Psalms 74
1 God, why have you abandoned/rejected us? Will you keep rejecting us forever [RHQ]? Why are you angry with us, since we are like sheep in your pasture [and you are like our shepherd]? [MET, RHQ]
The understanding of Asaph. O God, why have you rejected us to the end. Why has your fury become enraged over the sheep of your pasture?
2 Do not forget your people whom you chose long ago, the people whom you freed [from being slaves in Egypt] and caused to become your tribe. Do not forget Jerusalem, which was (your home/where you dwelt) [on this earth].
Be mindful of your congregation, which you have possessed from the beginning. You redeemed the scepter of your inheritance, mount Zion, in which you have dwelt.
3 Walk along [and see] where everything has been totally ruined; our enemies have destroyed everything in the sacred temple.
Lift up your hands against their arrogance in the end. How great the malice of the enemy has been in the sanctuary!
4 Your enemies shouted triumphantly in this sacred place; they erected their banners [to show they had defeated us].
And those who hate you have been glorified, in the midst of your solemnity. They have set up their own signs as a proof,
5 They cut down all the [engraved objects in the temple] like woodsmen cut down trees.
as if it had been issued from on high; yet they did not understand. As in a forest of chopped wood,
6 Then they smashed all the carved wood with their axes and hammers.
they have cut down the entrances themselves. With axe and hatchet, they have brought it down.
7 [Then] they burned your temple to the ground; they caused that place where you were worshiped to be unfit for people to worship in.
They have set fire to your Sanctuary. They have polluted the tabernacle of your name on earth.
8 They said to themselves, “We will destroy the Israelis completely,” and they [also] burned down all the other places where we gathered to worship God.
They have said in their heart, the whole group of them together: “Let us cause all the feast days of God to cease from the land.
9 All our sacred symbols (OR, miracles) are gone; there are no prophets now/any more, and no one knows how long [this situation will continue].
We have not seen our proof; there is now no prophet. And he will no longer know us.”
10 God, how long will our enemies make fun of you [RHQ]? Will they insult you [MTY] forever [RHQ]?
How long, O God, will the enemy place blame? Is the adversary to provoke your name until the end?
11 Why do you refuse to help [MTY, RHQ] us? Why do you keep your hand inside your cloak [instead of using it to destroy our enemies] [RHQ]?
Why do you turn your hand away, even your right hand, from the midst of your sinews, until the end?
12 God, you have been our king [all the time] since we came out of Egypt [HYP], and you have enabled us to defeat [our enemies] in the land [of Israel].
But God is our king before all ages. He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 By your power you caused the [Red] Sea to divide; [it was as though] you smashed the heads of the [rulers of Egypt who were like] huge sea dragons [MET].
In your virtue, you confirmed the sea. You crushed the heads of the serpents in the waters.
14 [It was as though] you crushed the head of the king of Egypt [MET] and gave his body to the animals in the desert to eat.
You have broken the heads of the serpent. You have given him as food for the people of the Ethiopians.
15 You caused springs and streams to flow, and you [also] dried up rivers that had never dried up previously.
You have disrupted the fountains and the torrents. You have dried up the rivers of Ethan.
16 You created the days and the nights, and you put the sun and the moon in their places.
Yours is the day, and yours is the night. You have made the morning light and the sun.
17 You determined where the oceans end and the land begins, and you created the summer/hot season and the winter/cold season.
You have made all the limits of the earth. The summer and the spring were formed by you.
18 Yahweh, do not forget that your enemies laugh at you, and that it is foolish people who despise you [MTY].
Be mindful of this: the enemy placed blame against the Lord, and a foolish people has incited against your name.
19 Do not let your helpless people [MET] fall into the hands of their cruel enemies; do not forget your suffering/persecuted people.
Do not hand over to beasts the souls that confess to you; and do not forget the souls of your poor until the end.
20 Do not forget the agreement that you made with us; remember that there are violent people in every dark place on the earth.
Consider your covenant. For those who have been darkened upon the earth have been filled by the iniquity of the houses.
21 Do not allow your oppressed people to be disgraced; help those poor and needy people in order that they will [again] praise you [MTY].
Do not allow the humble to be turned away in confusion. The poor and the needy will praise your name.
22 God, arise and defend yourself [by defending your people]! Do not forget that foolish people laugh at you (all day long/continually)!
Rise up, O God, judge your own case. Call to mind the accusations against you, which are made by the foolish all day long.
23 Do not forget that your enemies shout angrily [at you]; the uproar that they make [while they oppose you] never stops.
Do not forget the voices of your adversaries. The arrogance of those who hate you rises up continually.
