Psalms 74
74
Psalm 74
A maskil#74.0 Perhaps instruction of Asaph.
1God, why have you abandoned us forever?
Why does your anger smolder
at the sheep of your own pasture?
2Remember your congregation
that you took as your own long ago,
that you redeemed to be the tribe of your own possession—
remember Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3March to the unending ruins,
to all that the enemy destroyed in the sanctuary.
4Your enemies roared in your own meeting place;
they set up their own signs there!
5It looked like axes raised
against a thicket of trees.#74.5 Heb uncertain
6And then all its carvings
they hacked down with hatchet and pick.
7They set fire to your sanctuary, burned it to the ground;
they defiled the dwelling place of your name.
8They said in their hearts, We’ll kill all of them together!
They burned all of God’s meeting places in the land.
9We don’t see our own signs anymore.
No prophet is left.
And none of us know how long it will last.
10How long, God, will foes insult you?
Are enemies going to abuse your name forever?
11Why do you pull your hand back?
Why do you hold your strong hand close to your chest?
12Yet God has been my king from ancient days—
God, who makes salvation happen in the heart of the earth!
13You split the sea with your power.
You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the water.
14You crushed Leviathan’s heads.
You gave it to the desert dwellers for food!
15You split open springs and streams;
you made strong-flowing rivers dry right up.
16The day belongs to you! The night too!
You established both the moon and the sun.
17You set all the boundaries of the earth in place.
Summer and winter? You made them!
18So remember this, LORD:
how enemies have insulted you,
how unbelieving fools have abused your name.
19Don’t deliver the life of your dove to wild animals!
Don’t forget the lives of your afflicted people forever!
20Consider the covenant!
Because the land’s dark places are full of violence.
21Don’t let the oppressed live in shame.
No, let the poor and needy praise your name!
22God, rise up! Make your case!
Remember how unbelieving fools insult you all day long.
23Don’t forget the voices of your enemies,
the racket of your adversaries that never quits.
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Psalms 74: CEB
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Psalm 74
74
Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause
A Maskil#74:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of #See Ps. 50, titleAsaph.
1O God, why do you #See Ps. 44:9 cast us off forever?
Why does your anger #Deut. 29:20; [Ps. 18:8] smoke against #Ps. 79:13; 100:3; Jer. 23:1; Ezek. 34:31; [Ps. 95:7]the sheep of your pasture?
2 # ver. 18, 22 Remember your congregation, which you have #Ex. 15:16; Deut. 32:6; [Ps. 78:54] purchased of old,
which you have #Ps. 77:15; Isa. 63:9 redeemed to be #Isa. 63:17; Jer. 10:16; 51:19 the tribe of your heritage!
Remember Mount Zion, #Ps. 9:11where you have dwelt.
3Direct your steps to #[Isa. 61:4]the perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
4Your foes have #Lam. 2:6, 7 roared in the midst of your meeting place;
# [Matt. 24:15] they set up their #Num. 2:2 own signs for #[ver. 9]signs.
5They were like those who swing #[Jer. 46:22]axes
in a forest of trees.#74:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
6And all its #[1 Kgs. 6:18, 29, 32, 35]carved wood
they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7They #2 Kgs. 25:9; [Ps. 79:1] set your sanctuary on fire;
they #Ps. 89:39; [Lam. 2:2] profaned #[Ps. 26:8]the dwelling place of your name,
bringing it down to the ground.
8They #Ps. 83:4said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9We do not see our #[ver. 4] signs;
# [1 Sam. 3:1; Lam. 2:9; Ezek. 7:26; Amos 8:11] there is no longer any prophet,
and there is none among us who knows how long.
10How long, O God, #ver. 18, 22; Ps. 79:12; 89:51is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11Why #Lam. 2:3do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the fold of your garment#74:11 Hebrew from your bosom and destroy them!
12Yet #Ps. 44:4God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13You #Ex. 14:21 divided the sea by your might;
you #Isa. 51:9 broke the heads of #Isa. 27:1the sea monsters#74:13 Or the great sea creatures on the waters.
14You crushed the heads of #See Job 41:1Leviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15You #Ps. 78:15; 105:41; Ex. 17:5, 6; Num. 20:11; Isa. 48:21 split open springs and brooks;
you #Josh. 2:10; 4:23; Isa. 51:10; [Ps. 66:6]; See Ex. 14:21-25; Josh. 3:13-17dried up ever-flowing streams.
16Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established #Ps. 104:19; See Gen. 1:14-16the heavenly lights and the sun.
17You have #Deut. 32:8; [Acts 17:26] fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made #Gen. 8:22summer and winter.
18 # ver. 2, 22; Ps. 89:50; Rev. 16:19; 18:5 Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and #Ps. 39:8; Deut. 32:6a foolish people reviles your name.
19Do not deliver the soul of your #Song 2:14 dove to the wild beasts;
# [Ps. 68:10] do not forget the life of your poor forever.
20Have regard for #Ps. 106:45; Gen. 17:7, 8; Lev. 26:44, 45; Jer. 33:21 the covenant,
for #[Ps. 10:8]the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21Let not #Ps. 9:9; 10:18 the downtrodden #[Ps. 6:10] turn back in shame;
let #Ps. 86:1the poor and needy praise your name.
22Arise, O God, #[1 Sam. 24:15] defend your cause;
# ver. 2, 18 remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
23Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
# See Ps. 65:7 the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!
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