Psalms 74
1 Maschil. Of Asaph. Of God, why have you put us away from you for ever? why is the fire of your wrath smoking against the sheep who are your care?
An Instructive Psalm. Asaph’s. Wherefore, O God, hast thou cast off utterly? Shall thine anger smoke against the flock of thine own pasturing?
2 Keep in mind your band of worshippers, for whom you gave payment in the days which are past, whom you took for yourself as the people of your heritage; even this mountain of Zion, which has been your resting-place.
Remember thine own assembly thou didst acquire aforetime, Thou didst redeem the tribe of thine own inheritance, Mount Zion, wherein thou didst take up thy habitation.
3 Go up and see the unending destruction; all the evil which your haters have done in the holy place;
Lift up thy steps unto the places utterly unsafe, All the mischief!—the foe in the sanctuary!
4 Sending out their voices like lions among your worshippers; they have put up their signs to be seen.
Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine appointed meeting, They have set their ensigns as tokens!
5 They are cutting down, like a man whose blade is lifted up against the thick trees.
One used to be known according as he carried up high—into the thicket of trees—the axes;
6 Your doors are broken down with hammers and iron blades.
But, now, the doors thereof all together, with axes and hammers, they batter down.
7 They have put on fire your holy place; they have made the place of your name unclean, pulling it down to the earth.
They have cast, into the fire, thy sanctuary, To the ground, have they profaned the habitation of thy Name.
8 They have said in their hearts, Let us put an end to them all together; they have given over to the fire all God's places of worship in the land.
They have said in their heart, Let us suppress them altogether, They have burned up all the meeting-places of GOD in the land.
9 We do not see our signs: there is no longer any prophet, or anyone among us to say how long.
Our own signs, have we not seen, —There is no longer a prophet, —Neither is there with us, one who knoweth—How long!
10 O God, how long will those who are against us say cruel things? will the hater go on looking down on your name for ever?
How long, O God, shall the adversary, reproach? Shall the enemy revile thy Name perpetually?
11 Why are you keeping back your hand, and covering your right hand in your robe?
Wherefore shouldst thou withdraw thy hand—thy right hand? [Bring it] out of the midst of thy bosom! (Selah)
12 For from the past God is my King, working salvation in the earth.
But, God, hath been my king from aforetime, Working Deliverances in the midst of the earth.
13 The sea was parted in two by your strength; the heads of the great sea-beasts were broken.
Thou, didst cleave asunder, in thy might, the sea, Thou didst break in pieces the heads of the Crocodiles, [till they floated] on the waters;
14 The heads of the great snake were crushed by you; you gave them as food to the fishes of the sea.
Thou, didst crush the heads of the Sea-Monster, Thou didst give him to be food, for the people of the deserts;
15 You made valleys for fountains and springs; you made the ever-flowing rivers dry.
Thou, didst cleave open fountain and torrent, Thou, didst dry up rivers of steady flow:
16 The day is yours and the night is yours: you made the light and the sun.
Thine, is the day, Yea, thine, the night, Thou, didst establish moon and sun;
17 By you all the limits of the earth were fixed; you have made summer and winter.
Thou, didst set up all the bounds of the earth, As for summer and winter, thou, didst form them!
18 Keep this in mind, O Lord, that your haters have said cruel things, and that your name has been looked down on by a people of evil behaviour.
Remember this, An enemy, hath reproached Yahweh, Yea, an impious people, have reviled thy Name.
19 O give not the soul of your dove to the hawk; let not the life of the poor go out of your memory for ever.
Do not deliver up, to a wild beast, the life of thy turtle-dove, The living host of thine oppressed ones, do not forget perpetually.
20 Keep in mind your undertaking; for the dark places of the earth are full of pride and cruel acts.
Have respect to thy covenant, For the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.
21 O let not the crushed be turned back in shame; let the low man and the poor give praise to your name.
May the crushed one not again be confounded, As for the oppressed and the needy, let them praise thy Name.
22 Up! O God, be the judge of your cause; keep in mind the bitter things which the man of evil behaviour says against you every day.
Arise! O God, plead thine own cause, Remember the reproach of thee, from the impious one, all the day:
23 Keep in mind the voice of your haters; the outcry of those who come against you goes up every day.
Do not forget the voice of thine adversaries, The noise of thine assailants, ascending continually.
