Psalm 74
Ut quid, Deus?
1
O God, why have you utterly cast us off? *
why is your wrath so hot against the sheep of your pasture?
2
Remember your congregation that you purchased long ago, *
the tribe you redeemed to be your inheritance,
and Mount Zion where you dwell.
3
Turn your steps toward the endless ruins; *
the enemy has laid waste everything in your sanctuary.
4
Your adversaries roared in your holy place; *
they set up their banners as tokens of victory.
5
They were like men coming up with axes to a grove of trees; *
they broke down all your carved work with hatchets and hammers.
6
They set fire to your holy place; *
they defiled the dwelling-place of your Name
and razed it to the ground.
7
They said to themselves, “Let us destroy them altogether.” *
They burned down all the meeting-places of God in the land.
8
There are no signs for us to see;
there is no prophet left; *
there is not one among us who knows how long.
9
How long, O God, will the adversary scoff? *
will the enemy blaspheme your Name for ever?
10
Why do you draw back your hand? *
why is your right hand hidden in your bosom?
11
Yet God is my King from ancient times, *
victorious in the midst of the earth.
12
You divided the sea by your might *
and shattered the heads of the dragons upon the waters;
13
You crushed the heads of Leviathan *
and gave him to the people of the desert for food.
14
You split open spring and torrent; *
you dried up ever-flowing rivers.
15
Yours is the day, yours also the night; *
you established the moon and the sun.
16
You fixed all the boundaries of the earth; *
you made both summer and winter.
17
Remember, O Lord, how the enemy scoffed, *
how a foolish people despised your Name.
18
Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts; *
never forget the lives of your poor.
19
Look upon your covenant; *
the dark places of the earth are haunts of violence.
20
Let not the oppressed turn away ashamed; *
let the poor and needy praise your Name.
21
Arise, O God, maintain your cause; *
remember how fools revile you all day long.
22
Forget not the clamor of your adversaries, *
the unending tumult of those who rise up against you.