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Why Have You Rejected Us Forever?

(Psalm 79:1-13; Jeremiah 52:1-11)

¹ A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?² Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance—Mount Zion where You dwell.³ Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins, to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.⁴ Your foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs,⁵ like men wielding axes, in a thicket of trees,⁶ and smashing all the carved work with hatchets and picks.⁷ They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.⁸ They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely.” They burned down every place where God met us in the land.⁹ There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.¹⁰ How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?^{11 (a)}Why do You withdraw Your hand? Stretch out Your right hand and destroy them!

¹² Yet God is my King from of old, working salvation on the earth.¹³ You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;¹⁴ You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.¹⁵ You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.¹⁶ The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun.¹⁷ You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name.¹⁹ Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.²⁰ Consider Your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.²¹ Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame; may the poor and needy praise Your name.²² Rise up, O God, defend Your cause! Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.²³ Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.