1 PSALM 74 An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy. A skillful song, a didactic reflective poem, of Asaph. 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 upAn 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 YourSee note Deut 12:5.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 handfrom Your chest, destroythem!
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 theSymbolic of Egypt’s power.sea monsters in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads ofSee note Job 41:1.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 establishedandprepared the [heavenly] light and the sun.
17 You have definedandestablished 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 L, the enemy has scoffed,And a foolishandimpious 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].