The nations fell into the pit they had made; their feet were caught in the net they had hidden.

You rescue me from a hostile army; you make me a leader of nations; people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects.

If we had rejected our God, and spread out our hands in prayer to another god,

I say, "I wish I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and settle in a safe place!

If I had harbored sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

If I had publicized these thoughts, I would have betrayed your loyal followers.

They forgot what he had done, the amazing things he had shown them.

They did not remember what he had done, how he delivered them from the enemy,

If the Lord had not helped me, I would have laid down in the silence of death.

where your ancestors challenged my authority, and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.

So I made a vow in my anger, 'They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.'"

He sent his servant Moses, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

He handed the territory of nations over to them, and they took possession of what other peoples had produced,

They quickly forgot what he had done; they did not wait for his instructions.

In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving for meat; they challenged God in the desert.

They did not destroy the nations, as the Lord had commanded them to do.

Many times he delivered them, but they had a rebellious attitude, and degraded themselves by their sin.

because they had rebelled against God's commands, and rejected the instructions of the sovereign king.

He loved to curse others, so those curses have come upon him. He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings.

I had faith when I said, "I am severely oppressed."

If I had not found encouragement in your law, I would have died in my sorrow.

For too long I have had to reside with those who hate peace.

Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor! For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some.

We have had our fill of the taunts of the self-assured, of the contempt of the proud.

A song of ascents, by David. "If the Lord had not been on our side" -- let Israel say this! --

if the Lord had not been on our side, when men attacked us,