Psalm 74
Plea for Help in Time of National Humiliation
A Maskil of Asaph.
1 O God, why do you cast us off forever?
Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?(A)
2 Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago,
which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage.
Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell.(B)
3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary.(C)
4 Your foes have roared within your holy place;
they set up their emblems there.(D)
5 At the upper entrance they hacked
the wooden trellis with axes.[a](E)
6 And then, with hatchets and hammers,
they smashed all its carved work.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they desecrated the dwelling place of your name,
bringing it to the ground.(F)
8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.(G)
9 We do not see our emblems;
there is no longer any prophet,
and there is no one among us who knows how long.(H)
10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?(I)
11 Why do you hold back your hand;
why do you keep your hand in[b] your bosom?(J)
12 Yet God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the earth.(K)
13 You divided the sea by your might;
you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters.(L)
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you gave him as food[c] for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 You cut openings for springs and torrents;
you dried up ever-flowing streams.(M)
16 Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you established the luminaries[d] and the sun.(N)
17 You have fixed all the bounds of the earth;
you made summer and winter.(O)
18 Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and an impious people reviles your name.(P)
19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals;
do not forget the life of your poor forever.(Q)
20 Have regard for your[e] covenant,
for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.(R)
21 Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.(S)
22 Rise up, O God, plead your cause;
remember how the impious scoff at you all day long.(T)
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.(U)
Footnotes
- 74.5Cn Compare Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 74.11Cn: Heb do you consume your right hand from
- 74.14Heb food for the people
- 74.16Or moon; Heb light
- 74.20Gk Syr: Heb the
Cross references
- 74.1 : Deut 29.20; Ps 44.9, 23
- 74.2 : Deut 32.6; Ps 77.15
- 74.3 : Ps 79.1; Isa 61.4
- 74.4 : Num 2.2; Lam 2.7
- 74.5 : Jer 46.22
- 74.7 : 2 Kings 25.9
- 74.8 : Ps 83.4
- 74.9 : 1 Sam 3.1; Ps 78.43
- 74.10 : Lev 24.16
- 74.11 : Ps 59.13
- 74.12 : Ps 44.4
- 74.13 : Isa 51.9
- 74.15 : Ex 17.5, 6; Num 20.11; Josh 3.13
- 74.16 : Ps 104.19
- 74.17 : Gen 8.22
- 74.18 : v 10; Ps 39.8
- 74.19 : Ps 9.18; Song 2.14
- 74.20 : Gen 17.7; Ps 88.6; 106.45
- 74.21 : Ps 35.10; 103.6
- 74.22 : v 18; Ps 43.1
- 74.23 : v 10; Ps 65.7