Remember Your Congregation

Verses 1–11 · the smoking ruins of the sanctuary

1. ^{verse 1}Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?
2. ^{verse 2}Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance — Mount Zion, where You dwell.
3. ^{verse 3}Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins, to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.
4. ^{verse 4}Your foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs,
5. ^{verse 5}like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees
6. ^{verse 6}and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.
7. ^{verse 7}They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.
8. ^{verse 8}They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely.” They burned down every place where God met us in the land.
9. ^{verse 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. ^{verse 10}How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?
11. ^{verse 11}Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand? Stretch it out to destroy them!

Verses 12–23 · remembering God's ancient power and pleading his covenant

1. ^{verse 12}Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth.
2. ^{verse 13}You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
3. ^{verse 14}You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.
4. ^{verse 15}You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
5. ^{verse 16}The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun.
6. ^{verse 17}You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and winter.
7. ^{verse 18}Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name.
8. ^{verse 19}Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.
9. ^{verse 20}Consider Your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
10. ^{verse 21}Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame; may the poor and needy praise Your name.
11. ^{verse 22}Rise up, O God; defend Your cause! Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.
12. ^{verse 23}Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.