John Calvin Commentary Psalms 44:12

"Thou sellest thy people for nought, And hast not increased [thy wealth] by their price." — Psalms 44:12 (ASV)

You have sold your people, and not become rich. In saying that they were sold without any gain, it means that they were exposed for sale as slaves who are contemptible and of no value. In the second clause, too, And have not increased their price, there seems to be an allusion to the custom of exposing things to auction and selling them to the highest bidder.

We know that those slaves who were sold were not delivered to the buyers until their price had been increased by bidding. Thus the faithful mean that they were cast out as being altogether worthless, so that their condition had been worse than that of any bond-slave. And as they appeal to God rather than turn to their enemies, whose pride and cruelty they had just cause to complain of, let us learn from this that there is nothing better or more advantageous for us in our adversity than to give ourselves to meditation on the providence and judgment of God.

When men trouble us, it is no doubt the devil who drives them to it, and it is with him we must contend; but we must, nevertheless, raise our thoughts to God Himself, so that we may know that we are tested and tried by Him, either to chastise us, or to exercise our patience, or to subdue the sinful desires of our flesh, or to humble us and train us in the practice of self-denial.

And when we hear that the Fathers who lived under the Law were treated so ignominiously, there is no reason why we should lose courage because of any outrage or ill treatment, if God should at any time see fit to subject us to it. It is not said here simply that God sold some people, but that He sold His own people, as if His own inheritance were of no value in His sight.

Even today, we may in our prayers still make the same complaint, provided we, at the same time, make use of this example to support and establish our faith, so that, however much afflicted we may be, our hearts may not fail us. In Isaiah 52:3, God, using the same form of speech, says that He sold His people without price; but there it is to be understood in a different sense, namely, to show that He will have no difficulty in redeeming them, because He is under no obligation to those who bought them, as He had received nothing from them in return.