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An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.

¹ O God, why have You ^(C1)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger ^(C2)smoke against the ^(C3)sheep of Your pasture?

² Remember Your congregation, which You have ^(C1)purchased of old,
Which You have ^(C2)redeemed to be the ^(C3)tribe of Your inheritance;
Remember Mount ^(C4)Zion, where You have dwelt.

³ Turn your footsteps quickly toward the ^(C1)perpetual ruins;
The enemy ^(C2)has damaged everything within the sanctuary.

⁴ In the midst of Your meeting place Your enemies have ^(C1)roared with their battle cry;
They have set up their ^(C2)own emblems ^(C3)for signs of victory.

⁵ It seems as if one had lifted up
^(C1)An axe in a forest of trees to set a record of destruction.

⁶ And now all the ^(C1)carved work of the meeting place
They smash with hatchets and hammers.

⁷ They have ^(C1)burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
They have ^(C2)profaned the dwelling place of Your ^(F1)name.

⁸ They ^(C1)said in their heart, "Let us completely subdue them."
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹ We do not see our ^(C1)symbols;
There is ^(C2)no longer any prophet to guide us,
Nor does any among us know for ^(C3)how long.

¹⁰ O God, how long will the adversary ^(C1)scoff?
Is the enemy to ^(C2)revile Your name forever?

¹¹ Why ^(C1)do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand from judging the enemy?
Remove Your hand from Your chest, ^(C2)destroy them!

¹² Yet God is ^(C1)my King of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³ You ^(C1)divided the Red Sea by Your strength;
You ^(C2)broke the heads of the ^(F1)(C3)sea monsters in the waters. ^(VR1)

¹⁴ You crushed the heads of ^(F1)(C1)Leviathan (Egypt);
You gave him as food for the creatures ^(C2)of the wilderness. ^(VR1)

^15 (C1)You broke open fountains and streams;
You ^(C2)dried up ever-flowing rivers. ^(VR1)

¹⁶ The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have ^(C1)established and prepared the heavenly light and the sun.

¹⁷ You have ^(C1)defined and established all the borders of the earth the divisions of land and sea and of the nations;
You have made ^(C2)summer and winter. ^(VR1)

¹⁸ Remember this, O LORD, the enemy has ^(C1)scoffed,
And a ^(C2)foolish and impious people has spurned Your name.

¹⁹ Oh, do not hand over the soul of your ^(C1)turtledove to the wild beast;
^(C2)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.

²⁰ Consider the ^(C1)covenant You made with Abraham,
For the ^(C2)dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

²¹ Let not the ^(C1)oppressed return dishonored;
Let the ^(C2)afflicted and needy praise Your name.

²² Arise, O God, ^(C1)plead Your own cause;
Remember how the ^(C2)foolish man scoffs at You all day long.

²³ Do not forget the clamoring voices of Your ^(C1)adversaries,
The ^(C2)uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually to Your ears.