1. God, why have you abandoned us forever?Why does your anger smolderat the sheep of your own pasture?
2. Remember your congregationthat you took as your own long ago,that you redeemed to be the tribe of your own possession—remember Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3. March to the unending ruins,to all that the enemy destroyed in the sanctuary.
4. Your enemies roared in your own meeting place;they set up their own signs there!
5. It looked like axes raisedagainst a thicket of trees.
6. And then all its carvingsthey hacked down with hatchet and pick.
7. They set fire to your sanctuary, burned it to the ground;they defiled the dwelling place of your name.
8. They said in their hearts, We’ll kill all of them together!They burned all of God’s meeting places in the land.
9. We don’t see our own signs anymore.No prophet is left.And none of us know how long it will last.
10. How long, God, will foes insult you?Are enemies going to abuse your name forever?
11. Why do you pull your hand back?Why do you hold your strong hand close to your chest?
12. Yet God has been my king from ancient days—God, who makes salvation happen in the heart of the earth!
13. You split the sea with your power.You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the water.
14. You crushed Leviathan’s heads.You gave it to the desert dwellers for food!
15. You split open springs and streams;you made strong-flowing rivers dry right up.
16. The day belongs to you! The night too!You established both the moon and the sun.
17. You set all the boundaries of the earth in place.Summer and winter? You made them!
18. So remember this, Lord:how enemies have insulted you,how unbelieving fools have abused your name.
19. Don’t deliver the life of your dove to wild animals!Don’t forget the lives of your afflicted people forever!
20. Consider the covenant!Because the land’s dark places are full of violence.
21. Don’t let the oppressed live in shame.No, let the poor and needy praise your name!
22. God, rise up! Make your case!Remember how unbelieving fools insult you all day long.
23. Don’t forget the voices of your enemies,the racket of your adversaries that never quits.