“Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 44:22 Mean?
This verse is quoted by Paul in Romans 8:36, where he applies it to the suffering of the early church. In its original context, it's a communal lament: the people of God are being killed all day long because of their allegiance to God. They're "counted as sheep for the slaughter" — treated as expendable, their lives valued no more than livestock destined for death.
The phrase "for thy sake" is the theological center. They aren't suffering despite their faith — they're suffering because of it. Their relationship with God is the cause of their persecution. This inverts the prosperity theology that assumes faithfulness produces safety. Here, faithfulness produces danger.
The sheep metaphor is deliberately dehumanizing — that's the point. The enemies view God's people the way they view slaughter animals: worthless, expendable, existing only to be consumed. The psalm protests this devaluation while acknowledging its reality.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you paid a price for your faith? What did it cost you?
- 2.How do you hold together the reality of suffering 'for God's sake' with the promise of being 'more than conquerors'?
- 3.Does this verse challenge or confirm your theology about what faithfulness produces?
- 4.What does it mean to you to be counted as 'sheep for the slaughter' yet still conquer?
Devotional
"For thy sake are we killed all the day long." Not for their sins. Not because they failed. For God's sake. Because of their faithfulness. The most dangerous thing they did was belong to God, and it's costing them their lives.
This verse shatters any theology that promises safety in exchange for faithfulness. The psalm's speakers are faithful — and they're being slaughtered. Their devotion to God is exactly what made them targets. If you've ever been told that following God would make your life better, this verse respectfully disagrees. Sometimes following God makes your life harder. Sometimes the sheep that follow the Shepherd are the sheep being led to slaughter.
Paul quotes this verse in Romans 8 and then immediately follows with: "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." He doesn't deny the killing. He doesn't deny the slaughter. He says: even in this, we conquer. Not by escaping the suffering but by transcending it through the love of God.
If you're paying a price for your faith — not the dramatic martyrdom kind, but the daily, grinding kind where your obedience costs you opportunities, relationships, comfort — you're in good company. The psalmist counted as a slaughter sheep. Paul counted as a conqueror. Both were describing the same experience.
More than conquerors. Even as sheep for the slaughter.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long,.... These words are cited by the Apostle Paul in Rom 8:36; and are…
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long - That is, we are continually or constantly subjected to these…
The people of God, being greatly afflicted and oppressed, here apply to him; whither else should they go?
I. By way of…
Yea, for thy sake Or, Nay, but for thy sake. Not only have we not been unfaithful to Thee, but we are actually suffering…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture