Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

42 To the choirmaster. A Maskil1 of sthe Sons of Korah.

1  tAs a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

2  uMy soul thirsts for God,

for vthe living God.

When shall I come and wappear before God?2

3  xMy tears have been my food

day and night,

ywhile they say to me all the day long,

“Where is your God?”

4  These things I remember,

as I zpour out my soul:

ahow I would go bwith the throng

and lead them in procession to the house of God

with glad shouts and songs of praise,

ca multitude keeping festival.

5  dWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you ein turmoil within me?

fHope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation3 6 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I gremember you

hfrom the land of Jordan and of iHermon,

from Mount Mizar.

7  Deep calls to deep

at the roar of your waterfalls;

jall your breakers and your kwaves

have gone over me.

8  By day the Lord lcommands his steadfast love,

and at mnight his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

9  I say to God, nmy rock:

“Why have you forgotten me?

oWhy do I go mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10  As with a deadly wound in my bones,

my adversaries taunt me,

pwhile they say to me all the day long,

“Where is your God?”

11  qWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.

Send Out Your Light and Your Truth

43 rVindicate me, O God, and sdefend my cause

against an ungodly people,

from tthe deceitful and unjust man

deliver me!

2  For you are uthe God in whom I take refuge;

why have you vrejected me?

Why do I wgo about mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?

3  xSend out your light and your truth;

let them lead me;

let them bring me to your yholy hill

and to your zdwelling!

4  Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God my exceeding joy,

and I will praise you with the lyre,

O God, my God.

5  aWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

bHope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.

Come to Our Help

44 To the choirmaster. cA Maskil1 of the Sons of Korah.

1  O God, we have heard with our ears,

dour fathers have told us,

what deeds you performed in their days,

ein the days of old:

2  you with your own hand fdrove out the nations,

but gthem you planted;

you afflicted the peoples,

but hthem you set free;

3  for not iby their own sword did they win the land,

nor did their own arm save them,

but your right hand and your arm,

and jthe light of your face,

kfor you delighted in them.

4  lYou are my King, O God;

mordain salvation for Jacob!

5  Through you we npush down our foes;

through your name we otread down those who rise up against us.

6  For not in pmy bow do I trust,

nor can my sword save me.

7  But you have saved us from our foes

and have qput to shame those who hate us.

8  rIn God we have boasted continually,

and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

9  But you have srejected us and disgraced us

and thave not gone out with our armies.

10  You have made us uturn back from the foe,

and those who hate us have gotten spoil.

11  You have made us like vsheep for slaughter

and have wscattered us among the nations.

12  xYou have sold your people for a trifle,

demanding no high price for them.

13  You have made us ythe taunt of our neighbors,

the derision and zscorn of those around us.

14  You have made us aa byword among the nations,

ba laughingstock2 among the peoples.

15  All day long my disgrace is before me,

and cshame has covered my face

16  at the sound of the taunter and reviler,

at the sight of dthe enemy and the avenger.

17  eAll this has come upon us,

though we have not forgotten you,

and we have not been false to your covenant.

18  Our heart has not turned back,

nor have our fsteps gdeparted from your way;

19  yet you have hbroken us in the place of ijackals

and covered us with jthe shadow of death.

20  If we had forgotten the name of our God

or kspread out our hands to la foreign god,

21  mwould not God discover this?

nFor he knows the secrets of the heart.

22  Yet ofor your sake we are killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

23  pAwake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?

Rouse yourself! qDo not reject us forever!

24  Why rdo you hide your face?

Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?

25  For our ssoul is bowed down to the dust;

our belly clings to the ground.

26  Rise up; tcome to our help!

uRedeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!