For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them. For it was not by their sword that they took the land;This phrase emphasizes that the Israelites' conquest of the Promised Land was not achieved through their own military might or weaponry. In the biblical narrative, the conquest of Canaan, as described in the Book of Joshua, was marked by divine intervention rather than human strength. The fall of Jericho (Joshua 6) is a prime example, where the walls fell not by force but by following God's instructions. This underscores the theme of reliance on God rather than human power, a recurring motif throughout Scripture. their arm did not bring them victory.
The "arm" symbolizes human strength and effort. The Israelites' victories were not due to their own physical prowess or strategic abilities. This reflects a broader biblical principle found in passages like Zechariah 4:6, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," indicating that true success comes from divine assistance. Historically, the Israelites were often outnumbered and outmatched by their enemies, yet they triumphed through God's intervention. It was by Your right hand,
The "right hand" of God is a metaphor for His power and authority. In ancient Near Eastern culture, the right hand was associated with strength and skill. This phrase highlights that it was God's power that secured the land for Israel. The right hand of God is also a messianic symbol, pointing to Jesus Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3), signifying His divine authority and power. Your arm,
This reiterates the theme of divine strength. God's "arm" is often depicted in Scripture as a source of deliverance and salvation (Isaiah 52:10). The imagery of God's arm conveys His active involvement in the affairs of His people, ensuring their victory and protection. It serves as a reminder of God's omnipotence and His role as the ultimate deliverer. and the light of Your face,
The "light of Your face" symbolizes God's favor and presence. In the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), the shining of God's face upon His people is a sign of His grace and peace. This imagery suggests that the Israelites' success was due to God's favorable disposition towards them. The light also represents guidance and revelation, as seen in Psalm 119:105, where God's word is described as a lamp and light. because You favored them.
God's favor is the ultimate reason for Israel's victories. This favor is rooted in His covenantal promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as His love for His chosen people. The concept of divine favor is central to the biblical narrative, where God's grace and mercy are extended to His people despite their shortcomings. This favor is also a type of the grace extended through Jesus Christ, who brings salvation not by human merit but by God's unmerited favor (Ephesians 2:8-9). Persons / Places / Events 1. IsraelitesThe people of God who were given the Promised Land, not by their own might, but by God's intervention. 2. Promised LandThe land of Canaan, which God promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 3. God's Right HandA metaphor for God's power and intervention in the affairs of His people. 4. God's FaceSymbolizes God's favor and presence with His people. 5. Divine DelightGod's pleasure in His people, which is the reason for His intervention and blessing. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty in VictoryRecognize that true victory comes from God, not from human strength or strategy. Trust in His power and plan. Divine FavorUnderstand that God's favor is a key factor in our success. Seek His presence and delight in His ways. Humility and DependenceAcknowledge our limitations and depend on God for guidance and strength in all endeavors. Gratitude for God's InterventionCultivate a heart of gratitude for the ways God has intervened in our lives, often beyond our understanding or ability. Faith in God's PromisesStand firm in the promises of God, knowing that He is faithful to fulfill them in His timing and way. Bible Study Questions 1. How does understanding that victory comes from God change the way you approach challenges in your life? 2. In what ways can you seek to experience more of God's favor and presence in your daily walk? 3. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's intervention in a situation. How did it impact your faith? 4. How can the concept of God's "right hand" and "face" influence your prayer life and relationship with Him? 5. What are some practical steps you can take to ensure that you are relying on God's strength rather than your own in your current circumstances? Connections to Other Scriptures Deuteronomy 7:7-8This passage emphasizes that God chose Israel not because of their size or strength, but because of His love and promise. Joshua 24:12Describes how God sent the hornet ahead of the Israelites to drive out their enemies, showing that it was not by their own strength. Exodus 15:6Celebrates God's right hand as glorious in power, which shattered the enemy. Numbers 6:25The priestly blessing that asks for God's face to shine upon His people, indicating favor and peace. People Jacob, Korah, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Accepted, Arm, Arms, Bring, Countenance, Delight, Didn't, Face, Favor, Favorable, Favored, Favour, Favourable, Gat, Got, Hadst, Kept, Loved, Obtained, Pleasure, Possess, Possessed, Possession, Presence, Safe, Salvation, Save, Sword, Swords, Theirs, Victory, Wast, Win, WonDictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 44:3 1255 face of God
1270 right hand of God
4835 light, spiritual
7141 people of God, OT Psalm 44:1-3 4945 history
5607 warfare, examples Psalm 44:1-5 8214 confidence, basis of Psalm 44:3-7 5597 victory, act of God Library Second Sunday after Easter
Text: First Peter 2, 20-25. 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 21 For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. IISermon at the Opening Services of the General Convention, October 2, 1889
"We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work Thou didst their days, in the times of old."--PSALM xliv. I. Brethren: I shall take it for granted that there is a visible Church; that it was founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, and has His promise that the gates of hell shall never prevail against it. We believe that ours is a pure branch of the apostolic Church; that it has a threefold ministry; that its two sacraments--Baptism and the Supper of the Lord--are of perpetual …
H.B. Whipple—Five Sermons The Story of God's Mighty Acts
Now, my dear friends, this morning I intend to recall to your minds some of the wondrous things which God has done in the olden time. My aim and object will be to excite your minds to seek after the like; that looking back upon what God has done, you may be induced to look forward with the eye of expectation, hoping that he will again stretch forth his potent hand and his holy arm, and repeat those mighty acts he performed in ancient days. First, I shall speak of the marvellous stories which our …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859 Name Date No.
