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Psalm 44:10-12
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 44:10-12
New Catholic Bible
10 [a]But now you have rejected and humiliated us,
and you no longer accompany our armies.[b]
11 You have forced us to retreat[c] before the enemy;
those who hate us plunder us unceasingly.
12 You have handed us over like sheep to be slaughtered
and scattered us among the nations.
Footnotes
- Psalm 44:10 Only a lament can evoke the situation of that moment; we are doubtless at the time of the Exile, after 587 B.C. This prayer could have been utilized and adapted at other times of national calamity; thus, verses 18-23 make us think of the Maccabean period when Israel is conscious of being the faithful community that did not deserve persecution (167–164 B.C.); the people suffer for their faith rather than for punishment of sin. For Paul, this lament (v. 23) reflects the condition of Christians (Rom 8:36).
- Psalm 44:10 You no longer accompany our armies: as commander-in-chief (see Pss 60:12; 68:8; Ex 15:3; Jdg 5:4).
- Psalm 44:11 You have forced us to retreat: God is responsible for the defeats as well as the victories (v. 5) of Israel.
