Psalms 74

1A maskil of Asaph. God, why have you cast us off for good? Why does your anger burn and smoke against the flock you tend? 2Remember your people, whom you made your own long ago, the tribe you bought back to be your inheritance; remember Mount Zion, where you made your home. 3Come, make your way over these ruins that never end; the enemy has smashed everything in the holy place. 4Your enemies roared in the middle of the place where you met with us; they set up their own banners as signs. 5They seemed like woodcutters lifting their axes against a dense stand of trees. 6And now they hack away at all its carved panels with hatchets and hammers. 7They set your sanctuary on fire; they dragged the home of your name down to the ground and defiled it. 8In their hearts they said, “Let us beat them down, all of them!” They set fire to all God’s meeting places throughout the land. 9We see no signs for us anymore; no prophet is left, and no one among us can say how long it will be. 10How long, God, will the enemy jeer? Will the foe go on insulting your name forever? 11Why do you hold your hand still, your strong right hand? Pull it out of your cloak and make an end of them! 12But God has been my King since ancient times, bringing rescue in the middle of the earth. 13By your power you tore the sea in two; you crushed the heads of the dragons in the water. 14You shattered the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert. 15You broke open springs and brooks; you made rivers that always flowed run dry. 16The day is yours, and the night is yours as well; you set the moon and the sun in their places. 17You fixed every boundary of the earth; summer and winter are your handiwork. 18Remember this, LORD: the enemy has jeered at you, and a foolish people has insulted your name. 19Do not let your dove fall prey to the greedy beasts; do not leave your suffering people forgotten for good. 20Pay heed to the covenant, because every dark corner of the land is filled with places of violence. 21Do not let the downtrodden go back ashamed; may the poor and the needy give praise to your name. 22Rise up, God! Take up your own case; keep in mind the insults the fool throws at you all day long. 23Do not ignore the shouting of your enemies, the din of those who rise against you, which never stops rising.