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Present Defeat and Past Deliverance

For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. A maskil.[a]

44 O God, we have heard with our ears;
our ancestors[b] have told us
of work you worked in their days,
in days of old.
You with your hand drove out the nations,
but them[c] you planted.
You harmed the peoples,
but them[d] you let spread out.
For not with their sword
did they possess the land,
and their arm did not give them victory.
Rather it was your right hand and your arm
and the light of your presence,
because you delighted in them.
You are my king, O God.
Command[e] victories for Jacob.
By you we push down our enemies;
by your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
For I do not trust my bow,
and my sword cannot give me victory.
Rather you have saved us from our enemies,[f]
and have humiliated those who hate us.
In God we boast all the day,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
Surely you have rejected and disgraced us,
and have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have caused us to pull back from the enemy,
and so those who hate us have plundered for themselves.
11 You have given us as sheep for food,
and among the nations you have scattered us.
12 You have sold your people cheaply,[g]
and did not profit by their price.
13 You have made us a taunt to our neighbors,
a derision and a scorn to those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
a shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 All day long[h] my disgrace is before me,
and the shame of my face covers me,
16 because of the voice of the taunter and the reviler,
because of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has befallen us, though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
and our steps have not turned aside from your way.
19 But you have crushed us in a place of jackals,
and have covered us with deep shadow.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God,
or had spread out our hands in prayer to a foreign god,
21 would not God discover this,
for he knows the secrets of the heart?
22 Rather, on account of you we are killed all day long;[i]
we are accounted as sheep for slaughter.
23 Wake up! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Awake! Do not reject forever.
24 Why do you hide your face?
Have you forgotten our misery and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust.
Our body[j] clings to the ground.
26 Rise up! Be a help for us,
and redeem us for the sake of your loyal love.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 44:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
  2. Psalm 44:1 Or “fathers”
  3. Psalm 44:2 That is, Israel
  4. Psalm 44:2 That is, Israel
  5. Psalm 44:4 Or “who commands,” see LXX
  6. Psalm 44:7 Or “made us victorious over our enemies”
  7. Psalm 44:12 Literally “for what is not wealth”
  8. Psalm 44:15 Literally “All of the day”
  9. Psalm 44:22 Literally “all of the day”
  10. Psalm 44:25 Literally “belly”

To the Director: An instruction[a] of the Sons of Korah.

A Prayer in Times of Defeat

44 God, we heard it with our ears;
    our ancestors told us about what you did in their day—
        a long time ago.
With your hand you expelled the nations
    and established our ancestors.[b]
You afflicted nations
    and cast them out.
It was not with their sword that they inherited the land,
    nor did their own arm deliver them.
But it was by your power,[c] your strength,
    and by the light of your face;
        because you were pleased with them.

You are my king, God,
    command[d] victories[e] for Jacob.
Through you we will knock down our oppressors;
    through your name we will tread down those who rise up against us.

For I place no confidence in my bow,
    nor will my sword deliver me.
For you delivered us from our oppressors
    and put to shame those who hate us.
We will praise God all day long;
    and to your name we will give thanks forever.
Interlude

However, you cast us off and made us ashamed!
    You did not even march with our armies!
10 You made us retreat from our oppressors.
    Our enemies ransacked us.
11 You handed us over to be slaughtered like sheep
    and you scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold out your people for nothing,
    and made no profit at that price.
13 You made us a laughing stock to our neighbors,
    a source of mockery and derision to those around us.
14 You made us an object lesson among the nations;
    people shake their heads at us.[f]

15 My dishonor tortures[g] me continuously;[h]
    the shame on my face overwhelms[i] me
16 because of the voice of the one who mocks and reviles,
    because of the enemy and the avenger.

17 All this came upon us,
    yet we did not forsake you,
        and we have not dealt falsely with your covenant;
18 Our hearts have not turned away;
    our steps have not swerved from your path.
19 Nevertheless, you crushed us in the lair of jackals,
    and covered us in deep darkness.[j]

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
    or lifted our hands to a foreign god,
21 wouldn’t God find out
    since he knows the secrets of the heart?
22 For your sake we are being killed all day long.
    We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered.

23 Wake up! Why are you asleep, Lord?
    Get up! Don’t cast us off forever!
24 Why are you hiding your face?
    Why are you ignoring our affliction and oppression?
25 For we[k] have collapsed in the dust;
    our bodies cling to the ground.
26 Arise! Deliver us!
    Redeem us according to your gracious love!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 44:1 Lit. maskil
  2. Psalm 44:2 Lit. them
  3. Psalm 44:3 Lit. right hand
  4. Psalm 44:4 So MT DSS 11QPsc; LXX reads truly my king and my God, who commands
  5. Psalm 44:4 Lit. deliverances
  6. Psalm 44:14 The Heb. lacks at us
  7. Psalm 44:15 Lit. dishonor remains before
  8. Psalm 44:15 Lit. all the day
  9. Psalm 44:15 Lit. covers
  10. Psalm 44:19 Or in the shadow of death
  11. Psalm 44:25 Lit. our souls