Psalm 44:3

Translations

Modern

For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.

Traditional

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.

Literal

For they did not gain possession of the land by their sword, and their arm did not bring salvation to them; but it was Your right hand, and Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You delighted in them.

Latin

Nec enim in gladio suo possederunt terram, et brachium eorum non salvavit eos: sed dextera tua et brachium tuum, et illuminatio vultus tui, quoniam complacuisti in eis.

Original

Hebrew

English

For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.

Notes

Psalms 44:3

Though the Israelites used swords and other weapons (Psalm 44:6), they would have lost their battles without the light of the Lord’s favor (see Psalms 18:25–29; 27:1; 89:15).

Psalms 44:1–26

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).

Theme notes and profiles

Complaints Darkness and Light God’s Presence in the Psalms

Related verses

Deuteronomy 7:7–8
The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
Deuteronomy 8:17–18
You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
Joshua 24:12
I sent the hornet ahead of you, and it drove out the two Amorite kings before you, but not by your own sword or bow.
Zechariah 4:6
So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.
2 Corinthians 4:7
Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
Psalm 20:6
Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He answers him from His holy heaven with the saving power of His right hand.
Psalm 77:15
With power You redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
Deuteronomy 4:37–38
Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power,
Exodus 15:16
…and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by.
Psalm 42:5
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.
Psalm 42:11
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
Deuteronomy 10:15
Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.

Psalm 44:3

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