Psalm 74

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Yet God Is My King

A Maskil of Asaph.

Why, O God? Have You rejected us forever?

Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,

Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;

And this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.

Lift up Your steps toward the perpetual ruins;

The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.

Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place;

They have set up their own signs for signs.

Each seems like one who lifts up

An axe against the undergrowth of trees.

And now its carved work altogether

They smash with hatchet and hammers.

They have set Your sanctuary on fire;

By bringing it to the ground, they have defiled the dwelling place of Your name.

They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.”

They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

We do not see our signs;

There is no longer any prophet,

Nor is there any among us who knows how long.

How long, O God, will the adversary reproach?

Will the enemy spurn Your name forever?

Why do You turn back Your hand, even Your right hand?

From within Your bosom, destroy them!

Yet God is my King from of old,

Who works deeds of salvation in the midst of the earth.

You divided the sea by Your strength;

You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

You crushed the heads of Leviathan;

You gave him as food for the creatures of the desert.

You split open spring and river;

You dried up ever‑flowing rivers.

Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;

You have established the light and the sun.

You have caused all the boundaries of the earth to stand firm;

You have formed summer and winter.

Remember this, O Yahweh, that the enemy has reproached,

And a wickedly foolish people has spurned Your name.

Do not deliver the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beast;

Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.

Look to the covenant;

For the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.

Let not the oppressed return dishonored;

Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.

Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause;

Remember how the wicked fool reproaches You all day long.

Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries,

The rumbling of those who rise against You which ascends continually.

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