Psalms 74
An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
1 O God, why have You rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;
Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 Turn your footsteps [quickly] toward the perpetual ruins;
The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 In the midst of Your meeting place Your enemies have roared [with their battle cry];
They have set up their own emblems for signs [of victory].
5 It seems as if one had lifted up
An axe in a forest of trees [to set a record of destruction].
6 And now all the carved work [of the meeting place]
They smash with hatchets and hammers.
7 They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
They have profaned the dwelling place of Your [a]name.
8 They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our symbols;
There is no longer any prophet [to guide us],
Nor does any among us know for how long.
10 O God, how long will the adversary scoff?
Is the enemy to revile Your name forever?
11 Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand [from judging the enemy]?
Remove Your hand from Your chest, destroy them!
12 Yet God is my King of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You divided the [Red] Sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the [b]sea monsters in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of [c]Leviathan (Egypt);
You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 You broke open fountains and streams;
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have established and prepared the [heavenly] light and the sun.
17 You have defined and established all the borders of the earth [the divisions of land and sea and of the nations];
You have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, O Lord, the enemy has scoffed,
And a foolish and impious people has spurned Your name.
19 Oh, do not hand over the soul of your turtledove to the wild beast;
Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Consider the covenant [You made with Abraham],
For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not the oppressed return dishonored;
Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
Remember how the foolish man scoffs at You all day long.
23 Do not forget the [clamoring] voices of Your adversaries,
The uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually [to Your ears].
[a] v7: See note Deut 12:5.
[b] v13: Symbolic of Egypt’s power.
[c] v14: See note Job 41:1.