Psalms 74

A Lament in Time of National Defeat

23 verses

Psalms 74:1

A Lament in Time of National Defeat

O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

Psalms 74:2

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.

Psalms 74:3

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

Psalms 74:4

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

Psalms 74:5

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

Psalms 74:6

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

Psalms 74:7

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

Psalms 74:8

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

Psalms 74:9

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

Psalms 74:10

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

Psalms 74:11

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

Psalms 74:12

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

Psalms 74:13

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

Psalms 74:14

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

Psalms 74:15

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

Psalms 74:16

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

Psalms 74:17

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

Psalms 74:18

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

Psalms 74:19

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

Psalms 74:20

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

Psalms 74:21

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

Psalms 74:22

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

Psalms 74:23

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

Psalms 75