Psalms 44
1 God, we ourselves have heard what our parents and grandparents told us. They told us about the miracles that you performed long ago.
“For the leader of the music. A psalm of the sons of Korah.” O God! we have heard with our ears, Our fathers have told us, What deeds thou didst in their days, In the days of old.
2 [They told us] how you expelled the ungodly people and enabled us to live in their land. [They told us] that you punished those ungodly people and enabled your own people to prosper [IDM].
With thine own hand didst thou drive out the nations, And plant our fathers; Thou didst destroy the nations, And cause our fathers to flourish.
3 It was not by using their own swords that they conquered the people that lived in that land, and it was not by their own power that they were victorious; it was only by your power [MTY, DOU] [that they did those things]; and they were sure that you were with them, and that showed that you were pleased with them.
For not by their own swords did they gain possession of the land, Nor did their own arms give them victory; But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance; For thou didst favor them!
4 You are my King and my God; it is you who enable us, your people [MTY], to defeat our enemies.
Thou art my king, O God! O send deliverance to Jacob!
5 It is by your power that we knock our enemies down and tramp on them.
Through thee we may cast down our enemies; Through thy name we may trample upon our adversaries!
6 I do not trust that I will be saved by using my bow [and arrows] and my sword.
I trust not in my bow, Nor can my sword save me.
7 No, it is you who have rescued us from our enemies, it is you who have caused those who hate us to become ashamed [because they were defeated].
But it is thou only who savest us from our enemies, And puttest to shame those who hate us!
8 We have continually boasted about what God [has done for us], and we will thank him [MTY] forever.
In God will we glory continually; Yea, we will praise thy name for ever! (Pause)
9 But [now] you have rejected us and caused us to be disgraced; when our armies march out [to fight a battle], you no [longer] go with them.
Yet now thou hast cast us off, and put us to shame; Thou goest not forth with our armies.
10 You have caused us to run away from our enemies, with the result that they captured the things that belonged to us.
Thou makest us turn back from the enemy, And they who hate us make our goods their prey.
11 You have allowed us to become like [MET] sheep that were ready to be slaughtered; you scattered us [far away] among [other].
Thou makest us like sheep destined for food, And scatterest us among the nations.
12 [It is as though] [MET] you sold us, your people, [to our enemies] for a very small price, and you did not gain much profit from selling us!
Thou sellest thy people for nought, And increasest not thy wealth by their price.
13 People who live in nations near us make fun of us; they laugh at us and deride/belittle us.
Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and a derision to those who are around us.
14 They make jokes using the name of [our country], they shake their heads [to indicate that they despise us].
Thou makest us a byword among the nations, And causest the people to shake their heads at us.
15 All day I feel disgraced; from seeing my face, people know that I am ashamed.
My ignominy is continually before me, And shame covereth my face,
16 I hear what those who sneer at me and revile me say; I am ashamed in front of my enemies and those who want to harm me.
On account of the voice of the scoffer and the reviler, And on account of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All these things have happened to us [even] though we have not forgotten you, and we are not the ones who disobeyed the agreement you made with [our ancestors].
All this hath come upon us; Yet have we not forgotten thee, Nor have we been false to thy covenant.
18 We have not stopped being loyal to you, and we have not stopped doing what you want us to do [IDM].
Our hearts, have not wandered from thee, Nor have our feet gone out of thy path;
19 But [it is as though] you have allowed us to be helpless among wild animals, and abandoned us in a deep dark [ravine].
Though thou hast crushed us in a land of jackals, And covered us with thick darkness.
20 If we had forgotten to worship [MTY] our God, or if we had spread out our hands to [worship] a foreign god,
If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched forth our hands to a strange God,
21 you certainly would have known that, because you know [even] what we secretly think.
Surely God would search it out; For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 But it is because we belong to you, [that our enemies] are constantly killing us. They act toward us as though we were only sheep to be slaughtered.
But for thy sake we are killed all the day; We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 [So], Yahweh, arise! Why are you asleep [RHQ]? Get up! Do not reject us forever!
Awake! why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise! cast us not off for ever!
24 Why are you not looking at us? Why are you forgetting that we are suffering and being oppressed [by our enemies]?
Wherefore dost thou hide thy face, And forget our affliction and oppression?
25 We are pushed down to the ground and we cannot get up.
Our soul is bowed down to the dust; Our body cleaveth to the earth.
26 Arise, and come and help us! Rescue us because you faithfully love us!
Arise, O thou, our strength! And deliver us, for thy mercy's sake!
