1 Maschil of Asaph. {N} Why, O God, hast Thou cast us off for ever? Why doth Thine anger smoke against the flock of Thy pasture? 2 Remember Thy congregation, which Thou hast gotten of old, which Thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of Thine inheritance; {N} and mount Zion, wherein Thou hast dwelt. 3 Lift up Thy steps because of the perpetual ruins, even all the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary. 4 Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of Thy meeting-place; they have set up their own signs for signs. 5 It seemed as when men wield upwards axes in a thicket of trees. 6 And now all the carved work thereof together they strike down with hatchet and hammers. 7 They have set Thy sanctuary on fire; they have profaned the dwelling-place of Thy name even to the ground. 8 They said in their heart: 'Let us make havoc of them altogether'; they have burned up all the meeting-places of God in the land. 9 We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet; neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. 10 How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme Thy name for ever? 11 Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand? Draw it out of Thy bosom and consume them. 12 Yet God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13 Thou didst break the sea in pieces by Thy strength; Thou didst shatter the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters. 14 Thou didst crush the heads of leviathan, Thou gavest him to be food to the folk inhabiting the wilderness. 15 Thou didst cleave fountain and brook; Thou driedst up ever-flowing rivers. 16 Thine is the day, Thine also the night; Thou hast established luminary and sun. 17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; Thou hast made summer and winter. 18 Remember this, how the enemy hath reproached the LORD, and how a base people have blasphemed Thy name. 19 O deliver not the soul of Thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast; forget not the life of Thy poor for ever. 20 Look upon the covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. 21 O let not the oppressed turn back in confusion; let the poor and needy praise Thy name. 22 Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause; remember Thy reproach all the day at the hand of the base man. 23 Forget not the voice of Thine adversaries, the tumult of those that rise up against Thee which ascendeth continually. {P}