Psalms 44:11

_THOU HAST GIVEN US LIKE SHEEP APPOINTED FOR MEAT; AND HAST SCATTERED US AMONG THE HEATHEN._ Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat - to be devoured as a prey....

To the same purpose is that other comparison, (verse 11) in which they say that _they were given as sheep for food _(141) By this the prophet intimates, that being already vanquished previous to the battle, they fell down, as it were, upon the earth before their enemies, ready to be devoured by them, (142) and not fit for any thing else than to gratify their insatiable cruelty. It ought to be observed, that when the faithful represent God as the author of their calamities, it is not in the way of murmuring against him, but that they may with greater confidence seek relief, as it were, from the same hand which smote and wounded them. It is certainly impossible that those who impute their miseries to fortune can sincerely have recourse to God, or look for help and salvation from him. If, therefore, we would expect a remedy from God for our miseries, we must believe that they befall us not...

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....

Verse Psalms 44:11. _AND HAST SCATTERED US AMONG THE HEATHEN._] This most evidently alludes to the captivity. From the successful wars of the kings of Assyria and Chaldea against the kings of Israel and Judah, and the dispersion of the tribes under Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser, and Nebuchadnezzar, Jews have been found in every province of the east; there they settled, and there their successors may be found to the present day....

THOU HAST GIVEN US LIKE SHEEP APPOINTED FOR MEAT - Margin, as in Hebrew, “as sheep of meat.” That is, as sheep are killed for food, so thou hast allowed us to be put to death. AND HAST SCATTERED US AMONG THE HEATHEN - Among the surrounding nations. See the notes at Psalms 44:2. That is, they had been discomfited in war; many had fled into surrounding countries; many had been carried away captive. All this undoubtedly occurred at the time at which I have supposed that the psalm was written - the time immediately preceding the Babylonian captivity....

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 (Tholuck) dates it in the reign of Jehoiachin. Hengstenberg and Canon Cook argue for the reign of David. The time of Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21:16, 2 Chronicles 21:17) and that of the defeat of Josiah (2 Chronicles 35:20-14) have also been proposed as possible. The Davidic date receives a certain amount of support from Psalms 60:1; which is in the same ton

THOU HAST GIVEN US LIKE SHEEP [APPOINTED] FOR MEAT,.... To be butchered, and then eaten as sheep are; and therefore are called "the flock of slaughter", Zechariah 11:4; as the church was, not only under the ten persecutions of Rome Pagan, but through the butcheries and massacres of Rome Papal; who have worried many of Christ's sheep, have eaten their flesh and drank their blood, and have become drunken with it; it has been their meat and drink to persecute the saints of the most High; AND HAST SCATTERED US AMONG THE HEATHEN: the Pagan world, as the first Christians were, who were scattered up and down in the Gentile world everywhere; see 1 Peter 1:1; or the Papacy, who are sometimes called Gentiles, Rev

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! (Psalms 44:22) The third Maschil Psalm. They remember the days of old, what God did for His covenant people in the past, how He gave them the land with an outstretched arm and delivered them from their enemies. They own Him as King and call on Him to command deliverances for Jacob. Then they utter their complaint and describe the great troubles and calamities they are facing; they are spoiled, like sheep appointed for meat, scat

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 the Antiochene Fathers and at a later date to Calvin. Antiochus promulgated a decree enforcing unity of worship in his dominions and especially in Palestine. He also polluted the Temple at Jerusalem by heathen sacrifice. He encountered fierce opposition from the Asidæ ans (= Hasidim), led by the Maccabees, and died in 164 B.C. without effecting his purpose (p. 607). This Ps. was written when the cause of the faithful Jews was under a temporary cloud. The following are the chief points which enable us to place it with confidence in Maccabean times. (_a_) The Jews have an army of their own, and therefore enjoy some measure of independent government, but at the same time many of their brethren...

SHEEP APPOINTED FOR MEAT. Hebrew sheep of devouring. Genitive of Relation (App-17). Compare Romans 8:36. SCATTERED US. Israel had already been removed. Sennacherib says he had taken away 200,150 (App-67)....