When I chose to be bitter I was emotionally pained.

And I am brutish, and do not know. A beast I have been with Thee.

Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.

Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

Whom do I have in the heavens [except you]? And with you I have no [other] desire on earth.

Consumed hath been my flesh and my heart, The rock of my heart and my portion is God to the age.

For, lo, those far from Thee do perish, Thou hast cut off every one, Who is going a whoring from Thee.

But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.

O God, why have You rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old, Which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thine inheritance; And mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

Lift up Thy steps to the perpetual desolations, Everything the enemy did wickedly in the sanctuary.

Sending out their voices like lions among your worshippers; they have put up their signs to be seen.

It seems as if one had lifted up
An axe in a forest of trees [to set a record of destruction].

And now all its carvings too, they break down with axes and hammers.

They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.

They have said in their hearts, Let us put an end to them all together; they have given over to the fire all God's places of worship in the land.

We do not see our symbols;
There is no longer any prophet [to guide us],
Nor does any among us know for how long.

O God, how long will the adversary scoff?
Is the enemy to revile Your name forever?

Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand [from judging the enemy]?
Remove Your hand from Your chest, destroy them!

The sea was parted in two by your strength; the heads of the great sea-beasts were broken.

Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

Give not up to a company, The soul of Thy turtle-dove, The company of Thy poor ones forget not for ever.

Look attentively to the covenant, For the dark places of earth, Have been full of habitations of violence.

Do not let [the] oppressed turn back humiliated; let [the] poor and needy praise your name.

Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: Remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day.

Do not forget the [clamoring] voices of Your adversaries,
The uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually [to Your ears].

{To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.} Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.

When I receive an appointment, I -- I do judge uprightly.

I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:

Do not lift up high your horn. Do [not] speak with {arrogant pride}.'"

For, God himself, is about to judge, One, he will cast down, Another, he will lift up;

For a cup is in the hand of Jehovah, And the wine hath foamed, It is full of mixture, and He poureth out of it, Only its dregs wring out, and drink, Do all the wicked of the earth,

But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

I will cut down the strength of the wicked, but the strength of the righteous will be lifted up. To the Director: With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song.

{To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.} In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.

There were the arrows of the bow broken, there he put an end to body-cover, sword, and fight. (Selah.)

The brave-hearted have been plundered;
they have slipped into their final sleep.
None of the warriors was able to lift a hand.

Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?

Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still,

When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.

The fierceness of man shall turn to thy praise; and the fierceness of them shalt thou refrain.

Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.

He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.

{To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of Asaph.} I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.

You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I can't speak.

My thoughts go back to the days of the past, to the years which are gone.

I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.

To the ages doth the Lord cast off? Doth He add to be pleased no more?

Hath his loving-kindness ceased for ever? hath his word come to an end from generation to generation?

Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.

Then I thought, "I will appeal to this: the years of the right hand of the Most High."

Therefore will I remember the works of the LORD, and call to mind thy wonders of old time.

I will give thought to all your work, while my mind goes over your acts of power.

O God, your deeds are extraordinary! What god can compare to our great God?

You are the God who does works of power: you have made your strength clear to the nations.

{Maschil of Asaph.} Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

That we have heard and do know, And our fathers have recounted to us.

We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:

That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:

that they also might put their trust in God, and not to forget what he had done, but to keep his commandments.

And not be like their fathers—
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;

And they will forget his works and his wonders which he caused them to see.

He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

In the day-time also he led them with a cloud, And all the night with a light of fire.

He caused rocks to split in the wilderness and provided drink abundantly as [from the] depths.

He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

Yet went they on still to sin against him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert.

And they tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire.

And they spoke against God: they said, Is God able to prepare a table in the wilderness?

Behold, he smote the rock, and waters gushed out, and streams overflowed; is he able to give bread also, or provide flesh for his people?

So these things came to the Lord's ears, and he was angry; and a fire was lighted against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel;

Because they did not believe in God [they did not rely on Him, they did not adhere to Him],
And they did not trust in His salvation (His power to save).

He gave a command to the clouds above
and opened the doors of heaven.

And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.

Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full.

He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.

He caused meat to rain on them like dust and winged birds as the sand of the sea.

And causeth it to fall in the midst of His camp, Round about His tabernacles.

And they did eat, and were well filled; for that they lusted after, he brought to them.

They didn't turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths,

And the anger of God hath gone up against them, And He slayeth among their fat ones, And youths of Israel He caused to bend.

In spite of all this they still sinned,
For they did not believe in His wonderful and extraordinary works.

So he caused them to die unsatisfied and filled with terror.

When He killed some of them,
the rest began to seek Him;
they repented and searched for God.

And -- they deceive Him with their mouth, And with their tongue do lie to Him,

For their heart was not steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful to His covenant.

But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn't destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn't stir up all his wrath.

He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn't come again.

How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, Grieve Him in the desolate place?

Again they put God to the test, and gave pain to the Holy One of Israel.

They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.

And He turneth to blood their streams, And their floods they drink not.

He sent swarms of insects to bite them and frogs to destroy them.

And giveth to the caterpillar their increase, And their labour to the locust.

He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.