1 A maskil of Asaf: Why have you
rejected us forever, God, with your anger smoking against the sheep you once
pastured?
2 Remember your community, which you
acquired long ago, the tribe you redeemed to be your very own. Remember Mount
Tziyon, where you came to live.
3 Hurry your steps to these endless
ruins, to the sanctuary devastated by the enemy.
4 The roar of your foes filled your
meeting-place; they raised their own banners as a sign of their
conquest.
5 The place seemed like a thicket of
trees when lumbermen hack away with their axes.
6 With hatchet and hammer they banged
away, smashing all the carved woodwork.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire, tore
down and profaned the abode of your name.
8 They said to themselves, "We
will oppress them completely. "They have burned down all God's
meeting-places in the land. 9 We see no signs, there is no prophet any
more; none of us knows how long it will last.
10 How much longer, God, will the foe
jeer at us? Will the enemy insult your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand? Draw
your right hand from your coat, and finish them off!
12 God has been my king from earliest
times, acting to save throughout all the earth.
13 By your strength you split the sea
in two, in the water you smashed sea monsters' heads,
14 you crushed the heads of Livyatan
and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
15 You cut channels for springs and
streams, you dried up rivers that had never failed.
16 The day is yours, and the night is
yours; it was you who established light and sun.
17 It was you who fixed all the limits
of the earth, you made summer and winter.
18 Remember how the enemy scoffs at
ADONAI, how a brutish people insults your name.
19 Don't hand over the soul of your
dove to wild beasts, don't forget forever the life of your poor.
20 Look to the covenant, for the land's
dark places are full of the haunts of violence.
21 Don't let the oppressed retreat in
confusion; let the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, God, and defend your cause;
remember how brutish men insult you all day.
23 Don't forget what your foes are
saying, the ever-rising uproar of your adversaries.
