Psalms 44:6

Psa 44:6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.

Ver. 6. For I will not trust in my bow] To trust in men or means is the ready road to utter ruin. Idas, one of the Argonauts, is brought in by the poet, bragging that he trusted not in the gods, but in his own arm and arms. αιια ουδε η οφελλει αιιευς τοσον οδατιον περ εμον δορυ.

What need we to fear the Turks (said Sigismund, the young king of Hungary, in his pride and jollity), who need not at all to fear the falling of the heavens, which, if they should fall, yet were we able with our spears and halberds to hold them up for falling upon us? He shortly after this received a notable overthrow. Carnal confidence endeth in confusion.

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.

7. (Psa 44:6). For not in my bow will I trust, and my sword will (or can) not save me. "What was true of my fathers is equally true of me. As they did not prevail by their own strength, neither can I hope to prevail by mine."

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

God is not only our sole help, but only worthy of praise.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. I will not trust in my bow] As he is speaking of what God had already done for his forefathers, these words should be read in the past tense: "We have not trusted," &c.

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

6. Cp. Psa_20:7; Psa_33:16; Psa_60:11 f; 1Sa_17:47; Hos_1:7; and the noble speech of Judas Maccabaeus (1Ma_3:17 ff.); “The victory of battle standeth not in the multitude of an host, but strength cometh from heaven.”

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.

For I will not trust in my bow,.... In any carnal weapon, in any creature help and assistance, or in an arm of flesh, but in the word of the Lord, and in his name; see Psa 20:7;

neither shall my sword save me; that is, I will not ascribe salvation to it; the church's weapons are not carnal, but spiritual; not the sword of the civil magistrate, but the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; Christ's kingdom, being not of this world, is not supported and defended by worldly means, or carnal weapons.

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

For I will not trust in my bow - The author of the psalm himself again speaks as expressing his own feelings, and stating the grounds of his confidence and hope. Compare Psa 44:4. At the same time he doubtless expresses the feelings of the people, and speaks in their name. He had said Psa 44:3 that the ancestors of the Jewish people had not obtained possession of the promised land by any strength or skill of their own, and he now says that he, and those who were connected with him, did not depend on their own strength, or on the weapons of war which they might employ, but that their only ground of trust was God.

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

But I will trust in thee only, as the next verse implies; and therefore do not frustrate my hope and confidence fixed upon thee.

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

Ver. 6. For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. Thy people Israel, under thy guidance, shouldered out the heathen, and gained their land, not by skill of weapons or prowess of arms, but by thy power alone; therefore will we renounce for ever all reliance upon outward confidences, of which other men make such boast, and we will cast ourselves upon the omnipotence of our God. Bows having been newly introduced by king Saul, were regarded as very formidable weapons in the early history of Israel, but they are here laid aside together with the all conquering sword, in order that there may be room for faith in the living God. This verse, in the first person singular, may serve as the confession of faith of every believer renouncing his own righteousness and strength, and looking alone to the Lord Jesus. O for grace to stand to this self renunciation, for alas! our proud nature is all too apt to fix its trust on the puffed up and supposititious power of the creature. Arm of flesh, how dare I trust thee? How dare I bring upon myself the curse of those who rely upon man?

Ver. 6. I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. By bow and sword, he meaneth all manner of weapons and warlike instruments whatsoever; and by "saving, "he meaneth delivering from dangers, speaking under the person of one (because all the faithful are but one body), in the name of all the rest. Thomas Wilcocks.

Ver. 6. I will not trust in my bow, etc. I will not trust in my own sword or bow, but in the sword of the Divine Warrior, and in the bow of the Divine Archer, whose arrows are sharp in the heart of his enemies as described in the next Ps 45:3-5, which is connected by that imagery with this Psalm, as well as by its inner meaning. Christopher Wordsworth.

Ver. 6. The less confidence we have in ourselves or in anything beside God, the more evidence have we of the sincerity of our faith in God. David Dickson.

Ver. 6-7. The two verses correspond exactly to Ps 44:3. As there, in reference to the past, the salvation was ascribed wholly to God, so here in reference to the future. E. W. Hengstenberg.

Ver. 6. Relinquishment of outward trusts. My bow may miss its aim, may be broken, may be snatched away. My sword may snap, or grow blunt, or slip from my hold. We may not trust in our abilities, our experience, our shrewdness, our wealth, etc.

Ver. 6. Self renunciationthe duty of saint and sinner.

Psalms 44:7*

Ver. 6-7. The two verses correspond exactly to Ps 44:3. As there, in reference to the past, the salvation was ascribed wholly to God, so here is reference to the future. E. W. Hengstenberg.

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

For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me (comp. ver. 3). My trust, i.e. , shall not be in myself, but in thee. The sword and the bow were the ordinary weapons of Israel.

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

trust

(See Scofield "Psa 2:12").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

we will trample those who rise up against us Heb. נבוס. We will tread and trample our enemies, an expression of (Ezek. 16:6): “wallowing (מתבוססת) in your blood”; (Prov. 27:7), “tramples (תבוס) honeycomb”; (Zech. 10:5), “And they shall be like mighty men, treading (בוסים) the mire of the streets.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.