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.