Read
Psalm 44:22
Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long. We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.
20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god,
21won’t God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long. We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.
23Wake up! Why do you sleep, Lord? Arise! Don’t reject us forever.
24Why do you hide your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression?
Notice
Sheep marked for slaughter confront the hope that belonging to God will keep his people safe from violence, even when they suffer for his sake.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What expectations about God's protection do you bring to the words “for your sake”?
Write on thisWhat do you notice about the plea for God to wake after this description of slaughter?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Romans 8:36Even as it is written, “For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”Romans quotes Psalm 44's account of being killed for God's sake, retaining the image of sheep destined for slaughter.
Matthew 5:11“Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.Both passages describe suffering for another's sake: God's people face slaughter in the psalm, and Jesus names persecution for his sake.
2 Corinthians 4:11For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh.Both passages describe an ongoing exposure to death for God's or Jesus' sake.
Isaiah 53:7He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is …Both texts compare those facing violence to sheep led to slaughter; Isaiah also describes the sufferer's silence.
Psalm 44:11You have made us like sheep for food, and have scattered us among the nations.Both verses in Psalm 44 portray God's people as sheep facing death, with verse 11 also naming their scattering among nations.
John 15:21But they will do all these things to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me.Both passages connect hostile treatment with belonging to God or Jesus, expressed through the language of suffering for his sake.
1 Corinthians 4:9For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men.The psalm's sheep awaiting slaughter and Paul's apostles pictured as condemned men share the prospect of death at others' hands.
John 16:2–3They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.Both passages speak of God's people being killed; Jesus adds that their killers will think they are serving God.
Psalm 69:7Because for your sake, I have borne reproach. Shame has covered my face.Both prayers address God with “for your sake,” linking suffering to allegiance to him, though one names slaughter and the other reproach.
1 Corinthians 15:30–31Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?The psalm's “all day long” and Paul's “every hour” both describe danger that continues through the day.
Matthew 5:10–12Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.Both passages describe suffering connected with faithfulness, though Matthew names persecution for righteousness and the psalm names killing for God's sake.
1 Samuel 22:17–19The king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he …Both texts concern lethal violence directed at people associated with God; Samuel records a king ordering the LORD's priests killed.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. fear for the future. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Faithfulness to God can carry a terrible cost. This prayer names slaughter without praise for the violence, and its sufferers still address God as their Lord.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 44:22. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).