The title of this psalm, "To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil," is the same as the title prefixed to Psalm 42:1-11, except with a slight transposition. See the notes at the title to Psalm 42:1-11. This does not, however, prove that the psalm was by the same author; or that it was composed on the same occasion; or that the design and the contents of the two resemble each other; but merely that they were alike submitted, for the same purpose, to those descendants of the family of Korah who were employed in regulating the music of the sanctuary. It may be true, indeed, that the psalm was composed by one of the descendants of Korah, or one who had the charge of the music, but that is not made certain by the title.
There is no way in which the authorship can be determined. It does not belong to the general division of the book of Psalm which is ascribed to David Ps. 1-41; and though there can be no doubt that a large number of the psalms in the other portions of the book were composed by him, yet it is impossible now to ascertain which were his, except as his name is prefixed to a psalm; while the fact that his name is not so prefixed may be regarded as a proof that, in the belief of those who arranged the collection, it was not his composition. That he may have been the author of some of those which are ascribed to no particular writer is unquestionable, but there is nothing in this psalm which would indicate particularly that it was a psalm of David. We cannot hope, therefore, now to ascertain the name of the author.
The occasion on which the psalm was composed is also wholly unknown, and conjecture is useless. There are no circumstances mentioned in the psalm which will enable us to determine with certainty when it was composed. Many occasions, however, occurred in the history of the Jews to which the sentiments contained in it are applicable; but there is no one of those occasions to which the psalm is so uniquely and exclusively applicable that it can be assigned to that with undoubted certainty. The consequence is, that different expositors have assigned the composition of it to very different occasions. Not a few have referred it to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, and to the persecutions which occurred under him. Calvin, Venema, Dathe, and Rosenmuller adopt this view. DeWette supposes that the reference is to the time before the Babylonian exile, either in the reign of Jehoiakim, when Nebuchadnezzar first invaded the land 2-Kings 24:1, or in the reign of Jehoiachin, when the land was again invaded by him, 2-Kings 24:10. Tholuck supposes that it refers either to the time of Jehoiachin 2-Chronicles 36:9, or to the time of Zedekiah 2-Chronicles 36:11, when the land was invaded by the Babylonians, and when the captivity commenced. Prof. Alexander supposes that there is nothing in the psalm which makes it necessary to suppose that it refers to a later period than the time of David.
What is manifest in the psalm itself in regard to the occasion of its composition is,
(1) that it was a season of defeat and disaster, when the armies of Israel were discomfited, Psalm 44:9-10;
(2) that their armies and people were scattered among the pagan, and that the people were "sold" among them, Psalm 44:11-12;
(3) that they were made a reproach and a by-word among surrounding nations, Psalm 44:13-14;
(4) that this discomfiture and disgrace had befallen them in some place which might be called "the place of dragons," Psalm 44:19; and
(5) that this had occurred at some time when the author of the psalm, speaking in the name of the people, could say that it was not on account of prevailing idolatry, or because, as a people, they had "stretched out their hands to a strange god," Psalm 44:17-18, Psalm 44:20.
Perhaps it will be found, on an ex amination of the psalm, that all the circumstances accord better with the time of Josiah, and especially the close of his reign 2-Kings 23:26-30; 2-Chronicles 35:20-27, and the commencement of the reign following 2-Kings 23:31-37; 2-Kings 24:1, than with any other period of the history of the Hebrew people. This was the beginning of the calamities that came upon the nation in the period immediately preceding the Babylonian captivity; it was a time when the nation was free, as far as the efforts of a pious king could accomplish it, from prevailing idolatry; and yet it was a time when that series of disasters commenced which resulted in the entire removal of the nation to Babylon. There is not the slightest internal evidence that the psalm has reference to the times of the Maccabees; there were no historical facts in the time of David to which it can be easily applied; but all the circumstances in the psalm would find a fulfillment in the events which just preceded the Babylonian captivity, and in the series of national disasters which commenced with the defeat and death of Josiah.
The psalm is an earnest appeal to God to interpose amid the calamities of the nation, and to arise for their defense and deliverance. It consists of the following parts:
I. An allusion to former national blessings in the tradition which had come down from ancient times respecting the divine interposition in behalf of the nation when it was in danger, and when God delivered it from its foes, Psalm 44:1-8. This reference to the past is evidently designed to be an argument or a reason for expecting and imploring the divine interposition in the present period of national darkness and calamity. The fact that God had interposed in similar circumstances was an argument which might be urged why he should do so again.
II. The condition of the nation described, Psalm 44:9-16. It was a time of national calamity. God had cast the nation off, and went forth no more with their hosts. Their armies were turned back and plundered; the people were sold into slavery, they were made a reproach and a by-word among the nations of the earth.
