Psalm 74–76

A Lament in Time of National Defeat

74A maskil of Asaph.^a

¹Why, O God, have you rejected us forever?

Why does your anger smoke

against the sheep of your pasture?

²Remember your congregation that you bought long ago,

when you redeemed the tribe of your inheritance.

Remember Mount Zion^b where you have dwelt.

³Lift your steps to the perpetual ruins,

to all that the enemy has ruined in the sanctuary.

⁴Your enemies have roared in the midst of your meeting place;

they have set up their signs for signs.

⁵They are^c known to be like those who wield^d

axes in a thicket of trees.

⁶And now^e its^f carved works altogether

they have smashed with axe and hammer.

⁷They have set fire to your sanctuary.

They have defiled to the ground,

the dwelling place for your name.

⁸They have said in their heart,

“We will completely^g oppress them.”

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

⁹We do not see our signs,

and there is no longer a prophet.

No one with us knows how long.

¹⁰How long, O God, will the adversary taunt?

Will the enemy treat your name with contempt forever?

¹¹Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand?

Take it from your bosom;^h destroy them!

¹²But God has been my king from long ago,

working salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³You split open the sea by your strength;

You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

¹⁴You crushed the heads of Leviathan;

you gave him as food to the desert dwelling creatures.

¹⁵You split open spring and wadi.ⁱ

You dried up ever-flowing rivers.

¹⁶Yours is the day, yours is the night also.

You established light and the sun.

¹⁷You defined^j all the boundaries of the earth;

Summer and winter—you formed them.

¹⁸O Yahweh, remember this: the enemy taunts,

and foolish people treat your name with contempt.

¹⁹Do not give to beasts the life of your dove;

do not ever forget the life of your afflicted ones.

²⁰Have regard for the covenant,

because the dark places of the land are full of

the haunts of violence.

²¹Do not let the oppressed turn back humiliated;

let the poor and needy praise your name.

²²Rise up, O God, plead your cause;

remember the reproaching of you by the foolish all day long.^k

²³Do not forget the sound of your adversaries,

the roar of those rising up against you ascending continually.

Thanksgiving for God’s Future Help

75For the music director, according to Do Not Destroy.

A psalm of Asaph. A song.^a

¹We give thanks to you, O God;

we give thanks, and your name is near.

Your wonderful deeds are told.^b

²“I will indeed set an appointed time;

I will judge fairly.^c

³The earth and all its inhabitants are shaking;^d

I steady^e its columns. Selah

⁴I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast!’

and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn!

⁵Do not lift up high your^f horn.

Do not speak with arrogant pride.’ ”^g

⁶For it is not from the east or the west

and not from the south^h that lifting up comes,

⁷rather God is the judge;

one he brings low, and another he lifts up.

⁸For there is a cup in the hand of Yahweh

withⁱ wine that foams, fully mixed,

and he pours out from this.

Surely all the wicked of the land

will quaff it down to its dregs. ^j

⁹But as for me, I will proclaim forever;

I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.

¹⁰“And all the horns of the wicked I will cut off.

The horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”

Praise to God for His Rescue of Israel

76For the music director, with stringed instruments.

A psalm of Asaph. A song.^a

¹God is known in Judah.

His name is great in Israel.

²His den^b has been in Salem,

his lair^c in Zion.

³There he broke the flames of the bow,

the shield and sword and battle. Selah

⁴Radiant^d you are, majestic,

from^e the mountains of prey.

⁵The stouthearted are plundered;

they sleep their sleep,

and all the able men cannot use^f their hands.

⁶At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,

both rider^g and horse slumber.

⁷You, indeed, are to be feared,^h

and who can stand before you

when you are angry? ⁱ

⁸From heaven you proclaimed judgment.

The earth feared and was still

⁹when God rose for justice,

to save all the afflicted of the land. Selah

¹⁰For the anger of humankind will praise you.

You will put on the remnant of anger.^j

¹¹Make vows and fulfill them to Yahweh, your God;

let all surrounding him

bring tribute to the one to be feared.^k

¹²He cuts off the spirit of leaders.

He is to be feared by the kings of the earth.