Redemption Remembered in Present Dishonor
To the Chief Musician. A
#
Contemplation of the sons of Korah.
1 We have heard with our ears, O God,
# Our fathers have told us,
The deeds You did in their days,
In days of old:
2 You drove out the nations with Your hand,
But them You planted;
You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.
3 Forthey did not gain possession of the land by their own sword,
Nor did their own arm save them;
But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance,
# Because You favored them.
4 You are my King, O God;
Command victories for Jacob.
5 Through Youwe will push down our enemies;
Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.
6 ForI will not trust in my bow,
Nor shall my sword save me.
7 But You have saved us from our enemies,
And have put to shame those who hated us.
8 In God we boast all day long,
And praise Your name forever.
Selah
9 ButYou have castusoff and put us to shame,
And You do not go out with our armies.
10 You make usturn back from the enemy,
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
11 You have given us up like sheepintendedfor food,
# And havescattered us among the nations.
12 You sell Your people fornexttonothing,
And are not enriched by selling them.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scorn and a derision to those all around us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations,
# A shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 My dishonoriscontinually before me,
And the shame of my face has covered me,
16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
# Because of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us;
But we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
# Nor have our steps departed from Your way;
19 But You have severely broken us inthe place of jackals,
# And covered uswith the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God,
# Orstretched out our hands to a foreign god,
21 Would not God search this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?
Arise! Do not castusoff forever.
24 Why do You hide Your face,
Andforget our affliction and our oppression?
25 Forour soul is bowed down to the dust;
Our body clings to the ground.
26 Arise for our help,
And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.