Psalm 44:1

Verse 1. Our fathers have told us. Hear this, saith Basil, ye fathers that neglect to teach your children such things as may work his fear and love in them, and faith to rely upon and seek to him in all times of danger. They made their mouths, as it were, books, wherein the mighty deeds of the Lord might be read to his praise, and to the drawing of their children's hearts unto him. John Mayer.

Verse 1. What work thou didst. Why only work in the singular, when such innumerable deliverances had been wrought by him, from the passage of the Red Sea to the destruction of the hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians? Because all these were but types of that one great work, that one stretching forth of the Lord's hand, when Satan was vanquished, death destroyed, and the kingdom of heaven opened to all believers. Ambrose.

Verse 1. What work thou didst. While the songs of other nations sing of the heroism of their ancestors, the songs of Israel celebrate the works of God. Augustus F. Tholuck.

Verse 1. Three necessary requirements for learning well: 1. Intention and attention in him who hears, we have heard with our ears. 2. Authority in him that teaches, our fathers have told us. 3. Love between the teacher and the taught, "our fathers." Hugo (Cardinal), quoted in Neale's Commentary.

Verse 1-2,4-8. Children are their parent's heirs; it were unnatural for a father before he dies to bury up his treasure in the earth, where his children should not find or enjoy it; now the mercies of God are not the least part of his treasure, nor the least of his children's inheritance, being both helps to their faith, matter for their praise, and spurs to their obedience. Our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, how thou didst drive out the heathen, etc. Psalms 44:1-2 ; from this they ground their confidence; Psalms 44:4 : Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob; and excite their thankfulness, Psalms 44:8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Indeed, as children are their parent's heirs, so they become in justice liable to pay their parents' debts; now the great debt which the saint at death stands charged with, is that which he owes to God for his mercies, and, therefore it is but reason he should tie his posterity to the patent thereof. Thus mayest thou be praising God in heaven and earth at the same time. William Gurnall.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1. The encouraging traditions of church history. The days of yore.

Verse 1. The parent's duty, and the children's privilege.

Verse 1. Family conversation, the most profitable subject for it.

Verse 1. The true glory of the good old times.