Psalm 74
A contemplation by Asaph.
74:1 God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? 74:2 Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance; Mount Zion, in which you have lived. 74:3 Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary. 74:4 Your adversaries have roared in the midst of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs. 74:5 They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees. 74:6 Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers. 74:7 They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name. 74:8 They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.” They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped. 74:9 We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long. 74:10 How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever? 74:11 Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it out of your pocket and consume them! 74:12 Yet God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 74:13 You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. 74:14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures. 74:15 You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers. 74:16 The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun. 74:17 You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter. 74:18 Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, Yahweh. Foolish people have blasphemed your name. 74:19 Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever. 74:20 Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth. 74:21 Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name. 74:22 Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day. 74:23 Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.