Please be gracious and save us
Tell the leader of the choir to play the same music as the song: ‘Flowers’. This Psalm of Asaph is a witness.
1O Shepherd of Israel,
please listen to us.
You who led the descendants
of Joseph like a shepherd
leads his sheep and goats,
your throne is above the cherub-angels.
Please show everyone how great You are.
2Please show the tribes of
Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Please show them how strong You are
and save us.
3O God, please be good to us again.
Be gracious and save us.
4Lord, God who rules over everything,
how long will You stay angry
and not listen to your people
when they pray?
5You have made us suffer a lot.
We cry and mourn all day,
and our tears do not stop falling to the ground.
6You cause the lands that are our neighbours to fight each other
to see who will take our land.
Our enemies laugh at what happens to us.
7O God, You who rule over everything,
please be good to us.
Be gracious and save us.
8You took a vine from Egypt.
You chased nations away
from this land and
You planted the vine here.
9You prepared a place for the vine
and it started to grow.
It grew over the land to the sea.
10The vine was so high
that the mountains were
in the shade of the vine.
Its branches grew
over big high cedar trees.
11Its branches grew from the sea
to the Euphrates River.
12Why did You break down the wall
that was around the vine?
Everyone who walked along that road
could go into the vineyard
and pick its grapes.
13Now wild pigs trample the vine
and other animals eat all the branches.
14O God, You who rule over everything,
please look down from heaven
and be good to this vine again.
15You are the One who planted this vine,
and You made it strong.
16The enemies have burnt the vine
and they have cut it off.
Please show them
that You are angry with them,
and cause them to disappear.
17But please protect the people
that You have chosen for Yourself.
They are your vine,
the vine that You have made strong.
18Then we will not leave You again.
If You let us live,
we will always praise your name.
19Lord, God who rules over everything,
please be good to us again.
Please be gracious and save us.
