Psalm 74–76

PSALM 74

A Maskil of Asaph.

¹O God, why dost thou cast us off for ever?

Why does thy anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

²Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old,

which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thy heritage!

Remember Mount Zion, where thou hast dwelt.

³Direct thy steps to the perpetual ruins;

the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

⁴Thy foes have roared in the midst of thy holy place;

they set up their own signs for signs.

⁵At the upper entrance they hacked

the wooden trellis with axes.

⁶And then all its carved wood

they broke down with hatchets and hammers.

⁷They set thy sanctuary on fire;

to the ground they desecrated the dwelling place of thy name.

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

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

⁹We do not see our signs;

there is no longer any prophet,

and there is none among us who knows how long.

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

Is the enemy to revile thy name for ever?

¹¹Why dost thou hold back thy hand,

why dost thou keep thy right hand in thy bosom?

¹²Yet God my King is from of old,

working salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³Thou didst divide the sea by thy might;

thou didst break the heads of the dragons on the waters.

¹⁴Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan,

thou didst give him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

¹⁵Thou didst cleave open springs and brooks;

thou didst dry up ever-flowing streams.

¹⁶Thine is the day, thine also the night;

thou hast established the luminaries and the sun.

¹⁷Thou hast fixed all the bounds of the earth;

thou hast made summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,

and an impious people reviles thy name.

¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of thy dove to the wild beasts;

do not forget the life of thy poor for ever.

²⁰Have regard for thy covenant;

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

²¹Let not the downtrodden be put to shame;

let the poor and needy praise thy name.

²²Arise, O God, plead thy cause;

remember how the impious scoff at thee all the day!

²³Do not forget the clamor of thy foes,

the uproar of thy adversaries which goes up continually!

PSALM 75

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

¹We give thanks to thee, O God; we give thanks;

we call on thy name and recount thy wondrous deeds.

²At the set time which I appoint

I will judge with equity.

³When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,

it is I who keep steady its pillars. [Selah]

⁴I say to the boastful, “Do not boast,”

and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horn;

⁵do not lift up your horn on high,

or speak with insolent neck.”

⁶For not from the east or from the west

and not from the wilderness comes lifting up;

⁷but it is God who executes judgment,

putting down one and lifting up another.

⁸For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup,

with foaming wine, well mixed;

and he will pour a draught from it,

and all the wicked of the earth

shall drain it down to the dregs.

⁹But I will rejoice for ever,

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

¹⁰All the horns of the wicked he will cut off,

but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

PSALM 76

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

¹In Judah God is known,

his name is great in Israel.

²His abode has been established in Salem,

his dwelling place in Zion.

³There he broke the flashing arrows,

the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. [Selah]

⁴Glorious art thou, more majestic

than the everlasting mountains.

⁵The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;

they sank into sleep;

all the men of war

were unable to use their hands.

⁶At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob,

both rider and horse lay stunned.

⁷But thou, terrible art thou!

Who can stand before thee

when once thy anger is roused?

⁸From the heavens thou didst utter judgment;

the earth feared and was still,

⁹when God arose to establish judgment

to save all the oppressed of the earth. [Selah]

¹⁰Surely the wrath of men shall praise thee;

the residue of wrath thou wilt gird upon thee.

¹¹Make your vows to the Lord your God, and perform them;

let all around him bring gifts

to him who is to be feared,

¹²who cuts off the spirit of princes,

who is terrible to the kings of the earth.