Psalms 44:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Psalms 44:3
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.
to occupy (by driving out previous tenants · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
land
אָ֗רֶץ'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular absolute
possession
יָרַשׁyârash
H3423
to occupy (by driving out previous tenants
sword
בְחַרְבָּ֡םve.char.Bam
H2719
drought · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
arm
וּזְרוֹעָם֮u.ze.ro.'Am
H2220
the arm (as stretched out) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
save
הוֹשִׁ֪יעָ֫הho.Shi.'Ah
H3467
properly · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
hand
יְמִֽינְךָ֣ye.mi.ne.Kha
H3225
the right hand or side (leg · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
arm
וּ֭זְרוֹעֲךָU.ze.ro.'a.kha
H2220
the arm (as stretched out) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
light
וְא֥וֹרve.'or
H216
illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
countenance
פָּנֶ֗יךָpa.Nei.kha
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
favour
רְצִיתָֽםre.tzi.Tam
H7521
to be pleased with · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 7:7-8 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people…
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
Joshua 24:12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with…
Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spir…
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Exodus 15:16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, til…
Deuteronomy 4:37-38 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of E…
Psalms 20:6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 44:1-8
Some observe that most of the psalms that are entitled Maschil - psalms of instruction, are sorrowful psalms; for afflictions give instructions, and sorrow of spirit opens the ear to them. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest and teachest.
In these verses the church, though now trampled upon, calls to remembrance the days of her triumph, of her triumph in God and over her enemies. This is very largely mentioned here, 1. As an aggravation of the present distress. The yoke of servitude cannot but lie very heavily on the necks of those that used to wear the crown of victory; and the tokens of God's displeasure must needs be most grievous to those that have been long accustomed to the tokens…
plantedst them--that is, "our fathers," who are also, from the parallel construction of the last clause, to be regarded as the object of "cast them out," which means--literally, "send" them out, or, "extend them." Heathen and people denote the nations who were driven out to make room for the Israelites.
John Gill on Psalms 44:3
For they got not the land in possession by their own sword,.... There were many things which show that the possession of the land of Canaan was not of the Israelites themselves, but of the Lord; as their passing over into it through Jordan as on dry land; the manner in which Jericho, the first city of it, was taken, and the smiting of the Israelites by the men of Ai;
neither did their own arm save them; from their enemies, and deliver them into their hands: they were too apt to ascribe things to their own righteousness, merit, and power; but such methods were taken by the Lord as to prevent such attributions to themselves; see Deuteronomy 8:16;
but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the li…
Psalm 44:1-3
1. O God! we have heard with our ears, our fathers have declared to us, the work which thou hast done in their days, even in the days of old. 2. Thou hast expelled the heathen [or nations [130] ] with thy hand, and planted them [131] thou hast wasted the peoples [132] and multiplied them, [or made them [133] to spread.] 3. For they got not possession of the land by their own sword, and their own arm did not save them, but thy right hand, and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor for them.
1. O God! we have heard with our ears. The people of God here recount the goodness which he had formerly manifested towards their fathers, that, by showing the…
The Church Fathers
When God is pleased with us, it is because he has given us the grace to be pleasing to him. Scripture teaches us that this is a gift specially bestowed on people in pure and utter kindness and not to be arrogantly usurped.
Our ancestors, as heirs and next of kin of the patriarchs, were planted in the promised land. They did not gain this by any merits of their own. It was not Moses who led them in, for fear they should attribute it to the Law and not to grace. For the Law examines our merits; but grace looks to faith. How excellently the apostle has followed the faith of his ancestors when he says, "he that plants is nothing, he that waters is nothing. It is God who gives the increase." It was not Joshua, son of Nun, even though he led the people in and planted them—but God who gave the increase. To him first be the glory.
"For they gat not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but Your right hand, and Your arm, and the light of Your countenance" [Psalm 44:3]. Your "right hand" is Your Power: Your "arm" is Your Son Himself. And "the light of Your countenance." What means this, but that You were present with them, in miracles of such a sort that Your presence was perceived. For when God's presence with us appears by any miracle, do we see His face with our own eyes? No. It is by the effect of the miracle He intimates to man His presence. In fact, what do all persons say, who express wonder at facts of this description? "I saw God present." "But Your right hand, and Your arm, and the light of Your countenance; because You pleased in them:" i.e. so dealt with them, that You were well-pleasing in them: that whoso considered how they were being dealt with, might say, that "God is with them of a truth;" and it is God that moves them.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Face — Means simply presence, as when it is recorded that Adam and Eve hid themselves from the “face [R.V., ‘presence’] of the Lord God” (Gen. 3:8; comp. Ex. 33:14, 15, where the same Hebrew word is…
Psalms — The psalms are the production of various authors. “Only a portion of the Book of Psalms claims David as its author. Other inspired poets in successive generations added now one now another…
Countenance · Cheerful — Cheerful
Favour Of God, The · Saints: Victorious through — Saints: Victorious through
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
(Heb.: 44:2-4) The poet opens with a tradition coming down from the time of Moses and of Joshua which they have heard with their own ears, in order to demonstrate the vast distance between the character of the former times and the present, just as Asaph, also, in Psa 78:3, appeals not to the written but to the spoken word. That which has been heard follows in the oratio directa. Psa 44:3 explains what kind of "work" is intended: it is the granting of victory over the peoples of Canaan, the work of God for which Moses prays in Psa 90:16. Concerning ידך, vid., on Psa 3:5; Psa 17:14. The position of the words here, as in Psa 69:11; 83:19, leads one to suppose that ידך is treated as a permutativ…
Though the Israelites used swords and other weapons (44:6), they would have lost their battles without the light of the Lord’s favor (see 18:25-29; 27:1; 89:15).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 44:3
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.
For they got not the land in possession by their own sword. Behold how the Lord alone was exalted in bringing his people to the land which floweth with milk and honey! He, in his distinguishing grace, had put a difference between Canaan and Israel, and therefore, by his own effectual power, he wrought for his chosen and against their adversaries. The tribes fought for their allotments, but their success was wholly due to the Lord who wrought with them. The warriors of Israel were not inact…
