Psalms 44:26

Arise for our help,.... Or, "arise our help" (s). God is the help of his people, and he is a present help in time of trouble; and he is the only one; and he can help and does, when none else can; and

Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake. Arise for our help - (Psalms 63:7.) Redeem us for thy mercies' sake - not for our merits.

We mentioned our sincerity and constancy in thy worship only as an argument to move thee to pity, and not as a ground of our trust and confidence, or as if we merited deliverance by it; but that we expect and implore only upon the account of thine own free and rich mercy.

Psalms 44:26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.Ver. 26. Arise for our help] Heb. A help for us, a sufficient help, proportionable to our necessities. The Hebrew hath a letter more than ordinary.

Verse 26. Arise for our help] Show forth thy power in delivering us from the hands of our enemies. Redeem us] Ransom us from our thraldom. For thy mercies' sake.] למען חסדך lemaan chasdecha, On account of thy mercy. That we may have that proper view of thy mercy which we should have, and that we may magnify it as we ought to do, redeem us. The Vulgate has, Redime nos, propter nomen tuum, "Redeem us on account of thy name;" which the old Psalter thus paraphrases: "Help us in ryghtwysness, and by us (buy,) that es, delyver us, that we be withouten drede; and al this for thi name Jehsu; noght for oure merite." ANALYSIS OF THE FORTY-FOURTH PSALM In this Psalm are livelily expressed the sufferings, the complaints, the assurances, the petitions which are offered to God by good men, who suffer, together with others, in the common afflictions that God brings on his people. The parts are two: - I. A petition, Psalms 44:24-26. II. The arguments by which the petition is quickened, Psalms 44:1-24. First, He begins with the arguments, of which the first is drawn from God's goodness, of which he gives in particular, his benefits and miracles done for their fathers; as if he had said, "This thou didst for them; why art thou so estranged from us?" I. "We have heard with our ears, O God, and our fathers have told us what works thou didst in their days, and in the times of old." The particulars of which are, - 1. "How thou didst drive out the heathen," namely, the Canaanites. 2. "How thou plantedst them." 3. "How thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out," Psalms 44:2. II. This we acknowledge to be thy word; expressed thus: - 1. "How thou didst drive out the heathen;" negatively, by remotion of what some might imagine: "They got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither was it their own arm that helped them," Psalms 44:3. "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise." 2. "How thou plantedst them;" positively: "For it was thy right hand and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance." A mere gratuito: "because thou hadst a favour unto them;" no other reason can be assigned but that, Psalms 44:3. 3. Upon this consideration, by an apostrophe, he turns his speech to God, and sings a song of triumph, of which the strains are, - 1. An open confession: "Thou art my king, O God." 2. A petition: "Send help unto Jacob," Psalms 44:4. 3. A confident persuasion of future victory; but still with God's help and assistance, Psalms 44:5-7. 1. "Through thee will we push down our enemies." 2. "Through thee will we tread them under that rise up against us." All through thee; in thy name, by thy power. 4. An abrenunciation of his own power or arm: "For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me." 5.

26. Arise] R.V., Rise up. Cp. Psalms 3:7; Numbers 10:35. for thy mercy’s sake] R.V., for thy lovingkindness’ sake. Jehovah has revealed Himself to be “a God … plenteous in lovingkindness and truth, who keeps lovingkindness for thousands” (Exodus 34:7-8), and the Psalmist intreats Him to be true to this central attribute of His character. Cp. Psalms 6:4; Micah 7:18; Micah 7:20. On the reading mercies’, found in many editions, see Scrivener, Auth. Ed. of the English Bible, p. 196.

Arise for our help - Margin, as in Hebrew, “a help for us.” That is, Deliver us from our present calamities and troubles. And redeem us - Save us; deliver us.