Thursday 29th July 2021

Psalm 44

National Lament and Prayer for Help

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil.
¹ We have heard with our ears, O God,
   our ancestors have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
   in the days of old:
² you with your own hand drove out the nations,
   but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
   but them you set free;
³ for not by their own sword did they win the land,
   nor did their own arm give them victory;
but your right hand, and your arm,
   and the light of your countenance,
   for you delighted in them.

⁴ You are my King and my God;
   you command^* victories for Jacob.
⁵ Through you we push down our foes;
   through your name we tread down our assailants.
⁶ For not in my bow do I trust,
   nor can my sword save me.
⁷ But you have saved us from our foes,
   and have put to confusion those who hate us.
⁸ In God we have boasted continually,
   and we will give thanks to your name for ever.
          Selah

⁹ Yet you have rejected us and abased us,
   and have not gone out with our armies.
¹⁰ You made us turn back from the foe,
   and our enemies have taken spoil for themselves.
¹¹ You have made us like sheep for slaughter,
   and have scattered us among the nations.
¹² You have sold your people for a trifle,
   demanding no high price for them.

¹³ You have made us the taunt of our neighbours,
   the derision and scorn of those around us.
¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations,
   a laughing-stock^* among the peoples.
¹⁵ All day long my disgrace is before me,
   and shame has covered my face
¹⁶ at the words of the taunters and revilers,
   at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷ All this has come upon us,
   yet we have not forgotten you,
   or been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our heart has not turned back,
   nor have our steps departed from your way,
¹⁹ yet you have broken us in the haunt of jackals,
   and covered us with deep darkness.

²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God,
   or spread out our hands to a strange god,
²¹ would not God discover this?
   For he knows the secrets of the heart.
²² Because of you we are being killed all day long,
   and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

²³ Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
   Awake, do not cast us off for ever!
²⁴ Why do you hide your face?
   Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
²⁵ For we sink down to the dust;
   our bodies cling to the ground.
²⁶ Rise up, come to our help.
   Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.

NRSV