Psalm 74
74
An Appeal to God against the Enemy
Maschil of Asaph.
1O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?
Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
2Remember thy congregation,
which thou hast purchased of old;
the rod of thine inheritance,
which thou hast redeemed;
this mount Zion,
wherein thou hast dwelt.
3Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations;
even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations;
they set up their ensigns for signs.
5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
6But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.
7They have cast fire into thy sanctuary,
they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.
8They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together:
they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
9We see not our signs:
there is no more any prophet:
neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
10O God, how long shall the adversary reproach?
Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand?
Pluck it out of thy bosom.
12For God is my King of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 #
Exod 14.21. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength:
thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 #
Job 41.1; Ps 104.26; Isa 27.1. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces,
and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood:
thou driedst up mighty rivers.
16The day is thine, the night also is thine:
thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
17Thou hast set all the borders of the earth:
thou hast made summer and winter.
18Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord,
and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
19O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked:
forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
20Have respect unto the covenant:
for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
21O let not the oppressed return ashamed:
let the poor and needy praise thy name.
22Arise, O God, plead thine own cause:
remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
23Forget not the voice of thine enemies:
the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.
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Psalm 74: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
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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