This national lament after a defeat in battle continues the tone of the previous two psalms. It reflects on an unspecified moment in Israel's history and calls on God for salvation. The people:
recite God's past acts of rescue (Psalm 44:1–3),
recognize God's power to save (Psalm 44:4–8),
describe their humiliation in exile (Psalm 44:9–16),
claim their innocence and lament the injustice of their current situation (Psalm 44:17–22), and
cry for vindication (Psalm 44:23–26).