Psalm 44

44:1

For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.

44:2

With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out.

44:3

For 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.

44:4

You are my King, O God, who ordains victories for Jacob.

44:5

Through You we repel our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies.

44:6

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

44:7

For You save us from our enemies; You put those who hate us to shame.

44:8

In God we have boasted all day long, and Your name we will praise forever. Selah

44:9

But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies.

44:10

You have made us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered us.

44:11

You have given us up as sheep to be devoured; You have scattered us among the nations.

44:12

You sell Your people for nothing; no profit do You gain from their sale.

44:13

You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.

44:14

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

44:15

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

44:16

at the voice of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy, bent on revenge.

44:17

All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You or betrayed Your covenant.

44:18

Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path.

44:19

But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals; You have covered us with deepest darkness.

44:20

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

44:21

would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?

44:22

Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

44:23

Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever.

44:24

Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression?

44:25

For our soul has sunk to the dust; our bodies cling to the earth.

44:26

Rise up; be our help! Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.