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? {Maschil...: or, A Psalm for Asaph to give instruction} 2 Remember thy congregation, {which} thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, {which} thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. {rod: or, tribe} 3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; {even} all {that} the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. 4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns {for} signs. 5 {A man} was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. 6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. 7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled {by casting down} the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. {They have cast...: Heb. They have sent thy sanctuary unto the fire} 8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. {destroy: Heb. break} 9 We see not our signs: {there is} no more any prophet: neither {is there} among us any that knoweth how long. 10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? 11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck {it} out of thy bosom. 12 For 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 dragons in the waters. {divide: Heb. break} {dragons: or, whales} 14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, {and} gavest him {to be} meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. 15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers. {mighty...: Heb. rivers of strength} 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. {made: Heb. made them} 18 Remember this, {that} the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and {that} the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. 19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude {of the wicked}: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. 20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. 21 O 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 daily. 23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually. {increaseth: Heb. ascendeth}