Psalms 74
1 A maschil of Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?
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 Call to mind your people, whom you purchased in ancient times, the tribe whom you have redeemed to be your own heritage, and Mount Zion, where you live.
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 Come look at the complete ruins, all the damage that the enemy has done in the holy place.
Lift up your hands against their arrogance in the end. How great the malice of the enemy has been in the sanctuary!
4 Your adversaries roared in the middle of your appointed place; they set up their battle flags.
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 hacked away with axes as in a thick forest.
as if it had been issued from on high; yet they did not understand. As in a forest of chopped wood,
6 They smashed and broke down all the engravings; they broke them with axes and hammers.
they have cut down the entrances themselves. With axe and hatchet, they have brought it down.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they desecrated where you live, knocking it to the ground.
They have set fire to your Sanctuary. They have polluted the tabernacle of your name on earth.
8 They said in their hearts, “We will destroy them all.” They burned up all of your meeting places in the land.
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 We do not see any more signs; there is no prophet any more, and no one among us knows how long this will last.
We have not seen our proof; there is now no prophet. And he will no longer know us.”
10 How long, God, will the enemy throw insults at you? Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
How long, O God, will the enemy place blame? Is the adversary to provoke your name until the end?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take your right hand from your garment and destroy them.
Why do you turn your hand away, even your right hand, from the midst of your sinews, until the end?
12 Yet God has been my king from ancient times, bringing salvation on the earth.
But God is our king before all ages. He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You divided the sea by your strength; you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
In your virtue, you confirmed the sea. You crushed the heads of the serpents in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of leviathan; you fed him to those living in the wilderness.
You have broken the heads of the serpent. You have given him as food for the people of the Ethiopians.
15 You broke open springs and streams; you dried up flowing rivers.
You have disrupted the fountains and the torrents. You have dried up the rivers of Ethan.
16 The day is yours, and the night is yours also; you set the sun and moon in place.
Yours is the day, and yours is the night. You have made the morning light and the sun.
17 You have set all the borders of the earth; you have made summer and winter.
You have made all the limits of the earth. The summer and the spring were formed by you.
18 Call to mind how the enemy hurled insults at you, Yahweh, and that a foolish people has blasphemed your name.
Be mindful of this: the enemy placed blame against the Lord, and a foolish people has incited against your name.
19 Do not give the life of your dove to a wild animal. Do not forget forever the life of your oppressed 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 Remember your covenant, for the dark regions of the land are full of places of violence.
Consider your covenant. For those who have been darkened upon the earth have been filled by the iniquity of the houses.
21 Do not let the oppressed be turned back in shame; let the poor and oppressed praise your name.
Do not allow the humble to be turned away in confusion. The poor and the needy will praise your name.
22 Arise, God; defend your own honor; call to mind how fools insult you all day long.
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 the voice of your adversaries or the uproar of those who continually defy you.
Do not forget the voices of your adversaries. The arrogance of those who hate you rises up continually.
