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John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Psalms 44:21

Shall not God search this out?.... Undoubtedly he would, was it so, and expose it, and punish for it; as he will the Balaamites and children of Jezebel, Revelation 2:18; this seems to be an appeal to God for the truth of all that the church had said concerning her steadfastness and integrity under the most trying exercises;

for he knoweth the secrets of the heart; whether the heart is turned back, or there is any inclination to apostatize from God, or his name is forgotten in it; as well as whether in fact the hand has been stretched out, or prayer made to a strange god, Jeremiah 17:9.

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See also Psalms 44:21 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Psalms 44:21. _SHALL NOT GOD SEARCH THIS OUT?_] We confidently appeal to the true God, the searcher of hearts, for the truth of this statement....

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    SHALL NOT GOD SEARCH THIS OUT? - That is, If this had been the case, it would be known to God. If, as a nation, we had been given to idolatry, or if our hearts had been secretly alienated from the tru...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    Psalms 44 The Increased Cry for Deliverance _ 1. My King, O God! Command deliverances (Psalms 44:1)_ 2. Trouble upon trouble and confusion (Psalms 44:9) 3. Awake! Arise for our help! ...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    XLIV. A NATIONAL PRAYER IN UNMERITED DISTRESS. The Ps. evidently depicts the situation of Israel under Antiochus Epiphanes [but see OTJC 2, pp. 207f., 437- 440. A. S. P.] So much was plain long ago to...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    The calamity is unmerited. No unfaithfulness to God's covenant has called for punishment. Nay it is for His sake that His people are suffering....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    It would be vain to attempt to conceal any faithlessness from the Searcher of hearts. Cp. Job's protestations of innocence, ch. Psalms 31:4 ff.; and Psalms 139:1; Psalms 139:23;...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PSALMS 44 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE Israel Suffers for God. ANALYSIS Stanza I., Psalms 44:1-8, The Psalmist, Encouraging himself by Jehovah's Past Favour in Giving Israel their Land, Emboldens himself to E...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _IF WE HAVE FORGOTTEN THE NAME OF OUR GOD, OR STRETCHED OUT OUR HANDS TO A STRANGE GOD;_ If we have forgotten the name of our God ... shall not God search this out? They confirm the truth of their as...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    This is a prayer for deliverance from national trouble which has not been deserved by any apostasy or idolatry. The strong assertions of national faithfulness are akin to the spirit of the Maccabean a...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    PSALMS 42:72 _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ Words in boxes are from the Bible. Words marked with a *star are described in the word list at the end. The translated Bible text has yet to go through Advanced Che...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    _[Psalms 44:22]_ הֲ לֹ֣א אֱ֭לֹהִים יַֽחֲקָר ־זֹ֑את...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    Psalms 44:1 CALVIN says that the authorship of this psalm is uncertain, but that it is abundantly clear that it was composed by anyone rather than David, and that its plaintive contents suit best the...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    A PLEA FOR PRESENT HELP Psalms 44:9 In Psalms 44:11 God's people are compared to sheep appointed for meat, which are sold by the shepherd for naught, so worthless are they. Before their savage foes s...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The final meaning of this psalm is discovered in its last four verses. It is a prayer for deliverance from defeat. Its strength of appeal lies in its recognition of the government of God. He is the Au...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    Shall not God (q) search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. (q) They take God to witness that they were upright toward him....

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    The apostle seems to have had this scripture in his view, and referred it to the times in which he lived, when, after pointing out the heavy afflictions the church then endured, he quotes a part of th...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    21_Shall not God search this out? _We have here a solemn and emphatic protestation, in which the people of God dare to appeal to him as the judge of their integrity and uprightness. From this it appea...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Psalms 44 gives a full and vivid picture of the state of the nation, as in the conscience of the remnant. They had heard with their ears. Faith rested in the memorial of all the old mighty deliverance...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Ver. 21. _Shall not God search this out?_] What pretences or excuses soever be used for the colouring and covering of the same....

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons_ By inflicting upon us one breach after another, thou hast at last brought us to this pass; that we are become like a place extremely desolate, such a...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    A PRAYER IN TIMES OF NATIONAL DISTRESS. To the chief. musician for the sons of Korah, another hymn composed by a member of this family, Maschil, a didactic poem evidently written at a time when the na...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    shall not God search this out? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart, and nothing can be hidden before His omniscience. Then there would be reason for His being angry, then He would rightly reject H...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    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...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    We appeal to the heart-searching God, concerning the sincerity of this profession of ours....

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Psalms 44:21 God H430 out H2713 (H8799) knows H3045 (H8802) secrets H8587 heart H3820 Shall -...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    THE PSALMIST NOW ADMITS THAT POSSIBLY THEY HAVE BEEN AT FAULT (PSALMS 44:20). Psalms 44:20 ‘If we have forgotten the name of our God, Or spread forth our hands to a strange god, Will not God searc...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    Psalms 44:21 This subject naturally divides itself into three parts. I. The sin forgetting God and holding up the hands to some strange god. These are not two sins, but one and the same sin, contemp...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Complaint of the Lord's apparent forgetfulness and entreaty for His help. CHARACTERS: God, Psalmist. CONCLUSION: The tokens of God's displeasure are more grievous to those who have been lo...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Psalms 44:1. _Our fathers have told us._ All ancient patriarchs instructed their children, and all ancient nations instructed posterity by oral traditions, as in this psalm, by reciting how Joshua dro...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what work Thou didst._ ASPECTS OF NATIONAL PIETY There is such a thing as national piety. I mean the aggregation of genuine godly though...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 44:1. This is a hymn for times when God’s people as a whole have suffered some great calamity at the hands of their enemies. When the worshiping congregation sings this, the...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 44:17 The pain of the situation is especially sharp because the community claims not to have FORGOTTEN God or to have been FALSE TO his COVENANT (v....

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    INTRODUCTION _Superscription_.—“To the Chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil.” See introduction to Psalms 42. We have no means of determining who was the author of the psalm. Nor are we able...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION THE date and occasion of this psalm are greatly disputed. Most critics, from Calvin to Hitzig, refer it to the times of the Maccabees. Others suggest the fourth or fifth century B.C. One (T...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work you did in their days, in times of old. How you did drive out the heathen with thy hand, and you planted them; and how you did a...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    1 Corinthians 4:5; Ecclesiastes 12:14; Hebrews 4:12; Hebrews 4:13;...

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