Psalms 44
44
1-3We’ve been hearing about this, God,
all our lives.
Our fathers told us the stories
their fathers told them,
How single-handedly you weeded out the godless
from the fields and planted us,
How you sent those people packing
but gave us a fresh start.
We didn’t fight for this land;
we didn’t work for it—it was a gift!
You gave it, smiling as you gave it,
delighting as you gave it.
4-8You’re my King, O God—
command victories for Jacob!
With your help we’ll wipe out our enemies,
in your name we’ll stomp them to dust.
I don’t trust in weapons;
my sword won’t save me—
But it’s you, you who saved us from the enemy;
you made those who hate us lose face.
All day we parade God’s praise—
we thank you by name over and over.
9-12But now you’ve walked off and left us,
you’ve disgraced us and won’t fight for us.
You made us turn tail and run;
those who hate us have cleaned us out.
You delivered us as sheep to the butcher,
you scattered us to the four winds.
You sold your people at a discount—
you made nothing on the sale.
13-16You made people on the street,
people we know, poke fun and call us names.
You made us a joke among the godless,
a cheap joke among the rabble.
Every day I’m up against it,
my nose rubbed in my shame—
Gossip and ridicule fill the air,
people out to get me crowd the street.
17-19All this came down on us,
and we’ve done nothing to deserve it.
We never betrayed your Covenant: our hearts
were never false, our feet never left your path.
Do we deserve torture in a den of jackals?
or lockup in a black hole?
20-22If we had forgotten to pray to our God
or made fools of ourselves with store-bought gods,
Wouldn’t God have figured this out?
We can’t hide things from him.
No, you decided to make us martyrs,
lambs assigned for sacrifice each day.
23-26Get up, God! Are you going to sleep all day?
Wake up! Don’t you care what happens to us?
Why do you bury your face in the pillow?
Why pretend things are just fine with us?
And here we are—flat on our faces in the dirt,
held down with a boot on our necks.
Get up and come to our rescue.
If you love us so much, Help us!
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Psalms 44
44
To the director: A maskil from the Korah family.
1God, we have heard about you.
Our fathers told us what you did in their lifetime.
They told us what you did long ago.
2With your great power you took this land from other people,
and you gave it to us.
You crushed those foreigners
and forced them to leave this land.
3It was not our fathers’ swords that took the land.
It was not their strong arms that brought them victory.
It was your power.
It was because you accepted them and smiled down on them.
4God, you are my king.
Give the command and lead Jacob’s people to victory.
5We need your help to push our enemies back.
Only in your name can we trample those who attacked us.
6I don’t put my trust in my bow.
My sword cannot save me.
7You are the one who saved us from our enemies.
You are the one who put our enemies to shame.
8We have praised you all day long,
and we will praise your name forever. Selah
9But you left us and put us to shame.
You did not go with us into battle.
10You let our enemies push us back.
You let them take our wealth.
11You gave us away like sheep to be killed and eaten.
You scattered us among the nations.
12You sold your people for nothing.
You did not even argue over the price.
13You made us a joke to our neighbors.
They laugh and make fun of us.
14You made us one of the stories that people love to tell.
People all over the world laugh at us and shake their heads.
15All I can think about is my shame.
Just look at my face, and you will see it.
16All I can hear are the jokes and insults of my enemies,
as I watch them take their revenge.
17We have not forgotten you.
But you do all those things to us.
We did not break the agreement you gave us.
18We did not turn away from you.
We did not stop following you.
19But you crushed us in this home of jackals.
You left us in this place as dark as death.
20Did we forget the name of our God?
Did we pray to foreign gods?
21If we did, then God knows it,
because he knows our deepest secrets.
22All day long we died for you.
We are like sheep being led away to be killed.
23Lord, wake up!
Why are you sleeping?
Get up! Don’t ignore us forever!
24Why are you hiding from us?
Have you forgotten our pain and troubles?
25We have been pushed down into the dirt.
We are lying face down in the dust.#44:25 This shows that the people were being treated like slaves who must bow down to their masters.
26Get up and help us!
Rescue us because of your faithful love.
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