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
Plea for Help in Time of National Humiliation
A Maskil of Asaph.
1O God, why do you cast us off forever?
Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
2Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago,
which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage.
Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell.
3Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary.
4Your foes have roared within your holy place;
they set up their emblems there.
5At the upper entrance they hacked
the wooden trellis with axes.#74.5 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
6And then, with hatchets and hammers,
they smashed all its carved work.
7They set your sanctuary on fire;
they desecrated the dwelling place of your name,
bringing it to the ground.
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 emblems;
there is no longer any prophet,
and there is no one among us who knows how long.
10How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11Why do you hold back your hand;
why do you keep your hand in#74.11 Cn: Heb do you consume your right hand from your bosom?
12Yet God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the earth.
13You divided the sea by your might;
you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you gave him as food#74.14 Heb food for the people for the creatures of the wilderness.
15You cut openings for springs and torrents;
you dried up ever-flowing streams.
16Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you established the luminaries#74.16 Or moon; Heb light and the sun.
17You have fixed all the bounds of the earth;
you made summer and winter.
18Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and an impious people reviles your name.
19Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals;
do not forget the life of your poor forever.
20Have regard for your#74.20 Gk Syr: Heb the covenant,
for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.
21Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.
22Rise up, O God, plead your cause;
remember how the impious scoff at you all day long.
23Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.