Mazmur 44:15-18

44:15 All day long I feel humiliated ¹ 

and am overwhelmed with shame, ² 

44:16 before the vindictive enemy

who ridicules and insults me. ³ 

44:17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you ⁴ 

or violated your covenant with us. ⁵ 

44:18 We have not been unfaithful, ⁶ 

nor have we disobeyed your commands. ⁷ 

[44:15]  ¹ tn Heb “all the day my humiliation [is] in front of me.”

[44:15]  ² tn Heb “and the shame of my face covers me.”

[44:16]  ³ tn Heb “from the voice of one who ridicules and insults, from the face of an enemy and an avenger.” See Ps 8:2.

[44:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “we have not forgotten you.” To “forget” God refers here to worshiping false gods and thereby refusing to recognize his sovereignty (see v. 20, as well as Deut 8:19; Judg 3:7; 1 Sam 12:9; Isa 17:10; Jer 3:21; Ps 9:17).Thus the translation “we have not rejected you” has been used.

[44:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “and we did not deal falsely with your covenant.”

[44:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “our heart did not turn backward.” Cf. Ps 78:57.

[44:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “and our steps did [not] turn aside from your path.” The negative particle is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line). God’s “path” refers to his commands, i.e., the moral pathway he has prescribed for the psalmist. See Pss 17:5; 25:4.