Psalms 44

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

² thou with thy own hand didst drive out the nations, but them thou didst plant; thou didst afflict the peoples, but them thou didst set free;

³ for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm give them victory; but thy right hand, and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance; for thou didst delight in them.

⁴ Thou art my King and my God, who ordainest victories for Jacob.

⁵ Through thee we push down our foes; through thy name we tread down our assailants.

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

⁷ But thou hast saved us from our foes, and hast put to confusion those who hate us.

⁸ In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to thy name for ever. [Selah]

⁹ Yet thou hast cast us off and abased us, and hast not gone out with our armies.

¹⁰ Thou hast made us turn back from the foe; and our enemies have gotten spoil.

¹¹ Thou hast made us like sheep for slaughter, and hast scattered us among the nations.

¹² Thou hast sold thy people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them.

¹³ Thou hast made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those about us.

¹⁴ Thou hast made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

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

¹⁶ at the words of the taunters and revilers, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷ All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten thee, or been false to thy covenant.

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

¹⁹ that thou shouldst have broken us in the place of jackals, and covered us with deep darkness.

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

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

²² Nay, for thy sake we are slain all the day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

²³ Rouse thyself! Why sleepest thou, O Lord? Awake! Do not cast us off for ever!

²⁴ Why dost thou hide thy face? Why dost thou forget our affliction and oppression?

²⁵ For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our body cleaves to the ground.

²⁶ Rise up, come to our help! Deliver us for the sake of thy steadfast love!