Psalms 44:6

_FOR I WILL NOT TRUST IN MY BOW, NEITHER SHALL MY SWORD SAVE ME._ For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us - rather, 'Thou savest (and wilt save) us from our enemies, and puttest (and will put) them to shame that hate us.' As Psalms 44:3, in similar words, "they got not the land in possession by their own sword," etc., described the past salvation of Israel as wholly due to God, so this verse ascribes her present and future confidence of salvation wholly to Him....

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....

Verse Psalms 44:6. _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....

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 Psalms 44:4. At the same time he doubtless expresses the feelings of the people, and speaks in their name. He had said Psalms 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....

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

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 Psalms 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....

Psalms 44:1. _We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old._ Now Israel was restored to Canaan, and the Canaanite and Perizzite were driven out, that God's chosen people might occupy their appointed place. Psalms 44:2. _How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them._ They did use their own arm and sword; but, for all that, it was God who won the victory for them. It was his might that made them brave, and a consciousnes

TRUST (_ See Scofield) - (Psalms 2:12). _...

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...