Come to Our Help
To the choirmaster. aA Maskil of the Sons of Korah.
O God, we have heard with our ears,
bour fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
cin the days of old:
2 you with your own hand adrove out the nations,
but bthem you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but cthem you set free;
3 for not aby their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and bthe light of your face,
cfor you delighted in them.
4 aYou are my King, O God;
bordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we apush down our foes;
through your name we btread down those who rise up against us.
6 For not in amy bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have aput to shame those who hate us.
8 aIn God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But you have arejected us and disgraced us
and bhave not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us aturn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like asheep for slaughter
and have bscattered us among the nations.
12 aYou have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us athe taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and bscorn of those around us.
14 You have made us aa byword among the nations,
ba laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and ashame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of athe enemy and the avenger.
17 aAll this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our asteps bdeparted from your way;
19 yet you have abroken us in the place of bjackals
and covered us with cthe shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or aspread out our hands to ba foreign god,
21 awould not God discover this?
bFor he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet afor your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 aAwake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! bDo not reject us forever!
24 Why ado you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our asoul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; acome to our help!
bRedeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!