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Psalm 44:18-23
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 44:18-23
New Catholic Bible
18 All this has happened to us
even though we have not forgotten you
or been false to your covenant.[a]
19 Our hearts[b] have not turned back,
nor have our feet wandered from your path.
20 Yet you have crushed us,
forced us to live among the jackals,[c]
and covered us with darkness.
21 If we had forgotten the name[d] of our God
or lifted up our hands to a foreign god,
22 would not God have discovered it,
he who knows the secrets of the heart?
23 For your sake we are put to death all day long;
we are treated like sheep destined to be slaughtered.[e]
Footnotes
- Psalm 44:18 Israel’s present state is not the result of infidelity to God’s Covenant (see Ex 19–24).
- Psalm 44:19 Hearts: see note on Ps 4:8. Your path: the path or way shown them by the Lord (see Ps 18:31).
- Psalm 44:20 You have crushed us [and] forced us to live among the jackals: i.e., relegated Israel to a place unfit for human beings (see Isa 13:22; Jer 9:11; 10:22). Another translation proposed is: “you crushed us as you did the sea monster.” Darkness: they have been left without “light,” which symbolizes the fruits of God’s loving kindness (see note on Ps 36:10).
- Psalm 44:21 Name: see note on Ps 5:12. Lifted up our hands: the usual posture for prayer (see Ex 9:29), with palms turned upward.
- Psalm 44:23 In truth, Israel has suffered the hostility of the peoples because she has been the nation faithful to the Lord. Applying this verse to the Christian community (Rom 8:36), Paul is able to give it a positive slant because of Christ’s victory through his Passion and Resurrection (Rom 8:37-39).
