The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Psalms 074
A contemplation by Asaph.
1 God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does
your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your congregation, whichyou
purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the
tribe of your inheritance: Mount Zion, in which you have lived.
3 Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins,
all the evil that the enemy has done in
the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly.
They have set up their standards as signs.
5 They behaved like men wielding axes,
cutting through a thicket of trees.
6 Now they break all its carved work down
with hatchet and hammers.
7 They have burned your sanctuary to
the ground. They have profaned the dwelling
place of your Name.
8 They said in their heart, “We will crush
them completely.” They have burned up all the places in
the land where God was worshiped.
9 We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet,
neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.
10 How long, God, shall the adversary reproach?
Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Why do you draw back your hand, even
your right hand? Take it from your chest
and consume them!
12 Yet God is my King of old, working salvation
throughout the earth.
13 You divided the sea by your strength.
You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in
pieces. You gave him as food to people and
desert creatures.
15 You opened up spring and stream.
You dried up mighty rivers.
16 The day is yours, the night is also yours.
You have prepared the light and the
sun.
17 You have set all the boundaries of the
earth. You have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy has
mocked you, Yahweh. Foolish people have blasphemed your
name.
19 Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to
wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.
20 Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark
places of the earth.
21 Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed.
Let the poor and needy praise your
name.
22 Arise, God! Plead your own cause.
Remember how the foolish man
mocks you all day.
23 Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries.
The tumult of those who rise up
against you ascends continually.