Psalms 74
1 O GOD, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
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 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
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 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
Lift up thy steps unto the places utterly unsafe, All the mischief!—the foe in the sanctuary!
4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.
Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine appointed meeting, They have set their ensigns as tokens!
5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
One used to be known according as he carried up high—into the thicket of trees—the axes;
6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.
But, now, the doors thereof all together, with axes and hammers, they batter down.
7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.
They have cast, into the fire, thy sanctuary, To the ground, have they profaned the habitation of thy Name.
8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God 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 see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth 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 shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
How long, O God, shall the adversary, reproach? Shall the enemy revile thy Name perpetually?
11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.
Wherefore shouldst thou withdraw thy hand—thy right hand? [Bring it] out of the midst of thy bosom! (Selah)
12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
But, God, hath been my king from aforetime, Working Deliverances in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
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 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
Thou, didst crush the heads of the Sea-Monster, Thou didst give him to be food, for the people of the deserts;
15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
Thou, didst cleave open fountain and torrent, Thou, didst dry up rivers of steady flow:
16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
Thine, is the day, Yea, thine, the night, Thou, didst establish moon and sun;
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
Thou, didst set up all the bounds of the earth, As for summer and winter, thou, didst form them!
18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
Remember this, An enemy, hath reproached Yahweh, Yea, an impious people, have reviled thy Name.
19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor 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 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
Have respect to thy covenant, For the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.
21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.
May the crushed one not again be confounded, As for the oppressed and the needy, let them praise thy Name.
22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
Arise! O God, plead thine own cause, Remember the reproach of thee, from the impious one, all the day:
23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.
Do not forget the voice of thine adversaries, The noise of thine assailants, ascending continually.
