Psalm 43 — The Holy Bible

For the End; a psalm for the sons of Korah; for understanding.

O God, we heard with our ears;

Our fathers proclaimed it to us,

The work You performed in their days, in days of old.

Your hand utterly destroyed the nations, and You planted them;

You afflicted and cast out peoples.

For they did not inherit the land with their sword,

And their arm did not save them;

But it was Your right hand and Your arm,

And the light of Your countenance,

Because You took pleasure in them.

You Yourself are my King and God,

Who commands salvation for Jacob;

In You we shall push back our enemies,

And in Your name we shall scorn those who rise up against us.

For I will not hope in my bow,

And my sword will not save me;

For You saved us from those who afflict us,

And You disgraced those who hate us.

We shall praise God all day long,

And we shall give thanks to Your name forever.

(Pause)

But now You rejected and disgraced us,

And You will not go out with our armies;

You turned us back from our enemies,

And those who hate us took spoil for themselves.

You gave us as sheep to be eaten,

And You scattered us among the nations.

You bound Your people without honor,

And there was no abundance given to ransom them.

You made us a reproach to our neighbors

And a scorn and derision to those around us;

You made us a byword among the nations

And a shaking of the head among the peoples.

All day long my disgrace is before me,

And the shame of my face covers me,

Because of the voice of him who reviles and chatters,

Because of the face of the enemy and persecutor.

All these things came upon us, but we have not forgotten You,

And we did not act unjustly with Your covenant;

Our heart did not draw back,

Yet You turned our steps from Your way.

You humbled us in a place of affliction,

And the shadow of death covered us.

If we forget the name of our God,

And spread out our hands to a foreign god,

Would not God search this out?

For He knows the secrets of the heart.

For Your sake we are put to death all day long,

We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Awake; why do You sleep, O Lord?

Arise; and do not reject us to the end.

Why do You turn away Your face,

And forget our poverty and our affliction?

For our soul was humbled to the dust,

And our belly was joined to the ground.

Arise, O Lord; help us,

And redeem us for Your name's sake.