Psalm 44 (The Light of Your Face) by Shane Heilman O God, we’ve heard with our ears Our fathers have told us what You did in their days In the days of old You with Your own hand drove out the nations And planted our fathers there You afflicted the nations, but You made Your people glad and free Their sword did not win the land Nor was it their arm that delivered them But it was Your hand And Your arm The light of Your face For You delighted in them Your hand And Your arm The light of Your face It’s all because of Your right hand Because of Your right hand O God, You are my King Command victory for Jacob Through Your name we tread down our foes I don’t trust in my bow, my sword can’t save me But it’s You who saves us from our enemies You have put them to shame who hate us In God we boast all day long And we will give thanks to Your name forevermore Forevermore Because of Your hand And Your arm The light of Your face For You delight in us Your hand And Your arm The light of Your face It’s all because of Your right hand Because of Your right hand But now You have rejected and disgraced us You have not gone out with our armies You have made us flee before the enemy Now our adversaries have plundered us You’ve given us up like sheep for slaughter You have scattered us among the nations You have sold Your people for a trifle You didn’t even make a profit from their sale We are mocked by our neighbors We are the ridicule of all around You have made us a joke to our enemies We’re just a laughingstock All day long my disgrace is before me My face is covered in shame At the sound of the taunter and revilers At the sight of the enemy bent on revenge All of this has come upon us Even though we have not forgotten You We have not dealt falsely with Your covenant Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps veered off Yet You’ve broken us in the place of jackals You have covered us with the shadow death If we had forgotten the name of our God Or lifted up our hands to a foreign idol Wouldn’t God have discovered it For He knows the secrets of the heart Yet for Your sake we’re killed all day long We’ve been regarded as sheep for slaughter Awake Why are you asleep, O LORD? Awake Do not reject us forever Why do You hide Your face And forget our affliction and oppression Our soul is sinking into the dust Our bodies cling to the ground Rise up and be our help Redeem us for the sake of Your unfailing love