Psalm 74

Prayer for Israel

A Maskil of Asaph.

1 Why have You rejected [us] forever, God?
Why does Your anger burn
against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation,
which You purchased long ago
and redeemed as the tribe for Your own possession.
[Remember] Mount Zion where You dwell.
3 Make Your way to the everlasting ruins,
to all that the enemy has destroyed in the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries roared in the meeting place
where You met with us.
They set up their emblems as signs.
5 It was like men in a thicket of trees,
wielding axes,
6 then smashing all the carvings
with hatchets and picks.
7 They set Your sanctuary on fire;
they utterly desecrated
the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They said in their hearts,
"Let us oppress them relentlessly."
They burned down every place throughout the land
where God met with us.
9 There are no signs for us to see.
There is no longer a prophet.
And none of us knows how long this will last.
10 God, how long will the enemy mock?
Will the foe insult Your name forever?

11 Why do You hold back Your hand?
Stretch out Your right hand and destroy [them]!

12 God my King is from ancient times,
performing saving acts on the earth.
13 You divided the sea with Your strength;
You smashed the heads of the sea monsters
in the waters;
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
You fed him to the creatures of the desert.
15 You opened up springs and streams;
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day is Yours, also the night;
You established the moon and the sun.

17 You set all the boundaries of the earth;
You made summer and winter.

18 Remember this: the enemy has mocked Yahweh,
and a foolish people has insulted Your name.
19 Do not give the life of Your dove to beasts;
do not forget the lives of Your poor people forever.
20 Consider the covenant,
for the dark places of the land are full of violence.
21 Do not let the oppressed turn away in shame;
let the poor and needy praise Your name.
22 Rise up, God, defend Your cause!
Remember the insults
that fools bring against You all day long.

23 Do not forget the clamor of Your adversaries,
the tumult of Your opponents that goes up constantly.

Psalm 74

1 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old, Which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thine inheritance; And mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual ruins, All the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary.

4 Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine assembly; They have set up their ensigns for signs.

5 They seemed as men that lifted up Axes upon a thicket of trees.

6 And now all the carved work thereof They break down with hatchet and hammers.

7 They have set thy sanctuary on fire; They have profaned the dwelling-place of thy name by casting it to the ground.

8 They said in their heart, Let us make havoc of them altogether: They have burned up all the synagogues 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.

10 How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

11 Why drawest thou back thy hand, even thy right hand? Pluck it out of thy bosom and consume them.

12 Yet God is my King of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: Thou brakest the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.

14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces; Thou gavest him to be food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

15 Thou didst cleave fountain and flood: Thou driedst up mighty rivers.

16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: Thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: Thou hast made summer and winter.

18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Jehovah, And that a foolish people hath blasphemed thy name.

19 Oh deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast: Forget not the life of thy poor for ever.

20 Have respect unto the covenant; For the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.

21 Oh let not the oppressed return ashamed: Let the poor and needy praise thy name.

22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: Remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day.

23 Forget not the voice of thine adversaries: The tumult of those that rise up against thee ascendeth continually.