Psalms 44
Open in the reader1Unto the End. Of the Sons of Shaven. A Contemplation.
2We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
3With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out.
4For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.
5You are my King, O God, who ordains victories for Heel-Grabber.
6Through You we repel our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies.
7For I do not trust in my bow, nor does my sword save me.
8For You save us from our enemies; You put those who hate us to shame.
9In God we have boasted all day long, and Your name we will praise forever. Selah
10But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies.
11You have made us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered us.
12You have given us up as sheep to be devoured; You have scattered us among the nations.
13You sell Your people for nothing; no profit do You gain from their sale.
14You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.
15You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.
16All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face,
17at the voice of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy, bent on revenge.
18All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You or betrayed Your covenant.
19Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path.
20But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals; You have covered us with deepest darkness.
21If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
22would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?
23Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
24Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever.
25Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression?
26For our soul has sunk to the dust; our bodies cling to the earth.
27Rise up; be our help! Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.