What does Psalm 44:19 mean?

The psalmist feels devastated (Psalm 44:9–10), comparing their pain to being crushed and dumped in an abandoned wilderness. In that era, jackals were scavenging pack animals. They lived just outside inhabited areas, where there was no established civilization. References to jackals are often symbolic of ruin and desolation (Isaiah 34:13; Jeremiah 9:10–11; 51:37). This expresses anguish over a humiliating defeat (Psalm 44:9–16) which doesn't seem connected to any sin on the part of Israel (Psalm 44:17–18). The writer also describes a sense of doom, as a "shadow" covering the people. Combined, this suggests Israel was abandoned by God and facing imminent destruction.

Similarly, life without Christ as Savior is barren and mournful. However, Jesus came to earth to give abundant life to all who believe. He promised the woman at Jacob's well, "Everyone who drinks of this water [water from Jacob's well] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13–14).