Psalms 74 The Desolation of the Sanctuary, and a Prayer that God would Remember His Afflicted People

 Psalms 74

The Desolation of the Sanctuary, and a Prayer that God would Remember His Afflicted People

1 O God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?

2 Remember your congregation, whom you bought of old, your inheritance, which you redeemed, this mountain of Zion, where you dwelt.

3 Stand up against the perpetual desolations, against all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.

4 Your enemies roar in the midst of the holy places; they set their signs on them as signs.

5 They are like a man who swings his axe through the thicket of trees.

6 Behold, they break down every carved work with axes and hammers.

7 They have cast fire into your sanctuary; they have defiled it, tearing down to the ground the dwelling place of your name.

8 They have cast fire into your sanctuary; they have defiled it, the dwelling place of your name.  They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them at once.” They have burned all the holy places of God in the land.

9 We no longer see our signs, and there is no prophet; there is no one among us who knows how long this will last.

10 How long, O God, will the adversary reproach us? Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

11 Why do you withdraw your hand, even your right hand? Take it out of your bosom and consume them.

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

13 You divided the sea by your strength; you broke the heads of the monsters of the waters.

14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gave him as food to the inhabitants of the wilderness.

15 You divided the spring and the brook; you dried up the mighty rivers. 

16 The day is yours, and the night is yours; you have prepared the light and the sun.

17 You have set all the boundaries of the earth; you have formed summer and winter.

18 Remember this: that the enemy has defied the Lord, and that a foolish people have blasphemed your name.

19 Do not give the life of your turtledove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of your afflicted forever.

20 Consider your covenant, for the dark places of the earth are full of the dens of cruelty.

21 Oh, let not the oppressed return in shame; let the afflicted and needy praise your name.

22 Arise, O God, plead your own cause; remember the reproach that the foolish man heaps upon you every day.

23 Do not forget the cry of your enemies; the tumult of those who rise up against you increases continually.