Psalms

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Psalm 44

1 For the music director, by the Korahites; a well-written song. O God, we have clearly heard; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in ancient times. 2 You, by your power, defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; you crushed the people living there and enabled our ancestors to occupy it. 3 For they did not conquer the land by their swords, and they did not prevail by their strength, but rather by your power, strength, and good favor, for you were partial to them. 4 You are my king, O God. Decree Jacob’s deliverance. 5 By your power we will drive back our enemies; by your strength we will trample down our foes. 6 For I do not trust in my bow, and I do not prevail by my sword. 7 For you deliver us from our enemies; you humiliate those who hate us. 8 In God we boast all day long, and we will continually give thanks to your name. (Selah) 9 But you rejected and embarrassed us. You did not go into battle with our armies. 10 You made us retreat from the enemy. Those who hate us take whatever they want from us. 11 You handed us over like sheep to be eaten; you scattered us among the nations. 12 You sold your people for a pittance; you did not ask a high price for them. 13 You made us an object of disdain to our neighbors; those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. 14 You made us an object of ridicule among the nations; foreigners treat us with contempt. 15 All day long I feel humiliated and am overwhelmed with shame, 16 before the vindictive enemy who ridicules and insults me. 17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you or violated your covenant with us. 18 We have not been unfaithful, nor have we disobeyed your commands. 19 Yet you have battered us, leaving us a heap of ruins overrun by wild dogs; you have covered us with darkness. 20 If we had rejected our God, and spread out our hands in prayer to another god, 21 would not God discover it, for he knows a person’s secret thoughts? 22 Yet because of you we are killed all day long; we are treated like sheep at the slaughtering block.⁠ 23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Wake up! Do not reject us forever. 24 Why do you look the other way, and ignore the way we are oppressed and mistreated? 25 For we lie in the dirt, with our bellies pressed to the ground. 26 Rise up and help us. Rescue us because of your loyal love.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 53:7 and Psalm 44:22

Hebrew Bible

Summary

Isaiah 53 and Psalm 44 address suffering that seems undeserved. Psalm 44 voices a complaint, asking why faithful people suffer, and Isaiah 53 reframes the issue through a servant whose suffering is borne on behalf of others.

Passages

Isaiah 53:7

Hebrew Bible

5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed. 6 All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. 7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block, like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not even open his mouth. 8 He was led away after an unjust trial—but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded. 9 They intended to bury him with criminals, but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb because he had committed no violent deeds, nor had he spoken deceitfully.

740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Psalm 44:22

Hebrew Bible

20 If we had rejected our God, and spread out our hands in prayer to another god, 21 would not God discover it, for he knows a person’s secret thoughts? 22 Yet because of you we are killed all day long; we are treated like sheep at the slaughtering block. 23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Wake up! Do not reject us forever. 24 Why do you look the other way, and ignore the way we are oppressed and mistreated?

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... Jeremiah complains about God duping him and prevailing over him, but he finally is concerned more about his antagonist’s duping him and prevailing over him and the word he is called to speak (verses 10-11). His last sharp complaint in verses 14-18 expresses in strong terms a wish that he had not been placed in this position; but there is not a hint of concern that the word that God has called him to speak is false. Jeremiah’s anguish is as severe as it is because he recognizes the truth of the word he has spoken and the conflict it has engendered. That the language of deception is used (approvingly) for God in other prophetic texts means that Jeremiah is not being innovative, let alone rebellious or blasphemous. In view of this prophetic tradition, to use this verb as evidence for Jeremiah accusing God “of having broken the relation which he had initiated” is unacceptable. Or, to claim that Jeremiah had a “love-hate relation” with God is much too global in its assessment. People with deep and genuine faith can use accusatory language - if that’s what this is - in prayer to God (e.g., Psalm 44:22-23) and raise sharp questions with God (e.g., Genesis 18:25). This is the type of honest interaction that God encourages in relationships ..."

Terence E. Fretheim, The Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary: Jeremiah (Smith & Helwys, 2002), 299.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Isaiah 53:7 and Psalm 44:22

Summary

Passages

Isaiah 53:7

Psalm 44:22

References

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