Psalms 74-76

1Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?

2Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance— Mount Zion, where You dwell.

3Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins, to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.

4Your foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs,

5like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees

6and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.

7They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.

8They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely.” They burned down every place where God met us in the land.

9There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.

10How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?

11Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand? Stretch it out to destroy them!

12Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth.

13You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;

14You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.

15You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.

16The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun.

17You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and winter.

18Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name.

19Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.

20Consider Your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.

21Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame; may the poor and needy praise Your name.

22Rise up, O God; defend Your cause! Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.

23Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.

1We give thanks to You, O God; we give thanks, for Your Name is near. The people declare Your wondrous works.

2“When I choose a time, I will judge fairly.

3When the earth and all its dwellers quake, it is I who bear up its pillars. Selah

4I say to the proud, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn.

5Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’”

6For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert,

7but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.

8For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.

9But I will proclaim Him forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.

10“All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”

1God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel.

2His tent is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion.

3There He shattered the flaming arrows, the shield and sword and weapons of war. Selah

4You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains filled with game.

5The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep. No men of might could lift a hand.

6At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both horse and rider lie stunned.

7You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?

8From heaven You pronounced judgment, and the earth feared and was still

9when God rose up to judge, to save all the lowly of the earth. Selah

10Even the wrath of man shall praise You; with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.

11Make and fulfill your vows to the LORD your God; let all the neighboring lands bring tribute to Him who is to be feared.

12He breaks the spirits of princes; He is feared by the kings of the earth.