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, 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.
Israel did not take Canaan by its own sword or weapons or military strength, and its own arm did not save it, but victory and possession came by God's right hand and arm and favor. He himself drove out the nations and settled his people in the land and gave it to them as his own work. His hand and arm are his strength and power to deliver and save and give victory, and the light of his face is his presence at work in the world. Remembering what he did in earlier times teaches his people to trust in him and seek deliverance from him rather than rely on their own strength, and his guiding hand still brings them through hardship into the promised rest. The same holds beyond Israel, for no people's deliverance and possession of a land comes by its own power but by God's overruling hand, as seen in America's release from colonial dependence, and though his people may feel downcast and like sheep for the slaughter, that very image is taken up in Romans 8 as assurance of victory through Christ.
Words and Historical Setting
Psalm 44 belongs to the time of Sennacherib's invasion and the destruction of the Assyrian host, a setting that fits its emphasis on deliverance by God's favor rather than human strength. It is encouragement for the downcast, portraying Israel in a backslidden and persecuted condition. Its image of God's people as sheep for slaughter expresses their suffering, while Romans 8 takes up those words in a message of victory through Christ.
Israel received possession of Canaan not through its own military strength, weapons, or arm, but through God's saving power and favor toward them. The Lord's right hand represents His strength in delivering and helping His people. His arm represents His power to save and give victory. The light of His countenance describes His presence, seen in sunshine as a visible sign of His ongoing work in the physical world.
God Gave the Land
Israel did not get the land in possession by its own sword, and its own arm did not save it, for the conquest was not accomplished by weapons or military strength. Victory and deliverance and possession came through God's power and favor toward them, through His hand and arm working for them. God had provided for their conquest, yet they did not take possession by their own sword nor save themselves by their own arm. The Lord's right hand was His strength exerted to deliver and help His people and bring them into Canaan.
God drove out the nations and settled Israel in the land and gave it to them as part of His own work. His guiding hand is the reason His people were brought through hardship into the land of promise. Remembering the victories the fathers had told about taught David to trust in God and seek deliverance from Him rather than rely on his bow or sword. What God did then is an example of His dealings with His people in earlier times, to be remembered and considered.
Encouragement and Present Application
Psalm 44 stands as encouragement for the downcast, portraying Israel in a backslidden and persecuted condition. The description of God's people as sheep for slaughter expresses the depth of their suffering under oppression. Those same words are taken up in Romans 8 in a message of victory through Christ. The principle that deliverance and possession of a land do not come by a people's own military strength but by God's power and favor extends beyond Israel, as seen in America's release from colonial dependence, whose independence is attributed to God's overruling hand rather than to the colonists' strength alone.