Psalm 44:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant.

NIV: All this came upon us, though we had not forgotten you; we had not been false to your covenant.

NASB: All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You, And we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant.

CSB: All this has happened to us, but we have not forgotten you or betrayed your covenant.

NLT: All this has happened though we have not forgotten you. We have not violated your covenant.

KJV: All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.

NKJV: All this has come upon us; But we have not forgotten You, Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.

The psalmist laments what has happen to Israel. "All this" refers to the nation's having been defeated, disgraced, abandoned, plundered, slaughtered, scattered, and ridiculed (Psalm 44:9–16). He doesn't understand why all this has happened, because he does not see sin in Israel that would call for such a response. According to the psalmist, the people of Israel had neither forgotten the Lord nor violated His covenant—at least, not at this time.

The same history which detailed Israel's God-empowered victories (Psalm 44:1–8) explained that it was evil to forget the Lord. Moses had accused Israel of this very sin of turning their backs on God. In Deuteronomy 32 he rehearses the Lord's many kindnesses to Israel during the wilderness wandering. In verse 18, he levels the following charge against the people of Israel: "You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth."

That attitude is contrasted by the claims made in this verse. Israel, in the palmist's day, was not "forgetting" or ignoring the Lord. Furthermore, Israel had not deviated from His covenant. The covenant promised curses as punishment for violating it, but the psalmist claimed innocence, so he wondered why Israel was experiencing so much calamity. Since this psalm is not connected to any explicit event, we cannot say for certain if the psalmist's view is accurate. What's beyond question is that the psalmist is utterly convinced that this humiliation cannot be a punishment for sin.

Israel passed down stories of God's miraculous power and the victories the Lord granted. However, this psalm comes after the nation has suffered some humiliating defeat. The psalmist struggles to understand why, as he sees no evidence of national sin in Israel to justify punishment. The writer expresses raw emotion, frustrated and anguished, yet prays for rescue out of faith in God's lovingkindness.

This psalm seems to follow a major defeat in battle. No explicit context is given, though the psalmist claims it was not God's punishment for national idolatry. Some commentators see connection to a conflict with Edom, who surprised Israel when the nation was engaged in other battles (Psalm 60; 85; Amos 1:6; 2 Samuel 8:13) as a possible explanation. This is another example of biblical writers expressing raw human emotions as they struggle to understand God's will. Psalms 69 and 73 include related themes. Habakkuk chapter 1 expresses similar ideas.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.