All this has happened though we have not forgotten you. We have not violated your covenant.
Parallel translations
- WEB All this has come on us, yet have we not forgotten you, Neither have we been false to your covenant.
- KJV All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
- BSB All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You or betrayed Your covenant.
- NKJV All this has come upon us; But we have not forgotten You, Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.
- NASB ¶All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You, And we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant.
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
Despite all this suffering, the people insist they have not forgotten God or broken His covenant. It matters because it raises the mystery of righteous suffering.
Overview
Here the psalm takes an unusual turn: the people protest their faithfulness even amid calamity. Unlike many laments that confess sin, this one maintains covenant loyalty, making the suffering deeply perplexing. It foreshadows the reality of innocent suffering, fully embodied in the sinless Christ who suffered though He kept perfect covenant faithfulness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Dan 9:13As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come on us: yet have we not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth.
- Deut 6:12then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
- Deut 8:14then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;
- Jer 31:32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh.
- Ps 78:7that they might set their hope in God, and not forget God’s deeds, but keep his commandments,
- Isa 17:10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your strength. Therefore you plant pleasant plants, and set out foreign seedlings.
- Jer 2:32“Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number.
- Ps 44:20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god;
- Ps 9:17The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol, even all the nations that forget God.
- Ezek 16:59“‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
- Ezek 20:37“I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
- Ps 78:57but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
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 44:17 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.