Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 44:18

"Our heart is not turned back, Neither have our steps declined from thy way," — Psalms 44:18 (ASV)

Our heart is not turned back - That is, we have not turned away from Your service; we have not apostatized from You; we have not fallen into idolatry. This must mean that such was not the characteristic of the nation at that time; it was not a prominent thing among the people. There was no such general and pervasive iniquity as to explain why these calamities had come upon them, or to be properly the cause of these troubles.

Neither have our steps declined from thy way - Margin, goings. The idea as expressed by our translators is that the people had not departed from the path prescribed by God; that is, from what He required in His law.

The Septuagint and the Vulgate render it, “Thou hast turned our steps from thy way;” that is, though our heart is not turned back, and we have not revolted from You, yet You have turned our steps from Your way, or have turned us from the way of Your favor and from prosperity. The rendering in the common version, however, is more in conformity with the idea in the original.