Psalms 74
74
We Need You Now
Asaph’s poem of instruction
1Are you really going to leave us, God?
Would you turn your back on us, rejecting your people?
We are yours, your very own. # 74:1 Or “the sheep of your pasture.”
Will your anger smolder against us forever?
2Don’t forget that we are your beloved ones.
Wrap us back into your heart again, for you chose us.
You brought us out of our slavery and bondage
and made us your favored ones, your Zion-people,
your home on earth.
3Turn your steps toward this devastation.
Come running to bring your restoring grace to these ruins, # 74:3 This verse reads differently in the Aramaic: “Lift up your servants with your might above those who take them captive, for those who oppress us are enemies to your holiness.”
to what the enemy has done to devastate your Holy Place.
4They have come into the very midst of your dwelling place,
roaring like beasts, setting up their banners to flaunt their conquest.
5Now everything is in shambles! They’ve totally destroyed it.
Like a forest chopped down to the ground,
there’s nothing left.
6All of the beauty of the craftsmanship
of the inner place has been ruined,
smashed, broken, and shattered. # 74:6 This psalm describes physical destruction as well as what the enemy of our souls has done spiritually to mar the image of God in the “inner place” of man’s spirit. God will fully restore all things, including his image within us, as our hearts become his Holy Place on the earth.
7They’ve burned it all to the ground.
They’ve violated your sanctuary,
the very dwelling place of your glory and your name.
8They boasted, “Let’s completely crush them!
Let’s wipe out every trace of this God.
Let’s burn up every sacred place where they worship this God.”
9We don’t see any miraculous signs anymore.
There’s no longer a prophet among us
who can tell us how long this devastation will continue.
10God, how much longer will you let this go on
and allow these barbarians to blaspheme your name?
Will you stand back and watch them get away with this forever?
11Why don’t you do something?
You have the power to break in,
so why would you hide your great power from us?
Don’t hold back! Unleash your might and give them a final blow.
12You have always been, and always will be, my King.
You are the mighty conqueror, working wonders all over the world.
13It was you who split the sea in two by your glorious strength.
You smashed the power of Tannin, the sea monster.
14You crushed the might of Leviathan, # 74:14 Leviathan is mentioned six times in Job 41. Leviathan means “twisted” or “coiled” and is considered to be a sea monster. See Gen. 1:21. the great dragon,
then you took the crumbs and fed them to the sharks.
15With your glory you opened up springs and fountains,
then you spoke, and the ever-flowing springs of Jordan
dried up so we could cross over.
16You own the day and the night.
Sunlight and starlight call you Creator.
17The four corners of the earth were formed by your hands,
and every changing season owes its beauty to you.
18O Yahweh, don’t ever forget how these arrogant enemies,
like fools, have mocked your name.
19Lord, aren’t we your beloved dove that praises you? # 74:19 As translated from the Septuagint, Syriac, and one Hebrew manuscript.
Protect us from these wild beasts who want to harm us.
Don’t leave us as lambs among wolves!
You can’t abandon us after all we’ve been through!
20Remember your promises to us,
for darkness covers the land,
giving the violent ones a hiding place.
21Don’t let these insults continue.
Can’t you see that we are your downtrodden
and oppressed people?
Make the poor and needy into a choir of praise to you!
22Don’t ignore these ignorant words, this continual mocking.
Rise up, God; it’s time to defend yourself from all this.
23Never forget what your adversaries are saying.
For their rage and uproar rise continually against you.
It’s time to stand up to them!
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Psalms 74: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 74
74
A Maskil of Asaph.
1O God, why dost thou cast us off for ever?
Why does thy anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
2Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old,
which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thy heritage!
Remember Mount Zion, where thou hast dwelt.
3Direct thy steps to the perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
4Thy foes have roared in the midst of thy holy place;
they set up their own signs for signs.
5At the upper entrance they hacked
the wooden trellis with axes.#74.5 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb uncertain
6And then all its carved wood
they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7They set thy sanctuary on fire;
to the ground they desecrated the dwelling place of thy name.
8They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9We do not see our signs;
there is no longer any prophet,
and there is none among us who knows how long.
10How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile thy name for ever?
11Why dost thou hold back thy hand,
why dost thou keep thy right hand in#74.11 Cn: Heb consume thy right hand from thy bosom?
12Yet God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13Thou didst divide the sea by thy might;
thou didst break the heads of the dragons on the waters.
14Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan,
thou didst give him as food#74.14 Heb food for the people for the creatures of the wilderness.
15Thou didst cleave open springs and brooks;
thou didst dry up ever-flowing streams.
16Thine is the day, thine also the night;
thou hast established the luminaries and the sun.
17Thou hast fixed all the bounds of the earth;
thou hast made summer and winter.
18Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and an impious people reviles thy name.
19Do not deliver the soul of thy dove to the wild beasts;
do not forget the life of thy poor for ever.
20Have regard for thy#74.20 Gk Syr: Heb the covenant;
for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21Let not the downtrodden be put to shame;
let the poor and needy praise thy name.
22Arise, O God, plead thy cause;
remember how the impious scoff at thee all the day!
23Do not forget the clamor of thy foes,
the uproar of thy adversaries which goes up continually!
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