An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.

A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Asaph.

1O God, why have You rejected us forever?

Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

2Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,

Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;

Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.

3Turn your footsteps [quickly] toward the perpetual ruins;

The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.

4In the midst of Your meeting place Your enemies have roared [with their battle cry];

They have set up their own emblems for signs [of victory].

5It seems as if one had lifted up

An axe in a forest of trees [to set a record of destruction].

6And now all the carved work [of the meeting place]

They smash with hatchets and hammers.

7They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;

They have profaned the dwelling place of Your [a]name.

8They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.”

They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

9We do not see our symbols;

There is no longer any prophet [to guide us],

Nor does any among us know for how long.

10O God, how long will the adversary scoff?

Is the enemy to revile Your name forever?

11Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand [from judging the enemy]?

Remove Your hand from Your chest, destroy them!

12Yet God is my King of old,

Working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13You divided the [Red] Sea by Your strength;

You broke the heads of the [b]sea monsters in the waters.

14You crushed the heads of [c]Leviathan (Egypt);

You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

15You broke open fountains and streams;

You dried up ever-flowing rivers.

16The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;

You have established and prepared the [heavenly] light and the sun.

17You have defined and established all the borders of the earth [the divisions of land and sea and of the nations];

You have made summer and winter.

18Remember this, O LORD, the enemy has scoffed,

And a foolish and impious people has spurned Your name.

19Oh, do not hand over the soul of your turtledove to the wild beast;

Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.

20Consider the covenant [You made with Abraham],

For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

21Let not the oppressed return dishonored;

Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.

22Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;

Remember how the foolish man scoffs at You all day long.

23Do not forget the [clamoring] voices of Your adversaries,

The uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually [to Your ears].