Psalms 74

ISV^{(i) 1} An instruction of Asaph
A Plea for Deliverance Why, God? Have you rejected us forever? Your anger is burning against the sheep of your pasture. ² Remember your community, whom you purchased long ago, the tribe whom you redeemed for your possession. Remember Mount Zion, where you live. ³ Hurry! Look at the permanent ruins— every calamity the enemy brought upon the Holy Place. ⁴ Those who are opposing you roar where we were meeting with you; they unfurl their war banners as signs. ⁵ As one blazes a trail through a forest with an ax, ⁶ now they’re tearing down all its carved work with hatchets and hammers. ⁷ They burned your sanctuary to the ground, desecrating your dwelling place. ⁸ They say to themselves, “We’ll crush them completely;” They burned down all the meeting places of God in the land. ⁹ We see no signs for us; there is no longer a prophet, and no one among us knows the future. ¹⁰ God, how long will the adversary scorn while the enemy despises your name endlessly? ¹¹ Why do you not withdraw your hand— your right hand—from your bosom and destroy them? ¹² But God is my king from ancient times, who brings acts of deliverance throughout the earth. ¹³ You split the sea by your own power. You shattered the heads of sea monsters in the water. ¹⁴ You crushed the heads of Leviathan. You set it as food for desert creatures. ¹⁵ You opened both the spring and the river; you dried up flowing rivers. ¹⁶ Yours is the day, and yours is the night; you established the moon and the sun. ¹⁷ You set all the boundaries of the earth; you made summer and winter. ¹⁸ Remember this: The enemy scorns the LORD and a foolish people despises your name. ¹⁹ Don’t hand over the life of your dove to beasts; do not continuously forget your afflicted ones. ²⁰ Pay attention to your covenant, for the dark regions of the earth are full of violence. ²¹ Don’t let the oppressed return in humiliation. The poor and needy will praise your name. ²² Get up, God, and prosecute your case— remember that you’re being scorned by fools all day long. ²³ Don’t ignore the shout of those opposing you, The uproar of those who rebel against you continuously.