Psalm 44 is a lament of God’s people after defeat: “We have heard, O God, with our ears: our fathers have declared to us” what God did in the past; why, then, has he now abandoned them? It dares to cry, “Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, and cast us not off to the end.” In the Douay-Rheims it is numbered Psalm 43. Below is the full Catholic text, what the psalm means, how the Church uses it, and a prayer.
Psalm 44 in the Douay-Rheims Bible
Unto the end, for the sons of Core, to give understanding.
We have heard, O God, with our ears: our fathers have declared to us, The work, thou hast wrought in their days, and in the days of old.
Thy hand destroyed the Gentiles, and thou plantedst them: thou didst afflict the people and cast them out.
For they got not the possession of the land by their own sword: neither did their own arm save them. But thy right hand and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance: because thou wast pleased with them.
Thou art thyself my king and my God, who commandest the saving of Jacob.
Through thee we will push down our enemies with the horn: and through thy name we will despise them that rise up against us.
For I will not trust in my bow: neither shall my sword save me.
But thou hast saved us from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us.
In God shall we glory all the day long: and in thy name we will give praise for ever.
But now thou hast cast us off, and put us to shame: and thou, O God, wilt not go out with our armies.
Thou hast made us turn our back to our enemies: and they that hated us plundered for themselves.
Thou hast given us up like sheep to be eaten: thou hast scattered us among the nations.
Thou hast sold thy people for no price: and there was no reckoning in the exchange of them.
Thou hast made us a reproach to our neighbours, a scoff and derision to them that are round about us.
Thou hast made us a byword among the Gentiles: a shaking of the head among the people.
All the day long my shame is before me: and the confusion of my face hath covered me,
At the voice of him that reproacheth and detracteth me: at the face of the enemy and persecutor.
All these things have come upon us, yet we have not forgotten thee: and we have not done wickedly in thy covenant.
And our heart hath not turned back: neither hast thou turned aside our steps from thy way.
For thou hast humbled us in the place of affliction: and the shadow of death hath covered us.
If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have spread forth our hands to a strange god:
Shall not God search out these things: for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Because for thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, and cast us not off to the end.
Why turnest thou thy face away? and forgettest our want and our trouble?
For our soul is humbled down to the dust: our belly cleaveth to the earth.
Arise, O Lord, help us and redeem us for thy name’s sake.
Psalm 44 or Psalm 43?
The Douay-Rheims Bible follows the numbering of the Latin Vulgate and the Greek Septuagint, while most modern Bibles follow the Hebrew. So the Douay’s Psalm 43 is Psalm 44 in the New American Bible and other modern translations. In Latin the psalm begins Deus, auribus nostris audivimus. See how many psalms are there?
Suffering for God’s sake
St. Paul quotes the psalm when he writes of the sufferings of Christians:
(As it is written: For thy sake we are put to death all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.)
And he answers it with Christian hope: “But in all these things we overcome, because of him that hath loved us,” and nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37–39).
What the psalm means
- Remembering God’s deeds: the people recall how God gave their fathers the land.
- Not by our sword: “they got not the possession of the land by their own sword… But thy right hand and thy arm.”
- Defeat without explanation: the people have not forgotten God, yet they suffer.
- “Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord?”: like the disciples in the storm-tossed boat (Mark 4:38).
- Faith in the dark: the psalm ends asking God to arise “for thy name’s sake.”
How the Church uses Psalm 44
- In the old Roman Missal, “Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord?” was the entrance chant of Sexagesima Sunday, before Lent.
- For persecuted Christians, as a prayer that God will rise to help them.
- In the Liturgy of the Hours.
A prayer with Psalm 44
Written for this page:
Lord, we have heard of your wonders in the days of old.
Now we suffer, and you seem to sleep.
Awake, O Lord, do not reject us for ever; help your persecuted people.
Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
Where is “Awake, O Lord, why do you sleep?”
Psalm 44:24 in modern Bibles (43:23 in the Douay-Rheims: “Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord?”).
How does St. Paul use Psalm 44?
He quotes “we are counted as sheep for the slaughter” in Romans 8:36 and answers that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ.
More psalms and prayers
Texts and sources
- Scripture: Psalm 43 (44); Romans 8:36–39; Mark 4:38, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayer was written for this page.