Redeem Us, O God
(Romans 8:35–39)

For the choirmaster. A Maskila of the sons of Korah.

1We have heard with our ears, O God;

our fathers have told us

the work You did in their days,

in the days of old.

2With Your hand You drove out the nations

and planted our fathers there;

You crushed the peoples

and cast them out.

3For it was not by their sword that they took the land;

their arm did not bring them victory.

It was by Your right hand,

Your arm, and the light of Your face,

because You favored them.

4You are my King, O God,

who ordains victories for Jacob.

5Through You we repel our foes;

through Your name we trample our enemies.

6For I do not trust in my bow,

nor does my sword save me.b

7For You save us from our enemies;

You put those who hate us to shame.

8In God we have boasted all day long,

and Your name we will praise forever.

Selah

9But You have rejected and humbled us;

You no longer go forth with our armies.

10You have made us retreat from the foe,

and those who hate us have plundered us.

11You have given us up as sheep to be devoured;

You have scattered us among the nations.

12You sell Your people for nothing;

no profit do You gain from their sale.

13You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,

a mockery and derision to those around us.

14You have made us a byword among the nations,

a laughingstockc among the peoples.

15All day long my disgrace is before me,

and shame has covered my face,

16at the voice of the scorner and reviler,

because of the enemy, bent on revenge.

17All this has come upon us,

though we have not forgotten You

or betrayed Your covenant.

18Our hearts have not turned back;

our steps have not strayed from Your path.

19But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals;d

You have covered us with deepest darkness.

20If we had forgotten the name of our God

or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

21would not God have discovered,

since He knows the secrets of the heart?

22Yet for Your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.e

23Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping?

Arise! Do not reject us forever.

24Why do You hide Your face

and forget our affliction and oppression?

25For our soul has sunk to the dust;

our bodies cling to the earth.

26Rise up; be our help!

Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.