III. The statement that whatever might be the reason why all this had come upon them, it was not on account of national defection, or the prevalence of idolatry, or because they had forgotten God, Psalm 44:17-22. The idea is that there was a prevailing desire in the nation to serve God, and that this was to be regarded as a calamity coming upon the people of God as such; their sufferings were endured in the cause of true religion, or because they were the people of God. This furnishes a ground of appeal that God would interpose in their behalf; or that he would vindicate them and his own cause.
IV. An earnest appeal to God to aid and save them, Psalm 44:23-26.

The psalmist recounts the mercies of God; shows to his people how God in ancient times gave them the victory over all their enemies, Psalm 44:1-8; points out their present miserable state, Psalm 44:9-16; asserts that thy have not apostatized, and appeals to God for the truth of his assertion, Psalm 44:17-22; and calls upon the Lord for deliverance from their enemies, Psalm 44:23-26.
The title here is the same as that in Psalm 42:1-11 (note); which see. The Syriac says it was "A Psalm of the sons of Korah, which the people and Moses sung at Horeb." Such titles are fancies to which no credit should be attached. Like the preceding, it appears to belong to the time of the captivity.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 44
To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil. It is not certain who was the writer of this psalm, nor when it was written, and to what time it belongs: some have thought it was composed by one of the Babylonish captivity, and that it gives an account of the church and people of God in those times; but what is said in Psalm 44:17 does not seem to agree with Daniel 9:5. It is most likely it was written by David, and to him the Targum ascribes it; though it does not respect his times; since what is said in Psalm 44:9 cannot agree with them; yet he being a prophet might, under a prophetic influence, speak of future times, and represent the church in them. Some are of opinion that he prophetically speaks of the times of the Maccabees and of Antiochus, when the church and people of God suffered much for the true religion, and abode steadfast in it; so Theodoret: but rather the whole may be applied to the times of the New Testament, since Psalm 44:22 is cited by the Apostle Paul, Romans 8:36, and is applied to his times, and as descriptive of the suffering state and condition of the church then; and which seems to be the guide and key for the opening of the whole psalm.

A petition for succour and relief.

A Litany of Israel, Hard Pressed by the Enemy, and Yet Faithful to Its God
The Korahitic Maskı̂l Psalm 42:1-11, with its counterpart Psalm 43:1-5, if followed by a second, to which a place is here assigned by manifold accords with Ps 42-43, viz., with its complaints (cf. PsPsa 44:26 with the refrain of Psalm 43:1-5, Psalm 42:1-11; Psalm 44:10, Psalm 44:24. with Psalm 43:2; Psalm 42:10), and prayers (cf. Psalm 44:5 with Psalm 43:3; Psalm 42:9). The counterpart to this Psalm is Psalm 85:1-13. Just as Ps 42-43 and Psalm 84:1-12 form a pair, so do Ps 44 and Psalm 85:1-13 as being Korahitic plaintive and supplicatory Psalm of a national character. Moreover, Psalm 60:1-12 by David, Ps 80 by Asaph, and Ps 89 by Ethan, are nearest akin to it. In all these three there are similar lamentations over the present as contrasting with the former times and with the promise of God; but they do not contain any like expression of consciousness of innocence, a feature in which Ps 44 has no equal.
In this respect the Psalm seems to be most satisfactorily explained by the situation of the חסידים (saints), who under the leadership of the Maccabees defended their nationality and their religion against the Syrians and fell as martyrs by thousands. The war of that period was, in its first beginnings at least, a holy war of religion; and the nation which then went forth on the side of Jahve against Jupiter Olympius, was really, in distinction from the apostates, a people true to its faith and confession, which had to lament over God's doom of wrath in 1 Macc. 1:64, just as in this Psalm. There is even a tradition that it was a stated lamentation Psalm of the time of the Maccabees. The Levites daily ascended the pulpit (דוכן) and raised the cry of prayer: Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?! These Levite criers praying for the interposition of God were called מעוררים (wakers). It is related in B. Sota 48a of Jochanan the high priest, i.e., John Hyrcanus (135-107 b.c.), that he put an end to these מעוררים, saying to them: "Doth the Deity sleep? Hath not the Scripture said: Behold the Keeper of Israel slumbereth not and sleepeth not!? Only in a time when Israel was in distress and the peoples of the world in rest and prosperity, only in reference to such circumstances was it said: Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?"
