Psalms Chapter 74
A Maskil of Asaph
1 Why have you thrown us away forever, God?
Why does your anger smoke at the sheep in your pasture?
2 Remember your community that you bought so long ago,
that you redeemed as a tribe for your heritage,
Mount Zion, where you’ve lived.
3 Direct your attention to its continuing ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have roared in your sanctuary
and set up their own standards for signs.
5 It’s like someone that used an axe in a forest;
6 they broke down its carved work with hatchets and hammers.
7 They burned the sanctuary to the ground
and defiled your home.
8 They said to themselves, “We’ll completely subdue them”;
they set fire to your meeting places in the land.
9 We don’t see miraculous signs anymore;
there aren’t any prophets;
nobody knows how long this will last.
10 How long will your adversaries scoff, God,
and mock you? Forever?
11 Why hold back from doing something?
Why keep your right hand against your chest?
Ps 74:1-11
12 Yet you’re my king from ancient times,
who provided deliverance on the earth.
13 You divided the sea by your power
and bashed the heads of sea monsters in the water.
14 You crushed Leviathan’s heads
and made it into food for animals in the open country.
15 You opened springs and torrents,
and dried up flowing rivers.
16 Day and night belong to you;
you put the sun and stars in place.
17 You established boundaries for the land
and marked out summer and winter.
Ps 74:12-17
18 Remember, Yahveh, that your enemies are scorning you;
foolish people are ridiculing you.
19 Don’t deliver your turtledove to a wild animal;
don’t forget forever the life of your hurting people.
20 Have regard for your covenant
because the land is filled with violent places.
21 Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed;
let the poor and needy praise you.
22 Stand up for yourself, God;
remember how foolish people scoff at you all day long.
23 Don’t forget the clamor of your adversaries,
the constant uproar of those who rebel against you.
Ps 74:18-23