For the music director; by the Korahites, a well-written song. 2
44:1 O God, we have clearly heard; 3
our ancestors 4 have told us
what you did 5 in their days,
in ancient times. 6
44:2 You, by your power, 7 defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; 8
you crushed 9 the people living there 10 and enabled our ancestors to occupy it. 11
44:3 For they did not conquer 12 the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength, 13
but rather by your power, 14 strength 15 and good favor, 16
for you were partial to 17 them.
44:4 You are my 18 king, O God!
Decree 19 Jacob’s 20 deliverance!
44:5 By your power 21 we will drive back 22 our enemies;
by your strength 23 we will trample down 24 our foes! 25
44:6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and I do not prevail by my sword.
44:7 For you deliver 26 us from our enemies;
you humiliate 27 those who hate us.
44:8 In God I boast all day long,
and we will continually give thanks to your name. (Selah)
44:9 But 28 you rejected and embarrassed us!
You did not go into battle with our armies. 29
44:10 You made us retreat 30 from the enemy.
Those who hate us take whatever they want from us. 31
44:11 You handed us 32 over like sheep to be eaten;
you scattered us among the nations.
44:12 You sold 33 your people for a pittance; 34
you did not ask a high price for them. 35
44:13 You made us 36 an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. 37
44:14 You made us 38 an object of ridicule 39 among the nations;
foreigners treat us with contempt. 40
44:15 All day long I feel humiliated 41
and am overwhelmed with shame, 42
44:16 before the vindictive enemy
who ridicules and insults me. 43
44:17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you 44
or violated your covenant with us. 45
44:18 We have not been unfaithful, 46
nor have we disobeyed your commands. 47
44:19 Yet you have battered us, leaving us a heap of ruins overrun by wild dogs; 48
you have covered us with darkness. 49
44:20 If we had rejected our God, 50
and spread out our hands in prayer to another god, 51
44:21 would not God discover it,
for he knows 52 one’s thoughts? 53
44:22 Yet because of you 54 we are killed all day long;
we are treated like 55 sheep at the slaughtering block. 56
44:23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Wake up! 57 Do not reject us forever!
44:24 Why do you look the other way, 58
and ignore 59 the way we are oppressed and mistreated? 60
44:25 For we lie in the dirt,
with our bellies pressed to the ground. 61
44:26 Rise up and help us!
Rescue us 62 because of your loyal love!