Will You always stay angry with us?
This is a Psalm of Asaph.
1O God, why have You left us?
Will You always stay angry with us?
We are your sheep, your people.
2Please don't forget your congregation,
the people whom You bought long ago.
You have saved us to be your people.
Don't forget Mount_Zion,
where You have stayed.
3Please come and look at
the heaps of stones that have been lying
on the ground for a long time.
The enemies have destroyed
everything in your temple.
4Your enemies roared like lions
inside your holy place
where You appeared
to your people.
They put up their flags there
to show that they had defeated us.
5They came with their axes
like men who cut down
the trees in a forest.
6They broke and cut down
all the beautiful carved woodwork
in your house
with axes and hammers.
7They burnt your temple
down to the ground.
They made the place impure
where people worshipped your name.
8They said to themselves:
‘We will destroy them.’
They burnt down all the places
where God appeared to people,
where they worshipped You in the land.
9You have always shown us
miracles and told us
what You want us to do,
but now there are no more prophets
and there is no one who knows
for how long it will be like this.
10O God, how long
will our enemies keep on
laughing at You?
Will they keep on disrespecting
You forever?
11Why don't You
put out your hand and help us?
Why don't You kill and destroy
our enemies?
12God, You have been our King
from long ago,
and You are the One who
saves people everywhere on earth.
13O God, You are so strong
that You broke the sea in 2 with your power.
You broke off the heads
of the sea monsters.
14You were the One who trampled
the heads of the Leviathan
and You gave it to all the fish in the sea to eat.
15You were the One who made
the fountains and rivers flow,
and You were the One
who made the rivers dry again,
where there had always been water.
16The day and the night
belong to You.
You were the One who put the sun
and moon in their places.
17You were the One who said where
the borders of each land must be.
You made summer and winter.
18Lord, please remember
all the bad things that
the enemies said about You.
They are foolish people
and they laughed at your name
and humiliated You.
19Don't give us to those people.
Don't give your doves to those wild animals.
Don't forget us.
We can not help ourselves.
20Please remember the covenant
that You have made with us,
because there are many dark
and dangerous places
where cruel people are waiting
to attack your people.
21Please don't let your people
who are oppressed be humiliated again.
Help the poor and weak people
so that they will praise your name.
22O God, please do something
and defend your name.
Remember how those fools
accused You and punish them.
23Please don't forget
the bad things that
your enemies have said to You.
Don't forget how those
who rebelled_against You
shouted and laughed loudly.
