Thi Thiên 44

Faithful, yet crushed: wake up, Lord

¹For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. A maskil. ²God, our own ears have heard it; our ancestors told us of the deeds you did when they lived, in times long past. ³With your own hand you drove out nations and planted our ancestors in their place; you struck down peoples and let our ancestors spread out. ⁴Their own swords did not win them the land; their own strength did not bring them rescue. Your right hand did it, your arm, and the shining of your face, because you took delight in them. ⁵You alone are my King, God; give the order for Jacob’s victories. ⁶Through you we gore our enemies like a bull; through your name we stamp down those who attack us. ⁷I do not rely on my own bow, and my sword cannot save me. ⁸No, it is you who rescued us from our enemies and put to shame those who hate us. ⁹God has been our boast the whole day long, and to your name we will give praise for all time. Selah ¹⁰Yet you have thrown us aside and disgraced us; you do not go into battle with our troops. ¹¹You made us retreat before the enemy, and those who hate us have helped themselves to our goods. ¹²You hand us over like sheep to be eaten, and you have spread us out among the nations. ¹³You sell off your own people for next to nothing; their price has not made you any richer. ¹⁴You have made us a disgrace in the eyes of our neighbors, a joke and a laughingstock to all around us. ¹⁵You have turned our name into a proverb among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us. ¹⁶All day long I see my disgrace, and shame is written over my face, ¹⁷because of the voice of those who taunt and mock, because of the sight of the enemy bent on revenge. ¹⁸All this has fallen on us, yet we have not put you out of mind or broken faith with your covenant. ¹⁹Our hearts have not turned away, and our feet have not wandered from your road, ²⁰yet you have crushed us in a place where only jackals live, and wrapped us in deathly darkness. ²¹Had we forgotten our God’s name, or lifted our hands in prayer to a foreign god, ²²would not God have searched it out? For he knows what is hidden in the heart. ²³Because we belong to you, we are being killed all day long; we are looked on as sheep marked for the butcher. ²⁴Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping? Rise from your sleep! Do not cast us off forever! ²⁵Why do you turn your face away and forget how we suffer and are oppressed? ²⁶We are bowed down into the dust; our bodies are pressed flat against the ground. ²⁷Rise up and come to our help! Set us free because of your loyal love.