1For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old. 2With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out. 3For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them. 4You are my King, O God, who ordains victories for Jacob. 5Through You we repel our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies. 6For I do not trust in my bow, nor does my sword save me. 7For You save us from our enemies; You put those who hate us to shame. 8In God we have boasted all day long, and Your name we will praise forever. Selah 9But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies. 10You have made us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered us. 11You have given us up as sheep to be devoured; You have scattered us among the nations. 12You sell Your people for nothing; no profit do You gain from their sale. 13You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us. 14You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. 15All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face, 16at the voice of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy, bent on revenge. 17All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You or betrayed Your covenant. 18Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path. 19But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals; You have covered us with deepest darkness. 20If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, 21would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart? 22Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 23Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever. 24Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression? 25For our soul has sunk to the dust; our bodies cling to the earth. 26Rise up; be our help! Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
A petition for succour and relief. 1-8 Former experiences of God's power and goodness are strong supports to faith, and powerful pleas in prayer under present calamities. The many victories Israel obtained, were not by their own strength or merit, but by God's favour and free grace. The less praise this allows us, the more comfort it affords, that we may see all as coming from the favour of God. He fought for Israel, else they had fought in vain. This is applicable to the planting of the Christian church in the world, which was not by any human policy or power. Christ, by his Spirit, went forth conquering and to conquer; and he that planted a church for himself in the world, will support it by the same power and goodness. They trusted and triumphed in and through him. Let him that glories, glory in the Lord. But if they have the comfort of his name, let them give unto him the glory due unto it. 9-16 The believer must have times of temptation, affliction, and discouragement; the church must have seasons of persecution. At such times the people of God will be ready to fear that he has cast them off, and that his name and truth will be dishonoured. But they should look above the instruments of their trouble, to God, well knowing that their worst enemies have no power against them, but what is permitted from above. 17-26 In afflictions, we must not seek relief by any sinful compliance; but should continually meditate on the truth, purity, and knowledge of our heart-searching God. Hearts sins and secret sins are known to God, and must be reckoned for. He knows the secret of the heart, therefore judges of the words and actions. While our troubles do not drive us from our duty to God, we should not suffer them to drive us from our comfort in God. Let us take care that prosperity and ease do not render us careless and lukewarm. The church of God cannot be prevailed on by persecution to forget God; the believer's heart does not turn back from God. The Spirit of prophecy had reference to those who suffered unto death, for the testimony of Christ. Observe the pleas used, ver. #25,26|. Not their own merit and righteousness, but the poor sinner's pleas. None that belong to Christ shall be cast off, but every one of them shall be saved, and that for ever. The mercy of God, purchased, promised, and constantly flowing forth, and offered to believers, does away every doubt arising from our sins; while we pray in faith, Redeem us for thy mercies' sake.