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