Psalm 74
Prayer in Time of Calamity
1 A maskil of Asaph.
Why, O God, have you cast us off forever?
Why does your anger blaze forth
against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember the people that you purchased long ago,
the tribe that you redeemed as your own possession,
and Mount Zion that you chose as your dwelling.
3 Direct now your steps to the endless ruins,
toward the sanctuary destroyed by the enemy.
4 Your foes exulted triumphantly in the place of your assembly
and set up their memorial emblems.
5 They set upon it with their axes
as if it were a thicket of trees.
6 And then, with hatchets and hammers,
they bludgeoned all the carved work.
7 They set your sanctuary ablaze;
they razed and defiled the dwelling place of your name.
8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly crush them,”
and they burned every shrine of God in the land.
9 Now we see no signs,
there are no longer any prophets,
and none of us knows how long this will last.
10 How long, O God, will the foe mock you?
Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your right hand?
Take it out from your robe and destroy them.
12 Yet you, O God, are my King from of old,
working deeds of salvation throughout the earth.
13 By your power you split the sea in two
and shattered the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave him as food for the wild beasts.
15 You opened up springs and torrents
and turned flowing rivers into dry land.
16 Yours is the day, and yours also is the night,
for you set in place both sun and moon.
17 You fixed all the boundaries of the earth
and created both summer and winter.
18 Remember, O Lord, how the enemy has mocked you,
how a foolish people has blasphemed your name.
19 Do not surrender the soul of your dove to wild beasts;
do not forget forever the life of your poor.
20 Have regard for your covenant!
For the land is filled with darkness,
and the pastures are haunts of violence.
21 Do not let the oppressed turn back in shame;
let the poor and needy bless your name.
22 Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
remember how fools mock you all day long.
23 Do not ignore the outbursts of your enemies,
the unceasing tumult of your foes.
Footnotes
- Psalm 74:1
- Psalm 74:1
- Psalm 74:1
- Psalm 74:2
- Psalm 74:3
- Psalm 74:7
- Psalm 74:8
- Psalm 74:9
- Psalm 74:10
- Psalm 74:11
- Psalm 74:13
- Psalm 74:15
- Psalm 74:16
- Psalm 74:18
- Psalm 74:19
- Psalm 74:21
