Psalms44

¹To the choirmaster . A Maskil of the Sons of Korah . O God , we have heard with our ears , our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days , in the days of old :

²you with your own hand drove out the nations , but them you planted ; you afflicted the peoples , but them you set free ;

³for not by their own sword did they win the land , nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm , and the light of your face , for you delighted in them.

⁴You are my King , O God ; ordain salvation for Jacob !

⁵Through you we push down our foes ; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.

⁶For not in my bow do I trust , nor can my sword save me.

⁷But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us.

⁸In God we have boasted continually , and we will give thanks to your name forever . Selah

⁹But you have rejected us and disgraced us and have not gone out with our armies .

¹⁰You have made us turn back from the foe , and those who hate us have gotten spoil .

¹¹You have made us like sheep for slaughter and have scattered us among the nations .

¹²You have sold your people for a trifle , demanding no high price for them.

¹³You have made us the taunt of our neighbors , the derision and scorn of those around us.

¹⁴You have made us a byword among the nations , a laughingstock among the peoples .

¹⁵All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face

¹⁶at the sound of the taunter and reviler , at the sight of the enemy and the avenger .

¹⁷All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant .

¹⁸Our heart has not turned back , nor have our steps departed from your way ;

¹⁹yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death .

²⁰If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god ,

²¹would not God discover this ? For he knows the secrets of the heart .

²²Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered .

²³Awake ! Why are you sleeping , O Lord ? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever !

²⁴Why do you hide your face ? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression ?

²⁵For our soul is bowed down to the dust ; our belly clings to the ground .

²⁶Rise up ; come to our help ! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love !