NAME DATE No. A Abelard, Rev. Peter 1079-1142 544 Adams, Mrs. Sarah (Flower) 1805-1848 222 Addison, Joseph 1672-1719 237, 252, 317 Ainger, Arthur Campbell 1841-1919 483 Alexander, Mrs. Cecil Frances (Humphreys) 1823-1895 87, 138, 156, 159, 179, 268, 283, 349, 358, 525, 553 Alford, Dean Henry 1810-1871 270, 344, 421, 531, 541 Allen, Rev. James 1734-1804 157 Anonymous 37, 173, 197, 209, 257, 284, 347, 355, 356, 377, 398 Armstrong, Bishop John 1813-1856 454 Auber, Miss Harriet 1773-1862 199 cNAME DATE …
Various—The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA Letter xv. To Turribius, Bishop of Asturia , Upon the Errors of the Priscillianists.
To Turribius, Bishop of Asturia [137] , upon the errors of the Priscillianists. Leo, bishop, to Turribius, bishop, greeting. I. Introductory. Your laudable zeal for the truth of the catholic Faith, and the painstaking devotion you expend in the exercise of your pastoral office upon the Lord's flock is proved by your letter, brother, which your deacon has handed to us, in which you have taken care to bring to our knowledge the nature of the disease which has burst forth in your district from the …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great The Mystery
Of the Woman dwelling in the Wilderness. The woman delivered of a child, when the dragon was overcome, from thenceforth dwelt in the wilderness, by which is figured the state of the Church, liberated from Pagan tyranny, to the time of the seventh trumpet, and the second Advent of Christ, by the type, not of a latent, invisible, but, as it were, an intermediate condition, like that of the lsraelitish Church journeying in the wilderness, from its departure from Egypt, to its entrance into the land …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse Appendix iv. An Abstract of Jewish History from the Reign of Alexander the Great to the Accession of Herod
The political connection of the Grecian world, and, with it, the conflict with Hellenism, may be said to have connected with the victorious progress of Alexander the Great through the then known world (333 b.c.). [6326] It was not only that his destruction of the Persian empire put an end to the easy and peaceful allegiance which Judæa had owned to it for about two centuries, but that the establishment of such a vast Hellenic empire. as was the aim of Alexander, introduced a new element into …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Epistle Lxvii. To Quiricus, Bishop, &C.
To Quiricus, Bishop, &c. Gregory to Quiricus, Bishop, and the other catholic bishops in Hiberia [183] . Since to charity nothing is afar off, let those who are divided in place be joined by letter. The bearer of these presents, coming to the Church of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, asserted that he had received letters for us from your Fraternity, and had lost them, with other things also, in the city of Jerusalem. In them, as he says, you were desirous of enquiring with regard to priests …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great Under the Shepherd's Care.
A NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS. "For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."--1 Peter ii. 25. "Ye were as sheep going astray." This is evidently addressed to believers. We were like sheep, blindly, willfully following an unwise leader. Not only were we following ourselves, but we in our turn have led others astray. This is true of all of us: "All we like sheep have gone astray;" all equally foolish, "we have turned every one to his own way." Our first …
J. Hudson Taylor—A Ribband of Blue Introduction. Chapter i. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers.
St. Hilary of Poitiers is one of the greatest, yet least studied, of the Fathers of the Western Church. He has suffered thus, partly from a certain obscurity in his style of writing, partly from the difficulty of the thoughts which he attempted to convey. But there are other reasons for the comparative neglect into which he has fallen. He learnt his theology, as we shall see, from Eastern authorities, and was not content to carry on and develop the traditional teaching of the West; and the disciple …
St. Hilary of Poitiers—The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers Triumph Over Death and the Grave
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. T he Christian soldier may with the greatest propriety, be said to war a good warfare (I Timothy 1:18) . He is engaged in a good cause. He fights under the eye of the Captain of his salvation. Though he be weak in himself, and though his enemies are many and mighty, he may do that which in other soldiers …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 The Prophet Joel.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. The position which has been assigned to Joel in the collection of the Minor Prophets, furnishes an external argument for the determination of the time at which Joel wrote. There cannot be any doubt that the Collectors were guided by a consideration of the chronology. The circumstance, that they placed the prophecies of Joel just between the two prophets who, according to the inscriptions and contents of their prophecies, belonged to the time of Jeroboam and Uzziah, is …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Calvin -- Enduring Persecution for Christ
John Calvin was born in 1509, at Noyon, France. He has been called the greatest of Protestant commentators and theologians, and the inspirer of the Puritan exodus. He often preached every day for weeks in succession. He possest two of the greatest elements in successful pulpit oratory, self-reliance and authority. It was said of him, as it was afterward said of Webster, that "every word weighed a pound." His style was simple, direct, and convincing. He made men think. His splendid contributions to …
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Volume I Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Psalm 44:3 NIVPsalm 44:3 NLTPsalm 44:3 ESVPsalm 44:3 NASBPsalm 44:3 KJV
Psalm 44:3 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
