Psalm 74

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

74A Maskil¹ of ^rAsaph.

¹O God, why do you ^scast us off forever?

Why does your anger ^tsmoke against ^uthe sheep of your pasture?

^2vRemember your congregation, which you have ^wpurchased of old,

which you have ^xredeemed to be ^ythe tribe of your heritage!

Remember Mount Zion, ^zwhere you have dwelt.

³Direct your steps to ^athe perpetual ruins;

the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

⁴Your foes have ^broared in the midst of your meeting place;

^cthey set up their ^down signs for ^esigns.

⁵They were like those who swing ^faxes

in a forest of trees.²

⁶And all its ^gcarved wood

they broke down with hatchets and hammers.

⁷They ^hset your sanctuary on fire;

they ⁱprofaned ^jthe dwelling place of your name,

bringing it down to the ground.

⁸They ^ksaid to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;

they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our ^lsigns;

^mthere is no longer any prophet,

and there is none among us who knows how long.

¹⁰How long, O God, ⁿis the foe to scoff?

Is the enemy to revile your name forever?

¹¹Why ^odo you hold back your hand, your right hand?

Take it from the fold of your garment³ and destroy them!

¹²Yet ^pGod my King is from of old,

working salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³You ^qdivided the sea by your might;

you ^rbroke the heads of ^sthe sea monsters⁴ on the waters.

¹⁴You crushed the heads of ^tLeviathan;

you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

¹⁵You ^usplit open springs and brooks;

you ^vdried up ever-flowing streams.

¹⁶Yours is the day, yours also the night;

you have established ^wthe heavenly lights and the sun.

¹⁷You have ^xfixed all the boundaries of the earth;

you have made ^ysummer and winter.

^18zRemember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,

and ^aa foolish people reviles your name.

¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of your ^bdove to the wild beasts;

^cdo not forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰Have regard for ^dthe covenant,

for ^ethe dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

²¹Let not ^fthe downtrodden ^gturn back in shame;

let ^hthe poor and needy praise your name.

²²Arise, O God, ⁱdefend your cause;

^jremember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!

²³Do not forget the clamor of your foes,

^kthe uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!