favor were evident in the past.

Now he moves to what he wants to be the reality.

Psalm 44:4–8 (NASB95)

4 You are my King, O God;

Command victories for Jacob.

5 Through You we will push back our adversaries;

Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.

6 For I will not trust in my bow,

Nor will my sword save me.

7 But You have saved us from our adversaries,

And You have put to shame those who hate us.

8 In God we have boasted all day long,

And we will give thanks to Your name forever.

Selah.

But now, he speaks forth what appears to be the reality.

Psalm 44:9–16 (NASB95)

9 Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor,

And do not go out with our armies.

10 You cause us to turn back from the adversary;

And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.

11 You give us as sheep to be eaten

And have scattered us among the nations.

12 You sell Your people cheaply,

And have not profited by their sale.

13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors,

A scoffing and a derision to those around us.

14 You make us a byword among the nations,

A laughingstock among the peoples.

15 All day long my dishonor is before me

And my humiliation has overwhelmed me,

16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,

Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.

That’s a pretty depressing outlook and yet God has not promised that things will always be easy. have you ever considered the story where after feeding the 5,000 he puts His disciples in a boat and tells them to go to the other side.

Matthew 14:22–26 (NASB95)

22 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.

23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.

24 But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.

25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.

26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.

Obviously Jesus knew He was sending them directly into a storm but He was preparing them for when He would be gone. The sea is always symbolic of the world in the Jewish mind.

Sometimes a contrary wind wind is a sign you are on the right track.

Psalm 44:17–26 (NASB95)

17 All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You,

And we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant.

18 Our heart has not turned back,

And our steps have not deviated from Your way,

19 Yet You have crushed us in a place of jackals

And covered us with the shadow of death.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God

Or extended our hands to a strange god,

21 Would not God find this out?

For He knows the secrets of the heart.

22 But for Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

Paul quotes this verse in Romans 8; but has a much different outlook.

Romans 8:35–37 (NASB95)

35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 Just as it is written,

“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;

We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

23 Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord?

Awake, do not reject us forever.

24 Why do You hide Your face

And forget our affliction and our oppression?

25 For our soul has sunk down into the dust;

Our body cleaves to the earth.

26 Rise up, be our help,

And redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness. - Literally, buy us back for the sack of Your Covenant Love.

Psalm 45 is also a Maskil (contemplative psalm). This one is Messianic and is all about Jesus. Called a song of love.

Psalm 45 (NASB95)

For the choir director; according to the Shoshannim. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.

1 My heart overflows with a good theme;

I address my verses to the King;

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

When you know the Lord, Praising Him becomes second nature. Practice praising the LORD.

Psalm 150 (NASB95)

1 Praise the Lord!

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty expanse.

2 Praise Him for His mighty deeds;

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

3 Praise Him with trumpet sound;

Praise Him with harp and lyre.

4 Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.

5 Praise Him with loud cymbals;

Praise Him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

2 You are fairer than the sons of men;

Grace is poured upon Your lips;

Therefore God has blessed You forever.

3 Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One,

In Your splendor and Your majesty!

Reminds me of Rev 19;

Revelation 19:16 (NASB95)

16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Here we gat a very Majestic look at the Messiah, armed and dangerous but gentle.

4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,

For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;

What is meekness? The Hebrew word is described as humility. A good description is power under control.

Let Your right hand teach You awesome things.

5 Your arrows are sharp;

The peoples fall under You;

Your arrows are in the heart of the King’s enemies.

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;

A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You

With the oil of joy above Your fellows.

These verses are quoted by the writer to the Hebrews in his evidence that Jesus is better than the angels and is in fact God;

Hebrews 1:8–9 (NASB95)

8 But of the Son He says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,

And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.

9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;

Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You

With the oil of gladness above Your companions.”

8 All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;

Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad.

9 Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies;

At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

The writer now turns to the Bride. Prophetically you and me.

10 Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:

Forget your people and your father’s house;

11 Then the King will desire your beauty.

Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.

12 The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;

The rich among the people will seek your favor.

13 The King’s daughter is all glorious within;

Her clothing is interwoven with gold.

14 She will be led to the King in embroidered work;

The virgins, her companions who follow her,

Will be brought to You.

15 They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing;

They will enter into the King’s palace.

16 In place of your fathers will be your sons;

You shall make them princes in all the earth.

17 I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations;

Therefore the peoples will give You thanks forever and ever.