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
Psalm 74
A maskil#74.0 Perhaps instruction of Asaph.
1God, why have you abandoned us forever?
Why does your anger smolder
at the sheep of your own pasture?
2Remember your congregation
that you took as your own long ago,
that you redeemed to be the tribe of your own possession—
remember Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3March to the unending ruins,
to all that the enemy destroyed in the sanctuary.
4Your enemies roared in your own meeting place;
they set up their own signs there!
5It looked like axes raised
against a thicket of trees.#74.5 Heb uncertain
6And then all its carvings
they hacked down with hatchet and pick.
7They set fire to your sanctuary, burned it to the ground;
they defiled the dwelling place of your name.
8They said in their hearts, We’ll kill all of them together!
They burned all of God’s meeting places in the land.
9We don’t see our own signs anymore.
No prophet is left.
And none of us know how long it will last.
10How long, God, will foes insult you?
Are enemies going to abuse your name forever?
11Why do you pull your hand back?
Why do you hold your strong hand close to your chest?
12Yet God has been my king from ancient days—
God, who makes salvation happen in the heart of the earth!
13You split the sea with your power.
You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the water.
14You crushed Leviathan’s heads.
You gave it to the desert dwellers for food!
15You split open springs and streams;
you made strong-flowing rivers dry right up.
16The day belongs to you! The night too!
You established both the moon and the sun.
17You set all the boundaries of the earth in place.
Summer and winter? You made them!
18So remember this, LORD:
how enemies have insulted you,
how unbelieving fools have abused your name.
19Don’t deliver the life of your dove to wild animals!
Don’t forget the lives of your afflicted people forever!
20Consider the covenant!
Because the land’s dark places are full of violence.
21Don’t let the oppressed live in shame.
No, let the poor and needy praise your name!
22God, rise up! Make your case!
Remember how unbelieving fools insult you all day long.
23Don’t forget the voices of your enemies,
the racket of your adversaries that never quits.
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