What does Psalm 44:11 mean?
Earlier, the writer praised God, giving Him all credit for Israel's historic victories (Psalm 44:1–8). After some unspecified defeat, the psalmist described Israel as experiencing disgrace, abandonment, defeat, and desolation (Psalm 44:9–10). Now he depicts the nation using imagery connected to sheep: they are slaughtered and scattered. In this passage, the writer struggles to understand why the Lord would allow this to happen. Even further, it seems, God has caused this to occur, despite there being no obvious reason (Psalm 44:12–22).Romans 8:36 quotes a later verse (Psalm 44:22) with similar themes, to emphasize that nothing can separate God's people from His love. Israel's defeat did not indicate that the Lord no longer cared about His sheep. It was intended as a lesson: to teach them that He had a purpose in the defeat. The presence of difficulty, no matter how drastic, should not be interpreted as a sign that the Lord hates the one who suffers. Scripture contains many instances of natural human angst in the face of hardship (Psalm 73:2–3; Habakkuk 1:2–4). Yet even those moments are followed by clarity and faith in God's will (Psalm 73:15–19; Habakkuk 1:5–11).
Several Old Testament references identify Israel as God's flock. Psalm 77:20 describes the Lord as leading His people like a flock. Psalm 80:1 compares Israel to a flock being led by the Shepherd of Israel. Psalm 100:3 says the people of Israel are "the sheep of his pasture." "Nations" is typically a reference to the non-Israelite world: to Gentiles. A few scholars connect this psalm to Psalm 60 and Amos 1:6, and to an invasion by Edom while Israel was engaged in other battles.