Nevertheless many considerations are opposed to the composition of the Psalm in the time of the Maccabees. We will mention only a few. In the time of the Maccabees the nation did not exactly suffer any overthrow of its "armies" (Psalm 44:10) after having gathered up its courage: the arms of Judah, of Jonathan, and of Simon were victorious, and the one defeat to which Hitzig refers the Psalm, viz., the defeat of Joseph and Azaria against Gorgias in Jamnia (1 Macc. 5:55ff.), was a punishment brought upon themselves by an indiscreet enterprise. The complaints in Psalm 44:10. are therefore only partially explained by the evmnts of that time; and since a nation is a unit and involved as a whole, it is also surprising that no mention whatever is made of the apostates. But Ewald's reference of the Psalm to the time of the post-exilic Jerusalem is still more inadmissible; and when, in connection with this view, the question is asked, What disaster of war is then intended? no answer can be given; and the reference to the time of Jehoiachin, which Tholuck in vain endeavours to set in a more favourable light - a king who did evil in the eyes of Jahve, 2-Chronicles 36:9, with which the descriptions of character drawn by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 22:20-30, and by Ezekiel, Ezekiel 19:1-14, fully accord - is also inadmissible. On the other hand, the position of the Psalm in the immediate neighbourhood of Psalm belonging to the time of Jehoshaphat, and also to a certain extent its contents, favours the early part of the reign of king Joash, in which, as becomes evident from the prophecy of Joel, there was no idolatry on the part of the people to be punished, and yet there were severe afflictions of the people to be bewailed. It was then not long since the Philistines and Arabs from the neighbourhood of the Cushites had broken in upon Judah, ransacked Jerusalem and sold the captive people of Judah for a mere song to the Greeks (2-Chronicles 21:16., Joel 3:2-8). But this reference to contemporary history is also untenable. That unhappy event, together with others, belongs to the category of well-merited judgments, which came upon king and people in the reign of Jehoram; nor does the Psalm sound like a retrospective glance at the time of Jehoram from the standpoint of the time of Joash: the defeat of which it complains, is one that is now only just experienced.
Thus we seem consequently driven back to the time of David; and the question arises, whether the Psalm does not admit, with Psalm 60:1-12, with which it forms a twin couple, of being understood as the offspring of a similar situation, viz., of the events which resulted from the Syro-Ammonitish war. The fact that a conflict with the foes of the kingdom in the south, viz., with the Edomites, was also mixed up with the wars with the Ammonites and their Syrian allies at that period, becomes evident from Psalm 60:1. when compared with 2-Samuel 8:13, where the words ἐπάταξε τὴν Ἰδουμαίαν (lxx) have fallen out. Whilst David was contending with the Syrians, the Edomites came down upon the country that was denuded of troops. And from 1-Kings 11:15 it is very evident that they then caused great bloodshed; for, according to that passage, Joab buried the slain and took fearful revenge upon the Edomites: he marched, after having slain them in the Valley of Salt, into Idumaea and there smote every male. Perhaps, with Hengstenberg, Keil, and others, the Psalm is to be explained from the position of Israel before this overthrow of the Edomites. The fact that in Psalm 44:12 the nation complains of a dispersion among the heathen may be understood by means of a deduction from Amos 1:6, according to which the Edomites had carried on a traffic in captive Israelites. And the lofty self-consciousness, which finds expression in the Psalm, is after all best explained by the times of David; for these and the early part of the times of Solomon are the only period in the history of Israel when the nation as a whole could boast of being free and pure of all foreign influence in its worship. In the kindred Psalm 60:1-12; 80 (also Ps 89), it is true this self-consciousness does not attain the same lofty expression in this respect Ps 40 stands perfectly alone: it is like the national mirroring of the Book of Job, and by reason of this takes a unique position in the range of Old Testament literature side by side with Lamentations. 3 and the deutero-Isaiah. Israel's affliction, which could not possibly be of a punitive character, resembles the affliction of Job; in this Psalm, Israel stands in exactly the same relation to God as Job and the "Servant of Jahve" in Isaiah, if we except all that was desponding in Job's complaint and all that was expiatory in the affliction of the Servant of Jahve. But this very self-consciousness does somewhat approximately find expression even in Psalm 60:4. In that passage also no distinction is made between Israel and the God-fearing ones, and the battle, in which Israel is defeated, but not without hope of final victory, is a battle for the truth.
The charge has been brought against this Psalm, that it manifests a very superficial apprehension of the nature of sin, in consequence of which the writer has been betrayed into accusing God of unfaithfulness, instead of seeking for guilt in the congregation of Israel. This judgment is unjust. The writer certainly cannot mean to disown the sins of individuals, nor even this or that transgression of the whole people. but any apostasy on the part of the nation from its God, such as could account for its rejection, did not exist at that time. The supremacy granted to the heathen over Israel is, therefore, an abnormal state of things, and for this very reason the poet, on the ground of Israel's fidelity and of God's loving-kindness, prays for speedy deliverance. A Psalm born directly out of the heart of the New Testament church would certainly sound very differently. For the New Testament church is not a national community; and both as regards the relation between the reality and idea of the church, and as regards the relation between its afflictions and the motive and design of God, the view of the New Testament church penetrates far deeper. It knows that it is God's love that makes it conformable to the passion of Christ, in order that, being crucified unto the world, it may become through suffering partaker of the glory of its Lord and Head.