Psalm 44

1  WE HAVE heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us [what] work You did in their days, in the days of old.2  You drove out the nations with Your hand and it was Your power that gave [Israel] a home by rooting out the [heathen] peoples, but [Israel] You spread out.3  For they got not the land [of Canaan] in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your countenance [did it], because You were favorable toward and did delight in them.4  You are my King, O God; command victories and deliverance for Jacob (Israel).5  Through You shall we push down our enemies; through Your name shall we tread them under who rise up against us.6  For I will not trust in and lean on my bow, neither shall my sword save me.7  But You have saved us from our foes and have put them to shame who hate us.8  In God we have made our boast all the day long, and we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!9  But now You have cast us off and brought us to dishonor, and You go not out with our armies.10  You make us to turn back from the enemy, and they who hate us take spoil for themselves.11  You have made us like sheep intended for mutton and have scattered us in exile among the nations.12  You sell Your people for nothing, and have not increased Your wealth by their price.13  You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are round about us.14  You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the heads among the people.15  My dishonor is before me all day long, and shame has covered my face16  At the words of the taunter and reviler, by reason of the enemy and the revengeful.17  All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten You, neither have we been false to Your covenant [which You made with our fathers].18  Our hearts are not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Your path,19  Though You have distressingly broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with deep darkness, even with the shadow of death.20  If we had forgotten the name of our God or stretched out our hands to a strange god,21  Would not God discover this? For He knows the secrets of the heart.22  No, but for Your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 23  Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arouse Yourself, cast us not off forever!24  Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and our oppression?25  For our lives are bowed down to the dust; our bodies cleave to the ground.26  Rise up! Come to our help, and deliver us for Your mercy’s sake and because of Your steadfast love!

Psalm 44

For the music director; by the Korahites, a well-written song.

1 O God, we have clearly heard;
our ancestors have told us
what you did in their days,
in ancient times.

2 You, by your power, defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land;
you crushed the people living there and enabled our ancestors to occupy it.

3 For they did not conquer the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength,
but rather by your power, strength and good favor,
for you were partial to them.

4 You are my king, O God!
Decree Jacob’s deliverance!

5 By your power we will drive back our enemies;
by your strength we will trample down our foes!

6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and I do not prevail by my sword.

7 For you deliver us from our enemies;
you humiliate those who hate us.

8 In God I boast all day long,
and we will continually give thanks to your name. (Selah)

9 But you rejected and embarrassed us!
You did not go into battle with our armies.

10 You made us retreat from the enemy.
Those who hate us take whatever they want from us.

11 You handed us over like sheep to be eaten;
you scattered us among the nations.

12 You sold your people for a pittance;
you did not ask a high price for them.

13 You made us an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.

14 You made us an object of ridicule among the nations;
foreigners treat us with contempt.

15 All day long I feel humiliated
and am overwhelmed with shame,

16 before the vindictive enemy
who ridicules and insults me.

17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you
or violated your covenant with us.

18 We have not been unfaithful,
nor have we disobeyed your commands.

19 Yet you have battered us, leaving us a heap of ruins overrun by wild dogs;
you have covered us with darkness.

20 If we had rejected our God,
and spread out our hands in prayer to another god,

21 would not God discover it,
for he knows one’s thoughts?

22 Yet because of you we are killed all day long;
we are treated like sheep at the slaughtering block.

23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Wake up! Do not reject us forever!

24 Why do you look the other way,
and ignore the way we are oppressed and mistreated?

25 For we lie in the dirt,
with our bellies pressed to the ground.

26 Rise up and help us!
Rescue us because of your loyal love!