Psalms 44:24

Psa 44:24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, [and] forgettest our affliction and our oppression?

Ver. 24. Wherefore hidest thou thy face?] God sometimes concealeth his love, as Joseph did, out of increasement of love; he retireth, but faith fetcheth him out, as the woman of Canaan did, Mar 7:24-25.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 44:24-25. Wherefore hidest thou thy face? — Dost not regard our miseries, nor afford us any pity or help? and forgettest our affliction — Actest as if thou didst forget, or overlook it, when we have not forgotten thee? Does this become thy faithfulness and goodness? For our soul is bowed down to the dust — Under prevailing grief and fear. We lie prostrate at our enemies’ feet. Our belly cleaveth unto the earth — We are not only thrown down to the earth, but we lie there. We cannot lift up ourselves, neither revive our own drooping spirits, nor recover ourselves out of our low and sad condition. And we lie exposed to be trodden on by every insulting foe.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. (Psa 44:24). Why wilt thou hide thy face, wilt thou forget our suffering and our persecution (or oppression)? The same thing which had just been represented by the figure of sleep is here described as a refusal to see and to remember. Both figures are employed in Psa 13:2 (1), above, in reference to precisely he same subject. These anthropomorphisms, which would be unlawful in an uninspired writer, are perfectly intelligible, and exceedingly expressive. The word translated suffering (or affliction) is generic, and includes all forms of physical evil, one of which is then specified, to wit, the suffering caused by powerful and spiteful enemies. The same word denotes oppression or persecution at the hand of wicked men, in Psa 42:10 (9), Psa 41:2. Why wilt thou forget is evidently more than why dost thou forget, for it conveys the additional idea, "Why wilt thou persist in doing as thou hast done heretofore, and art doing now?"

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 24. Wherefore hidest thou thy face] Show us the cause why thou withdrawest from us the testimony of thy approbation.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. hidest thou thy face] In anger or indifference, instead of shewing the light of Thy countenance in gracious help to Thy people (Psa_44:3; Psa_80:3).

our affliction and our oppression] Cp. Deu_26:7; Exo_3:7; Exo_3:9; 2Ki_13:4; 2Ki_14:26. The latter word occurs elsewhere in the Psalter only in Psa_42:9, Psa_43:2.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wherefore hidest thou thy face?.... See Psa 10:1;

and forgettest our affliction and our oppression. Not that the Lord does really forget either the persons of his people, which he cannot, since they are engraven on the palms of his hands, and a book of remembrance is written for them: nor the afflictions of his people; he knows their souls in adversity; he chooses them in the furnace of affliction; he makes all afflictions work together for good, and delivers out of them. But because deliverance is not immediately wrought, and they sometimes continue long under their afflictions and oppressions, they seem to be forgotten by him, as during the ten persecutions and the long reign of antichrist.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Wherefore hidest thou thy face? - See the notes at Psa 13:1. Why dost thou turn away from us, and refuse to aid us, and leave us to these unpitied sufferings?

And forgettest our affliction and our oppression - Our trials, and the wrongs that are committed against us. These are earnest appeals. They are the pleadings of the oppressed and the wronged. The language is such as man would use in addressing his fellow-men; and, when applied to God, it must be understood as such language. As used in the Psalms, it denotes earnestness, but not irreverence; it is solemn petition, not dictation; it is affectionate pleading, not complaint. It indicates depth of suffering and distress, and is the strongest language which could be employed to denote entire helplessness and dependence. At the same time, it is language which implies that the cause for which they suffered was the cause of God, and that they might properly call on him to interfere in behalf of his own friends.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hidest thou thy face, i.e. dost not regard our miseries, nor affordest us any pity or help.

Forgettest our affliction and our oppression, when we have not forgotten thee. This seems not well to become thy faithfulness and goodness.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 24. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? Not petulantly, but piteously and inquiringly, we may question the Lord when his dealings are mysterious. We are permitted to order our case with arguments, and plead the right before the face of the august Majesty. Why, Lord, dost thou become oblivious of thy children's woes? This question is far more easily asked than answered; it is hard, indeed, in the midst of persecution to see the reason why we are left to suffer so severely.

None.

Ver. 24. Reasons for the withdrawal of divine comfort.

Psalms 44:25*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Wherefore hidest thou thy face. (comp. Psa_13:1 Psa_27:9 Psa_69:17, etc.) And forgettest our affliction and our oppression?. (see Psa_13:1 Psa_74:19)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.