1
A Psalm of instruction for Asaph. Wherefore hast thou rejected us, O God, forever? Wherefore is thy wrath kindled against the sheep of thy pasture?
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Remember thy congregation which thou hast purchased from the beginning; Thou didst ransom the rod of thine inheritance; This Mount Zion wherein thou hast dwelt.
3
Lift up thy hands against their pride continually; Because of all that the enemy has done wickedly in thy holy places.
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And they that hate thee have boasted in the midst of thy feast; They have set up their standards for signs,
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Ignorantly as it were in the entrance above;
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They cut down its doors at once with axes as in a wood of trees; They have broken it down with hatchet and stone cutter.
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They have burned thy sanctuary with fire to the ground; They have profaned the habitation of thy name.
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They have said in their heart, even all their kindred together, Come, let us abolish the feasts of the Lord from the earth.
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We have not seen our signs; There is no longer a prophet; and God will not know us anymore.
10
How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach? Shall the enemy provoke thy name forever?
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Wherefore turnest thou away thy hand, And thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom forever?
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But God is our King of old; He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
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Thou didst establish the sea, in thy might, Thou didst break to pieces the heads of the dragons in the water.
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Thou didst break to pieces the heads of the dragon; Thou didst give him for meat to the Ethiopian nations.
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Thou didst cleave fountains and torrents; Thou driedst up mighty rivers.
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The day is thine, and the night is thine; Thou hast prepared the sun and the moon.
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Thou hast made all the borders of the earth; Thou hast made summer and spring.
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Remember this thy creation: an enemy has reproached the Lord, And a foolish people has provoked thy name.
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Deliver not to the wild beasts a soul that gives praise to thee: Forget not forever the souls of thy poor.
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Look upon thy covenant: For the dark places of the earth are filled with the habitations of iniquity.
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Let not the afflicted and shamed one be rejected: The poor and needy shall praise thy name.
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Arise, O God, plead thy cause: Remember thy reproaches that come from the foolish one all the day.
23
Forget not the voice of thy suppliants: Let the pride of them that hate thee continually ascend before thee.