9 But You have cast us off and put us to shame, And You do not go out with our armies. 10 You make us turn back from the enemy, And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. 11 You have given us up like sheep intended for food, And have scattered us among the nations. 12 You sell Your people for next to nothing, And are not enriched by selling them. 13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and a derision to those all around us. 14 You make us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples. 15 My dishonor is continually before me, And the shame of my face has covered me, 16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the enemy and the avenger.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 44:9-16

Commentary on Psalm 44:9-16

(Read Psalm 44:9-16)

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.