Redeem Us
For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. A contemplative psalm.
1 We have heard with our ears, God.
Our fathers have told us what work you did in their days,
in the days of old.
2 You drove out the nations with your hand,
but you planted them.
You afflicted the peoples,
but you spread them abroad.
3 For they did not get the land in possession by their own sword,
nor did their own arm save them;
but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face,
because you delighted in them.
4 You are my King, O God.
Command victories for Jacob!
5 Through you, will we push down our adversaries.
Through your name, we will tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow,
nor shall my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our adversaries,
and have shamed those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted all day long,
we will give thanks to your name forever.
Selah.
9 But now you rejected us and put us to shame,
and you do not go forth with our armies.
10 You make us turn back from the enemy.
Those who hate us take plunder for themselves.
11 You have made us like sheep for food,
and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell your people for nothing
and have gained nothing from their sale.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
a mockery to be scoffed at by those who are around us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations,
a shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me,
and shame covers my face,
16 at the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses,
because of the enemy and self-avenger.
17 All this has come on us,
yet we have not forgotten you,
nor have we been untrue to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps strayed from your path,
19 though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God,
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 will God not search this out?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long.
We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Wake up!
Why do you sleep, Lord?
Arise!
Do not reject us forever.
24 Why do you hide your face,
and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For we are bowed down to the dust.
Our bodies cling to the earth.
26 Rise up to help us.
Redeem us for the sake of your loving kindness.