43 Judge me, God, and plead my cause
against a faithless nation.
Rescue me from those who deceive
and from those who are unjust.
² For you are the God of my strength;
why have you thrust me aside?
Why must I go about mourning,
under pressure by the enemy?
³ Send out your light and your truth;
let them be my guide;
let them lead me to your holy mountain,
to the places where you live.
⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and delight;
I will praise you on the lyre,
God, my God.

⁵ My soul, why are you so downcast?
Why are you groaning inside me?
Hope in God, since I will praise him again
for being my Savior and God.
44 ⁽⁰⁾ For the leader. By the descendants of Korach. A maskil:

^2 (1) God, we heard it with our ears;
our fathers told us about it —
a deed which you did in their days,
back in days of old.
^3 (2) With your hand you drove out nations
to plant them in [the land],
you crushed peoples
to make room for them.

^4 (3) For not by their own swords
did they conquer the land,
nor did their own arm
give them victory;
rather, it was your right hand,
your arm and the light of your face;
because you favored them.
^5 (4) God, you are my king;
command complete victory for Ya‘akov.

^6 (5) Through you we pushed away our foes,
through your name we trampled down our assailants.
^7 (6) For I don’t rely on my bow,
nor can my sword give me victory.
^8 (7) No, you saved us from our adversaries;
you put to shame those who hate us.
^9 (8) We will boast in our God all day
and give thanks to your name forever. (Selah)

^10 (9) Yet now you have thrust us aside and disgraced us;
you don’t march out with our armies.
^11 (10) You make us retreat from the adversary,
and those who hate us plunder us at will.
^12 (11) You have handed us over like sheep to be eaten
and scattered us among the nations.
^13 (12) You sell your people for a pittance,
you don’t even profit on the sale.
^14 (13) You make us an object for our neighbors to mock,
one of scorn and derision to those around us.
^15 (14) You make us a byword among the nations;
the peoples jeer at us, shaking their heads.

^16 (15) All day long my disgrace is on my mind,
and shame has covered my face
^17 (16) at the sound of those who revile and insult,
at the sight of the enemy bent on revenge.
^18 (17) Though all this came on us, we did not forget you;
we have not been false to your covenant;
^19 (18) Our hearts have not turned back,
and our steps did not turn away from your path,
^20 (19) though you pressed us into a lair of jackals
and covered us with death-dark gloom.
^21 (20) If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
^22 (21) wouldn’t God have discovered this,
since he knows the secrets of the heart?
^23 (22) For your sake we are put to death all day long,
we are considered sheep to be slaughtered.

^24 (23) Wake up, Adonai! Why are you asleep?
Rouse yourself! Don’t thrust us off forever.
^25 (24) Why are you turning your face away,
forgetting our pain and misery?
^26 (25) For we are lying flat in the dust,
our bodies cling to the ground.
^27 (26) Get up, and come to help us!
For the sake of your grace, redeem us!

45 ⁽⁰⁾ For the leader. Set to “Lilies.” By the descendants of Korach. A maskil. A lovesong:

^2 (1) My heart is stirred by a noble theme;
I address my verses to the king;
My tongue is the pen of an expert scribe.

^3 (2) You are the most handsome of men;
gracious speech flows from your lips.
For God has blessed you forever.
^4 (3) Warrior, strap your sword at your thigh;
[gird on] your splendor and majesty.
^5 (4) In your majesty, succeed, ride on
in the cause of truth, meekness and righteousness.
May your right hand teach you awesome things.
^6 (5) Your arrows are sharp. The people fall under you,
as they penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies.
^7 (6) Your throne, God, will last forever and ever;
you rule your kingdom with a scepter of equity.
^8 (7) You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of joy in preference to your companions.
^9 (8) Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh, aloes and cassia;
from ivory palaces stringed instruments bring you joy.
^10 (9) Daughters of kings are among your favorites;
at your right stands the queen in gold from Ofir.

^11 (10) Listen, daughter! Think, pay attention!
Forget your own people and your father’s house,
^12 (11) and the king will desire your beauty;
for he is your lord, so honor him.
^13 (12) Then the daughter of Tzor, the richest of peoples,
will court your favor with gifts.

^14 (13) Inside [the palace], the king’s daughter looks splendid,
attired in checker-work embroidered with gold.
^15 (14) In brocade, she will be led to the king,
to you, with the virgins in her retinue.
^16 (15) They will be led in with gladness and joy,
they will enter the king’s palace.
^17 (16) You will have sons to succeed your ancestors;
you will make them princes in all the land.
^18 (17) I will make your name known through all generations;
thus the peoples will praise you forever and ever.