Psalm 44

Psalm 44

Israel’s Complaint

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

¹God, we have heard with our ears—

our ancestors have told us—

the work You accomplished in their days,

in days long ago: ^j

²to plant them,

You drove out the nations with Your hand;

to settle them,

You crushed the peoples. ^k

³For they did not take the land by their sword—

their arm did not bring them victory—

but by Your right hand, Your arm,

and the light of Your face,

for You were pleased with them. ^l

⁴You are my King, my God,

who ordains ^mvictories for Jacob. ⁿ

⁵Through You we drive back our foes;

through Your name we trample our enemies. ^o

⁶For I do not trust in my bow,

and my sword does not bring me victory. ^p

⁷But You give us victory over our foes

and let those who hate us be disgraced. ^q

⁸We boast in God all day long;

we will praise Your name forever. ^rSelah

⁹But You have rejected and humiliated us;

You do not march out with our armies. ^s

¹⁰You make us retreat from the foe,

and those who hate us

have taken plunder for themselves. ^t

¹¹You hand us over to be eaten like sheep

and scatter us among the nations. ^u

¹²You sell Your people for nothing;

You make no profit from selling them. ^v

¹³You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors,

a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us. ^w

¹⁴You make us a joke among the nations,

a laughingstock ^xamong the peoples. ^y

¹⁵My disgrace is before me all day long,

and shame has covered my face, ^z

¹⁶because of the voice of the scorner and reviler,

because of the enemy and avenger. ^a

¹⁷All this has happened to us,

but we have not forgotten You

or betrayed Your covenant. ^b

¹⁸Our hearts have not turned back;

our steps have not strayed from Your path. ^c

¹⁹But You have crushed us in a haunt of jackals

and have covered us with deepest darkness. ^d

²⁰If we had forgotten the name of our God

and spread out our hands to a foreign god, ^e

²¹wouldn’t God have found this out,

since He knows the secrets of the heart? ^f

²²Because of You we are slain all day long;

we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. ^g

²³Wake up, Lord! Why are You sleeping?

Get up! Don’t reject us forever! ^h

²⁴Why do You hide Yourself

and forget our affliction and oppression? ⁱ

²⁵For we have sunk down to the dust;

our bodies cling to the ground. ^j

²⁶Rise up! Help us!

Redeem us because of Your faithful love. ^k