We have heard with our ears, O God, our forebears have told us, • all that you did in their days, in time of old; How with your hand you drove out nations and planted us in, • and broke the power of peoples and set us free. For not by their own sword did our ancestors take the land • nor did their own arm save them, But your right hand, your arm, and the light of your countenance, • because you were gracious to them. R You are my King and my God, • who commanded salvation for Jacob. Through you we drove back our adversaries; • through your name we trod down our foes. For I did not trust in my bow; • it was not my own sword that saved me; It was you that saved us from our enemies • and put our adversaries to shame. We gloried in God all the day long, • and were ever praising your name. R But now you have rejected us and brought us to shame • and go not out with our armies. You have made us turn our backs on our enemies, • and our enemies have despoiled us. You have made us like sheep to be slaughtered, • and have scattered us among the nations. You have sold your people for a pittance • and made no profit on their sale. You have made us the taunt of our neighbours, • the scorn and derision of those that are round about us. You have made us a byword among the nations; • among the peoples they wag their heads. R My confusion is daily before me, • and shame has covered my face, At the taunts of the slanderer and reviler, • at the sight of the enemy and avenger. All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you • and have not played false to your covenant. Our hearts have not turned back, • nor our steps gone out of your way, Yet you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals, • and covered us with the shadow of death. If we have forgotten the name of our God, • or stretched out our hands to any strange god, Will not God search it out? • For he knows the secrets of the heart. But for your sake are we killed all the day long, • and are counted as sheep for the slaughter. R Rise up! Why sleep, O Lord? • Awake, and do not reject us for ever. Why do you hide your face • and forget our grief and oppression? Our soul is bowed down to the dust; • our belly cleaves to the earth. Rise up, O Lord, to help us • and redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love. Rise up, O Lord, to help us. In the darkness of unknowing, when your love seems absent, draw near to us, O God, in Christ forsaken, in Christ risen, our Redeemer and our Lord.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 09:11:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015