Psalm 44 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Redemption Remembered in Present Dishonor

Psa 44:1To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation[fn] of the sons of Korah.

We have heard with our ears, O God,
Our fathers have told us,
The deeds You did in their days,
In days of old:

Psa 44:2

Psa 44:2You drove out the nations with Your hand,
But them You planted;
You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.

Psa 44:3

Psa 44:3For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword,
Nor did their own arm save them;
But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance,
Because You favored them.

Psa 44:4

Psa 44:4You are my King, O God;[fn]
Command[fn] victories for Jacob.

Psa 44:5

Psa 44:5Through You we will push down our enemies;
Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.

Psa 44:6

Psa 44:6For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor shall my sword save me.

Psa 44:7

Psa 44:7But You have saved us from our enemies,
And have put to shame those who hated us.

Psa 44:8

Psa 44:8In God we boast all day long,
And praise Your name forever. Selah

Psa 44:9

Psa 44:9But You have cast us off and put us to shame,
And You do not go out with our armies.

Psa 44:10

Psa 44:10You make us turn back from the enemy,
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.

Psa 44:11

Psa 44:11You have given us up like sheep intended for food,
And have scattered us among the nations.

Psa 44:12

Psa 44:12You sell Your people for next to nothing,
And are not enriched by selling them.

Psa 44:13

Psa 44:13You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scorn and a derision to those all around us.

Psa 44:14

Psa 44:14You make us a byword among the nations,
A shaking of the head among the peoples.

Psa 44:15

Psa 44:15My dishonor is continually before me,
And the shame of my face has covered me,

Psa 44:16

Psa 44:16Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
Because of the enemy and the avenger.

Psa 44:17

Psa 44:17All this has come upon us;
But we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.

Psa 44:18

Psa 44:18Our heart has not turned back,
Nor have our steps departed from Your way;

Psa 44:19

Psa 44:19But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals,
And covered us with the shadow of death.

Psa 44:20

Psa 44:20If we had forgotten the name of our God,
Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god,

Psa 44:21

Psa 44:21Would not God search this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.

Psa 44:22

Psa 44:22Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Psa 44:23

Psa 44:23Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?
Arise! Do not cast us off forever.

Psa 44:24

Psa 44:24Why do You hide Your face,
And forget our affliction and our oppression?

Psa 44:25

Psa 44:25For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
Our body clings to the ground.

Psa 44:26

Psa 44:26Arise for our help,
And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(44:1)

Hebrew Maschil

(44:4)

Following Masoretic Text and Targum; Septuagint and Vulgate read and my God.

(44:4)

Following Masoretic Text and Targum; Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read Who commands.

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) appearing on or deriving from this or any other web page is for personal use only. Any other use of the NKJV must be in conformity with the Quotation Policy for the New King James Version. For more information about the New King James Version, the Quotation Policy, and for inquiries about permission to use the New King James Version, go to Thomas Nelson, Inc..

For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.