Psalms 74

1 [Maschil of Asaph]. O God, why hast thou cast [us] off for ever? Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old, Which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thine inheritance; [And] mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual ruins, All the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary.

4 Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine assembly; They have set up their ensigns for signs.

5 They seemed as men that lifted up Axes upon a thicket of trees.

6 And now all the carved work thereof They break down with hatchet and hammers.

7 They have set thy sanctuary on fire; They have profaned the dwelling-place of thy name [by casting it] to the ground.

8 They said in their heart, Let us make havoc of them altogether: They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

9 We see not our signs: There is no more any prophet; Neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

10 How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

11 Why drawest thou back thy hand, even thy right hand? [Pluck it] out of thy bosom [and] consume [them] .

12 Yet God is my King of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: Thou brakest the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.

14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces; Thou gavest him to be food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

15 Thou didst cleave fountain and flood: Thou driedst up mighty rivers.

16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: Thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: Thou hast made summer and winter.

18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Jehovah, And that a foolish people hath blasphemed thy name.

19 Oh deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast: Forget not the life of thy poor for ever.

20 Have respect unto the covenant; For the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.

21 Oh let not the oppressed return ashamed: Let the poor and needy praise thy name.

22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: Remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day.

23 Forget not the voice of thine adversaries: The tumult of those that rise up against thee ascendeth continually.