44:1  

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.

44:2  With your hand you drove out the nations
and planted our fathers;
you crushed the peoples
and made our fathers flourish.

44:3  It was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face, for you loved them.

44:4  You are my King and my God,
who decrees victories for Jacob.

44:5  Through you we push back our enemies;
through your name we trample our foes.

44:6  I do not trust in my bow,
my sword does not bring me victory;

44:7  but you give us victory over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.

44:8  In God we make our boast all day long,
and we will praise your name forever.
Selah

44:9  But now you have rejected and humbled us;
you no longer go out with our armies.

44:10  You made us retreat before the enemy,
and our adversaries have plundered us.

44:11  You gave us up to be devoured like sheep
and have scattered us among the nations.

44:12  You sold your people for a pittance,
gaining nothing from their sale.

44:13  You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.

44:14  You have made us a byword among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads at us.

44:15  My disgrace is before me all day long,
and my face is covered with shame

44:16  at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,
because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

44:17  All this happened to us,
though we had not forgotten you
or been false to your covenant.

44:18  Our hearts had not turned back;
our feet had not strayed from your path.

44:19  But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals
and covered us over with deep 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 it,
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  Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.

44:24  Why do you hide your face
and forget our misery and oppression?

44:25  We are brought down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.

44:26  Rise up and help us;
redeem us because of your unfailing love.