Psalms 74
74
Psalm 74
A maskil #74:0 Unknown musical term. by Asaph.
1Why, O God, have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger
smolder against the sheep in your care?
2Remember your congregation.
Long ago you made it your own.
You bought this tribe to be your possession.
This tribe is Mount Zion, where you have made your home.
3Turn your steps toward these pathetic ruins.
The enemy has destroyed everything in the holy temple.
4Your opponents have roared inside your meeting place.
They have set up their own emblems as symbols.
5Starting from its entrance, they hacked away
like a woodcutter in a forest.
6They smashed all its carved paneling with axes and hatchets.
7They burned your holy place to the ground.
They dishonored the place where you live among us.
8They said to themselves, “We will crush them.”
They burned every meeting place of God in the land.
9We no longer see miraculous signs.
There are no prophets anymore.
No one knows how long this will last.
10How long, O God, will the enemy insult us?
Will the enemy despise you forever?
11Why do you hold back your hand, especially your right hand?
Take your hands out of your pockets.
Destroy your enemies!
12And yet, from long ago God has been my king,
the one who has been victorious throughout the earth.
13You stirred up the sea with your own strength.
You smashed the heads of sea monsters in the water.
14You crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave them to the creatures of the desert for food.
15You opened the springs and brooks.
You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
16The day and the night are yours.
You set the moon and the sun in their places.
17You determined all the boundaries of the earth.
You created summer and winter.
18Remember how the enemy insulted you, O Lord.
Remember how an entire nation of godless fools despised your name.
19Do not hand over the soul of your dove to wild animals.
Do not forget the life of your oppressed people forever.
20Consider your promise #74:20 Or “covenant.”
because every dark corner of the land is filled with violence.
21Do not let oppressed people come back in disgrace.
Let weak and needy people praise your name.
22Arise, O God!
Fight for your own cause!
Remember how godless fools insult you all day long.
23Do not forget the shouting of your opponents.
Do not forget the uproar made by those who attack you.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
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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