[1] For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old. [2] With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out. [3] For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them. [4] You are my King, O God, who ordains victories for Jacob. [5] Through You we repel our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies. [6] For I do not trust in my bow, nor does my sword save me. [7] For You save us from our enemies; You put those who hate us to shame. [8] In God we have boasted all day long, and Your name we will praise forever. Selah [9] But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies. [10] You have made us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered us. [11] You have given us up as sheep to be devoured; You have scattered us among the nations. [12] You sell Your people for nothing; no profit do You gain from their sale. [13] You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us. [14] You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. [15] All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face, [16] at the voice of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy, bent on revenge. [17] All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You or betrayed Your covenant. [18] Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path. [19] But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals; You have covered us with deepest darkness. [20] If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, [21] would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart? [22] Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. [23] Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever. [24] Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression? [25] For our soul has sunk to the dust; our bodies cling to the earth. [26] Rise up; be our help! Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.
