Psalms 44:23
in Psalms 44Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, cast us not off for ever.
KJV
Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
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This verse in Psalms 44
Commentary
12 notes on this verseAwake, why sleepest thou, O Lord. God sleepeth not, but the psalmist puts it so, as if on no other theory he could explain the divine inaction. He would fain see the great Judge ending oppression and giving peace to the holy, therefore does he cry "Awake; "he cannot understand why the reign of tyranny and the oppression of virtue are permitted, and therefore he enquires "Why sleepest thou?" Arise. This is all thou needest to do, one move of thine will save us. Cast us not off for ever.
This site's exposition
Wake up, O Lord
on Psalms 44:23-26
The psalm ends with its boldest words, Wake up, O Lord. The soul has sunk to the dust and the bodies cling to the earth, and the plea for help rests on God's loving devotion. Maclaren notes the prayer is left unanswered inside the psalm.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Awake; why sleepest Thou, O Lord?" (ver. 23). Who is addressed, and who is the speaker? Would not he be more correctly said to sleep and slumber, who speaks such words as these? He replies to you, I know what I am saying: I know that "He that keepeth Israel doth not sleep:" but yet the Martyrs cry, "Awake; why sleepest Thou, O Lord?" O Lord Jesus, Thou wast slain; Thou didst "sleep" in Thy Passion; to us Thou hast now "awaked" from sleep. For "we" know that Thou hast now "awaked" again. To what purpose hast Thou awaked and risen again? The Gentiles that persecute us, think Thee to be dead; do not believe Thee to have risen again. "Arise Thou" then to them also! "Why sleepest Thou," though not to us, yet to them? For if they already believed Thee to have risen again, could they persecute us who believe in Thee? But why do they persecute? "Destroy, slay so and so, whoever have believed in Thee, such an one, who died an ill death!" As yet to them "Thou sleepest;" arise to them, that they may perceive that Thou hast "awaked" again; and may be at rest. Lastly, it has come to pass, while the Martyrs die, and say these things; while they sleep, and "awaken" Christ, truly dead in their sleepings, Christ has, in a certain sense, risen again in the Gentiles; i.e. it becomes believed, that He has risen again; so by degrees they themselves, becoming converted to Christ by believing, collected a numerous body: such as the persecutors dreaded; and the persecutions have come to an end. Why? Because Christ, who before was asleep to them, as not believing, bath risen in the Gentiles. "Arise, and cast us not off for ever!"
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Arise, why do you sleep, O Lord?" Here he invokes the help of God. And first a question of wonder is set forth. Second, a petition for divine help. We therefore wonder because he permits his saints to be so afflicted. And this can be …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps; but, when he does not immediately appear for the deliverance of his people, they are tempted to think he sleeps. The expression is figurative (as Ps. lxxviii. 65 , Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep ); but it was applicable to Christ in the letter ( Matt. viii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord?....
He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps; but, when he does not immediately appear for the deliverance of his people, they are tempted to think he sleeps. The expression is figurative (as Ps. lxxviii. 65 , Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep ); but it was applicable to Christ in the letter ( Matt. viii.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Some observe that most of the psalms that are entitled Maschil--psalms of instruction, are sorrowful psalms; for afflictions give instructions, and sorrow of spirit opens the ear to them. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest and teachest.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
This style of addressing God, as indifferent, is frequent (Ps 3:7; However low their condition, God is appealed to, on the ground, and for the honor, of His mercy.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord. God sleepeth not, but the psalmist puts it so, as if on no other theory he could explain the divine inaction. He would fain see the great Judge ending oppression and giving peace to the holy, therefore does he cry "Awake; "he cannot understand why the reign of tyranny and the oppression of virtue are permitted, and therefore he enquires "Why sleepest thou?" Arise. This is all thou needest to do, one move of thine will save us. Cast us not off for ever. Long enough hast thou deserted us; the terrible effects of thine absence are destroying us; end thou our calamities, and let thine anger be appeased. In persecuting times men are apt to cry, Where is the God of Israel? At the thought of what the saints have endured from their haughty enemies, we join our voices in the great martyr cry and sing with the bard of Paradise:
A wake, why steepest thou, O Lord? - That is, Why dost thou appear as one asleep, who is regardless of the safety of his friends. This is a freedom of speech which can only be allowed to inspired men; and in their mouths it is always to be figuratively understood.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Awake, why sleepest thou? - This is a solemn and earnest appeal to God to interpose in their behalf, as if he were “asleep,” or were regardless of their sufferings. Compare Psa 3:7, note; Psa 7:6, note; Psa 35:23, note. Arise, cast us not off for ever - Do not forsake us always. Compare Psa 44:9. He had seemed to have cast them off; to have forgotten them; to have forsaken them utterly, and the psalmist, in the name of the people, calls on him not entirely to abandon them.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ע֤וּרָה׀ | ʾurah | awake ! | H5782 → | 80 times |
| לָ֖מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תִישַׁ֥ן׀ | tishan | do you sleep | H3462 → | 19 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֑י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| הָ֝קִ֗יצָה | hakitzah | awake ! | H6974 → | 22 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּזְנַ֥ח | tiznach | you reject [us] | H2186 → | 20 times |
| לָנֶֽצַח׃ | lanetzach | to perpetuity | H5331 → | 43 times |
ע֤וּרָה׀awake !
ʾurahH5782 →80 times
לָ֖מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
תִישַׁ֥ן׀do you sleep
tishanH3462 →19 times
אֲדֹנָ֑יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
הָ֝קִ֗יצָהawake !
hakitzahH6974 →22 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּזְנַ֥חyou reject [us]
tiznachH2186 →20 times
לָנֶֽצַח׃to perpetuity
lanetzachH5331 →43 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 35:23Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
it leads to
- Psalms 7:6
Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 51:9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 7:6
Through
Psalms 77:7“Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again?
it leads to
- Psalms 85:1
You showed favor to Your land, O LORD; You restored Jacob from captivity.
- Lamentations 3:31–32
For the Lord will not cast us off forever.
- Psalms 89:46
How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?
- Romans 11:1–2
I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
- Psalms 85:1
Through
Psalms 88:14Why, O LORD, do You reject me? Why do You hide Your face from me?
it leads to
- Job 13:24
Why do You hide Your face and consider me as Your enemy?
- Job 13:24
Through
Psalms 7:6Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
it leads to
- Psalms 35:23
Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
- Psalms 35:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alexander Maclaren, The Psalms, Expositor's Bible; Augustine of Hippo, ON THE PSALMS, Psalm 44; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.