If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
Psalm 44 belongs to the period of Hezekiah and is connected with Sennacherib's invasion and the destruction of the Assyrian host. It belongs with the psalms meant to encourage the downcast. It presents Israel as backslidden and persecuted, picturing the people as sheep for slaughter to express their suffering.
The verse tests loyalty to God by asking whether his people have forgotten his name or stretched out their hands to a strange god, whether he is their King, and whether they give him loyal allegiance. The psalm's words are taken up in Romans 8 as a declaration of victory through Christ.
Psalm 44 belongs to the period of Hezekiah and is connected with Sennacherib's invasion and the destruction of the Assyrian host. It belongs with the psalms meant to encourage the downcast. It presents Israel as backslidden and persecuted, picturing the people as sheep for slaughter to express their suffering.
The verse tests loyalty to God by asking whether his people have forgotten his name or stretched out their hands to a strange god, whether he is their King, and whether they give him loyal allegiance. The psalm's words are taken up in Romans 8 as a declaration of victory through Christ.