I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.

If we had forgotten the name of our God
Or extended our hands to a strange god,

There they were in great fear where no fear had been;
For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you;
You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.

I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.

We who had sweet fellowship together
Walked in the house of God in the throng.

But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps had almost slipped.

If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

It seems as if one had lifted up
His axe in a forest of trees.

They forgot His deeds
And His miracles that He had shown them.

Before they had satisfied their desire,
While their food was in their mouths,

So He brought them to His holy land,
To this hill country which His right hand had gained.

So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent which He had pitched among men,

Fire devoured His young men,
And His virgins had no wedding songs.

For my soul has had enough troubles,
And my life has drawn near to Sheol.

If the Lord had not been my help,
My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.

“When your fathers tested Me,
They tried Me, though they had seen My work.

He sent Moses His servant,
And Aaron, whom He had chosen.

Egypt was glad when they departed,
For the dread of them had fallen upon them.

They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,

Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.

Because they had rebelled against the words of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High.

If Your law had not been my delight,
Then I would have perished in my affliction.

Too long has my soul had its dwelling
With those who hate peace.

A Song of Ascents, of David.
“Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say,

“Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
When men rose up against us,