< Psalms 44 >
1 “For the leader of the music. A psalm of the sons of Korah.” O God! we have heard with our ears, Our fathers have told us, What deeds thou didst in their days, In the days of old.
2 With thine own hand didst thou drive out the nations, And plant our fathers; Thou didst destroy the nations, And cause our fathers to flourish.
3 For not by their own swords did they gain possession of the land, Nor did their own arms give them victory; But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance; For thou didst favor them!
4 Thou art my king, O God! O send deliverance to Jacob!
5 Through thee we may cast down our enemies; Through thy name we may trample upon our adversaries!
6 I trust not in my bow, Nor can my sword save me.
7 But it is thou only who savest us from our enemies, And puttest to shame those who hate us!
8 In God will we glory continually; Yea, we will praise thy name for ever! (Pause)
9 Yet now thou hast cast us off, and put us to shame; Thou goest not forth with our armies.
10 Thou makest us turn back from the enemy, And they who hate us make our goods their prey.
11 Thou makest us like sheep destined for food, And scatterest us among the nations.
12 Thou sellest thy people for nought, And increasest not thy wealth by their price.
13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and a derision to those who are around us.
14 Thou makest us a byword among the nations, And causest the people to shake their heads at us.
15 My ignominy is continually before me, And shame covereth my face,
16 On account of the voice of the scoffer and the reviler, And on account of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this hath come upon us; Yet have we not forgotten thee, Nor have we been false to thy covenant.
18 Our hearts, have not wandered from thee, Nor have our feet gone out of thy path;
19 Though thou hast crushed us in a land of jackals, And covered us with thick darkness.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched forth our hands to a strange God,
21 Surely God would search it out; For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 But for thy sake we are killed all the day; We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake! why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise! cast us not off for ever!
24 Wherefore dost thou hide thy face, And forget our affliction and oppression?
25 Our soul is bowed down to the dust; Our body cleaveth to the earth.
26 Arise, O thou, our strength! And deliver us, for thy mercy's sake!
