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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 44:4 - 44:4
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(Heb.: 44:5-9) Out of the retrospective glance at the past, so rich in mercy springs up (Psa 44:5) the confident prayer concerning the present, based upon the fact of the theocratic relationship which began in the time of the deliverance wrought under Moses (Deu 33:5). In the substantival clause אַתָּה הוּא מַלְכִּי, הוּא is neither logical copula nor predicate (as in Psa 102:28; Deu 32:39, there equivalent to אַתָּה הוּא אֲשֶׁר, cf. 1Ch 21:17), but an expressive resumption of the subject, as in Isa 43:25; Jer 49:12; Neh 9:6., Ezr 5:11, and in the frequently recurring expression יהוה הוא האלהים; it is therefore to be rendered: Thou-He who (such an one) is my King. May He therefore, by virtue of His duty as king which He has voluntarily taken upon Himself, and of the kingly authority and power indwelling in Him, command the salvation of Jacob, full and entire (Ps 18:51; 53:7). צִוָּה as in Psa 42:9. Jacob is used for Israel just as Elohim is used instead of Jahve. If Elohim, Jacob's King, now turns graciously to His people, they will again be victorious and invincible, as Psa 44:6 affirms. נִגֵּחַ with reference to קֶרֶן as a figure and emblem of strength, as in Psa 89:25 and frequently; קָמֵינוּ equivalent to קָמִים עָלֵינוּ. But only in the strength of God (בְּךָ as in Psa 18:30); for not in my bow do I trust, etc., Psa 44:7. This teaching Israel has gathered from the history of the former times; there is no bidding defiance with the bow and sword and all the carnal weapons of attack, but Thou, etc., Psa 44:8. This “Thou” in הֹושַׁעְתָּנוּ is the emphatic word; the preterites describe facts of experience belonging to history. It is not Israel's own might that gives them the supremacy, but God's gracious might in Israel's weakness. Elohim is, therefore, Israel's glory or pride: “In Elohim do we praise,” i.e., we glory or make our boast in Him; cf. הִלֵּל עַל, Psa 10:3. The music here joins in after the manner of a hymn. The Psalm here soars aloft to the more joyous height of praise, from which it now falls abruptly into bitter complaint.