A Maskil 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;
         And this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.

3Turn Your footsteps toward the perpetual ruins;
         The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.

4Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
         They have set up their own standards for signs.

5It seems as if one had lifted up
         His axe in a forest of trees.

6And now all its carved work
         They smash with hatchet and hammers.

7They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
         They have defiled the dwelling place of Your 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 signs;
         There is no longer any prophet,
         Nor is there any among us who knows how long.

10How long, O God, will the adversary revile,
         And the enemy spurn Your name forever?

11Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
         From within Your bosom, destroy them!

12Yet God is my king from of old,
         Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth.

13You divided the sea by Your strength;
         You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

14You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
         You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

15You broke open springs and torrents;
         You dried up ever-flowing streams.

16Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
         You have prepared the light and the sun.

17You have established all the boundaries of the earth;
         You have made summer and winter.

18Remember this, O LORD, that the enemy has reviled,
         And a foolish people has spurned Your name.

19Do not deliver the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beast;
         Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.

20Consider the covenant;
         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, and plead Your own cause;
         Remember how the foolish man reproaches You all day long.

23Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries,
         The uproar of those who rise against You which ascends continually.

NASB ©1995