World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 44
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. By the sons of . A contemplative psalm. We have heard with our ears, ; our fathers have told us what work you did in their days, in the days of old. You drove out the nations with your hand, but you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, but you spread them abroad. For they didn't get the land in possession by their own , neither did their own arm them; but your , your arm, and of your , because you were favorable to them. , you are my King. Command victories for ! Through you, we will push down our . Through your name, we will tread down those who rise up against us. For I will not in my bow, neither will my me. But you have us from our , and have shamed those who hate us. In we have made our boast all day long. We will to your name . . But now you rejected us, and brought us to dishonor, and don't go out with our armies. You make us from the adversary. Those who hate us take plunder for themselves. You have made us like sheep for food, and have scattered us among the nations. You sell your people for nothing, and have gained nothing from their sale. You make us a to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us. You make us among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples. All day long my dishonor is before me, and covers , at the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses, because of and the . All this has come on us, yet we haven't forgotten you. We haven't been false to your . Our has not turned back, neither have our steps strayed from your path, though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of . If we have forgotten the name of our , or spread out our hands to a strange , won't search this out? For he knows the secrets of . Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long. We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter. Wake up! Why do you sleep, ? Arise! Don't reject us . Why do you hide your , and forget our affliction and our ? For our is to . Our body clings to the earth. Rise up to help us. us for your ' sake.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The united kingdom, 1050 BC to 931 BC ›
Saul, David, and Solomon. A rare window when both Egypt and Mesopotamia are weak, which is how a small kingdom in the corridor between them could briefly become a regional power.
- The power vacuum
- This is the whole political explanation for the united kingdom. Egypt is fragmented, Assyria is recovering but still local, the Hittites are gone, and nobody is in a position to object to a strong state in the corridor. It lasts about a century, and Israel's golden age fits exactly inside it.
- Phoenicia
- Tyre under Hiram is the commercial power of the coast, and supplies the cedar, the craftsmen, and the shipping for Solomon's building programme. The alliance is trade, not charity: Israel had grain and a land route, Tyre had timber and ships.
- Egypt
- Weak enough that a pharaoh gives a daughter in marriage to an Israelite king, which is the opposite of Egyptian practice in stronger centuries. Late in the era it recovers under a new house, and Shishak will invade within five years of Solomon's death.
- Further afield
- Greece is still in its dark age but beginning to recover, and will adopt the Phoenician alphabet within a century or two. Carthage is founded by settlers from Tyre by tradition in 814 BC. In the Americas the Olmec centre shifts to La Venta.
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