Psalms 44:24
in Psalms 44Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, And forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
KJV
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
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This verse in Psalms 44
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWe cannot see God's face. But there is a place where, by faith, God shows himself to us. The place is with God; and if we were to stand on the rock—that is, in awareness of this flesh and in firmness of faith—we will see as much as can be allowed to us to see. We cannot see the fullness, but we can, in a certain sense, drink in some remnant of his light. Moses did not see the full and entire divinity that dwells in Christ corporeally. But he saw the back of Christ.
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.
This site's exposition
hide Your face
Barnes notes such questions borrow the language people use with one another, and in the Psalms they mark earnestness without irreverence. Gill held that God never forgets the affliction of His people. Spurgeon allowed such questions to the Lord, even while He seems to hide His face.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Wherefore hidest Thou Your face:" as if You were not present; as if you had forgotten us? "And forgettest our misery and trouble?" [Psalm 44:24].
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Why do you turn away your face?" The defect of knowledge happens in two ways: either because he does not see, and therefore he says, "You turn away." When God helps, he seems to look upon us; when he does not, he seems to turn …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Wherefore hidest thou thy face?.... See Psa 10:1; and forgettest our affliction and our oppression. Not that the Lord does really forget either the persons of his people, which he cannot, since they are engraven on the palms of his hands, and a book of remembrance is written for them: nor the afflictions of his people; he knows their souls in adversity; he chooses them in the furnace of affliction; he makes all afflictions work together for good, and delivers out of them.
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 Century1 voice
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? Not petulantly, but piteously and inquiringly, we may question the Lord when his dealings are mysterious. We are permitted to order our case with arguments, and plead the right before the face of the august Majesty. Why, Lord, dost thou become oblivious of thy children's woes? This question is far more easily asked than answered; it is hard, indeed, in the midst of persecution to see the reason why we are left to suffer so severely.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 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
Wherefore hidest thou thy face - Show us the cause why thou withdrawest from us the testimony of thy approbation.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Wherefore hidest thou thy face? - See the notes at Psa 13:1. Why dost thou turn away from us, and refuse to aid us, and leave us to these unpitied sufferings? And forgettest our affliction and our oppression - Our trials, and the wrongs that are committed against us. These are earnest appeals. They are the pleadings of the oppressed and the wronged. The language is such as man would use in addressing his fellow-men; and, when applied to God, it must be understood as such language. As used in the Psalms, it denotes earnestness, but not irreverence; it is solemn petition, not dictation; it is affectionate pleading, not complaint. It indicates depth of suffering and distress, and is the strongest language which could be employed to denote entire helplessness and dependence. At the same time, it is language which implies that the cause for which they suffered was the cause of God, and that they might properly call on him to interfere in behalf of his own friends.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָֽמָּה־ | lamah- | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| פָנֶ֥יךָ | faneikha | face your | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| תַסְתִּ֑יר | tastir | do you hide | H5641 → | 80 times |
| תִּשְׁכַּ֖ח | tishkach | do you forget? | H7911 → | 102 times |
| עָנְיֵ֣נוּ | ʾaneyenu | affliction our | H6040 → | 36 times |
| וְֽלַחֲצֵֽנוּ׃ | velachatzenu | and oppression our | H3906 → | 12 times |
לָֽמָּה־<to> why?
lamah-H4100 →752 times
פָנֶ֥יךָface your
faneikhaH6440 →2123 times
תַסְתִּ֑ירdo you hide
tastirH5641 →80 times
תִּשְׁכַּ֖חdo you forget?
tishkachH7911 →102 times
עָנְיֵ֣נוּaffliction our
ʾaneyenuH6040 →36 times
וְֽלַחֲצֵֽנוּ׃and oppression our
velachatzenuH3906 →12 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
Job 13:24Why do You hide Your face and consider me as Your enemy?
it leads to
- Job 19:11
His anger burns against me, and He counts me among His enemies.
- Lamentations 2:5
The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah.
- Psalms 13:1
How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
- Isaiah 8:17
I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him.
- Job 19:11
Through
Psalms 42:9I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”
it leads to
- Psalms 38:6
I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning.
- Psalms 18:2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
- Psalms 43:2
For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?
- Psalms 38:6
Through
Deuteronomy 32:20He said: “I will hide My face from them; I will see what will be their end. For they are a perverse generation—children of unfaithfulness.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 31:17–18
On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them.…
- Deuteronomy 31:17–18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on 13 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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alexander Maclaren, The Psalms, Expositor's Bible; Ambrose of Milan, COMMENTARY ON TWELVE PSALMS 44:91; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 44; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.