Psalms 74

A Maskil of Asaph.

1Why, O God, have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?

2Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago, the tribe you redeemed as your inheritance, and Mount Zion, where you dwelled.

3Direct your steps toward the perpetual ruins; the enemy has devastated everything in the sanctuary.

4Your adversaries roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs as signs.

5They were like men raising axes against a thicket of trees.

6And now they smash all its carved work with axe and hammers.

7They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it to the ground.

8They said in their hearts, “Let us crush them all together.” They burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

9We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and none among us knows how long.

10How long, O God, will the foe reproach you? Will the enemy revile your name forever?

11Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Draw it out from your bosom and consume them.

12Yet God is my King from of old, working acts of salvation in the midst of the earth.

13You split the sea by your strength; you shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.

14You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food to the desert creatures.

15You split open springs and streams; you dried up ever-flowing rivers.

16The day is yours; the night also is yours. You established the light and the sun.

17You established all the boundaries of the earth; summer and winter—you formed them.

18Remember this, O Yahweh: the enemy has mocked you, and a foolish people have despised your name.

19Do not give the life of your dove to the wild beast; do not forget the life of your afflicted ones forever.

20Look to the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of haunts of violence.

21Do not let the oppressed turn back ashamed; let the poor and needy praise your name.

22Rise up, O God; plead your case. Remember the fool’s reproach against you all day long.

23Do not forget the voice of your enemies, the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually.