You have made us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered us.
Parallel translations
- WEB You make us turn back from the adversary. Those who hate us take plunder for themselves.
- KJV Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
- NKJV You make us turn back from the enemy, And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
- NASB You cause us to turn back from the enemy; And those who hate us have taken spoils for themselves.
- NLT You make us retreat from our enemies and allow those who hate us to plunder our land.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The people are turned back before the enemy, who plunders them. It matters because it confesses the bitterness of defeat that seems to come from God's withdrawn favor.
Overview
The lament details the consequences of God seemingly not going with them: retreat and loss. Defeat and plunder reverse the earlier victories given by God's hand. The psalmist does not deny God's sovereignty over this reversal but pleads with the God who alone can restore.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Josh 7:8O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies?
- Lev 26:17And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Ps 89:41All who pass by plunder him; he has become a reproach to his neighbors.
- Josh 7:12This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction.
- Isa 10:6I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
- Deut 28:25The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Lev 26:36–37As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.
- Lev 26:14If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,
- Jer 20:8For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long.
- 1 Sam 4:17The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
- 1 Sam 31:1–7Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
- Jer 15:13Your wealth and your treasures I will give up as plunder, without charge for all your sins within all your borders.
- Isa 10:14My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 44:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.