Psalm 74

New King James Version

A Plea for Relief from Oppressors

A ^[a]Contemplation of Asaph.

74 O God, why have You cast us off forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
²Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed—
This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.
³Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations.
The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.
⁴^(A)Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;
^(B)They set up their banners for signs.
⁵They seem like men who lift up
Axes among the thick trees.
⁶And now they break down its carved work, all at once,
With axes and hammers.
⁷They have set fire to Your sanctuary;
They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.
⁸^(C)They said in their hearts,
“Let us ^[b]destroy them altogether.”
They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our signs;
^(D)There is no longer any prophet;
Nor is there any among us who knows how long.
¹⁰O God, how long will the adversary ^[c]reproach?
Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?
¹¹^(E)Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.
¹²For ^(F)God is my King from of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
¹³^(G)You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the ^[d]sea serpents in the waters.
¹⁴You broke the heads of ^[e]Leviathan in pieces,
And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
¹⁵^(H)You broke open the fountain and the flood;
^(I)You dried up mighty rivers.
¹⁶The day is Yours, the night also is ^(J)Yours;
^(K)You have prepared the light and the sun.
¹⁷You have ^(L)set all the borders of the earth;
^(M)You have made summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O Lord,
And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.
¹⁹Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast!
Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
²⁰^(N)Have respect to the covenant;
For the ^[f]dark places of the earth are full of the ^[g]haunts of ^[h]cruelty.
²¹Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed!
Let the poor and needy praise Your name.

²²Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
Remember how the foolish man ^[i]reproaches You daily.
²³Do not forget the voice of Your enemies;
The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.