Old Testament

Psalms 74

Lament Over a Ruined Sanctuary

6 passages

Overview

In the wake of the Temple's destruction, the psalmist moves from raw communal grief over enemy desecration and divine silence, through a hymnic confession of God's ancient sovereignty over creation and covenant, to a bold plea that God rise and defend His own mocked name.

Passages

1–3Out of the Ruins: Israel's Cry and God's Fidelity 4–8Roaring in the Sanctuary: The Desolation of God's Holy Place 9–11The Silence of God: No Signs, No Prophet, No Answer 12–17God Our Ancient King: Creation, Cosmos, and the Conquest of Chaos 18–21Renewed Petition: Protect Your People and Honor Your Covenant 22–23Arise, O God, and Defend Your Cause

Study Resources

No study guides, devotionals, or teaching outlines have been created for this chapter yet.

Psalms 74

¹A contemplation by Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?

²Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance: Mount Zion, in which you have lived.

³Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.

⁴Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs.

⁵They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees.

⁶Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.

⁷They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.

⁸They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.” They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped.

⁹We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.

¹⁰How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

¹¹Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it from your chest and consume them!

¹²Yet God is my King of old, working salvation throughout the earth.

¹³You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

¹⁴You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.

¹⁵You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.

¹⁶The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.

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

¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, Yahweh. Foolish people have blasphemed your name.

¹⁹Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth.

²¹Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name.

²²Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day.

²³Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.

Psalms 73 Psalms 75