Psalms of My Life (Psalm 74)

Psalm 74

A maskil^[a] of Asaph.

¹ O God, why have you rejected us forever?
    Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
² Remember the nation you purchased long ago,
    the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed—
    Mount Zion, where you dwelt.
³ Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,
    all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

⁴ Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;
    they set up their standards as signs.
⁵ They behaved like men wielding axes
    to cut through a thicket of trees.
⁶ They smashed all the carved paneling
    with their axes and hatchets.
⁷ They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
    they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.
⁸ They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!”
    They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.

⁹ We are given no signs from God;
    no prophets are left,
    and none of us knows how long this will be.
¹⁰ How long will the enemy mock you, God?
    Will the foe revile your name forever?
¹¹ Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
    Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!

¹² But God is my King from long ago;
    he brings salvation on the earth.

¹³ It was you who split open the sea by your power;
    you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
¹⁴ It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
    and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
¹⁵ It was you who opened up springs and streams;
    you dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
¹⁶ The day is yours, and yours also the night;
    you established the sun and moon.
¹⁷ It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
    you made both summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember how the enemy has mocked you, Lord,
    how foolish people have reviled your name.
¹⁹ Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;
    do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.
²⁰ Have regard for your covenant,
    because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
²¹ Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;
    may the poor and needy praise your name.
²² Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
    remember how fools mock you all day long.
²³ Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,
    the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.

 

Psalms of My Life (Psalm 58)

Psalm 58

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.^[b]

¹ Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
    Do you judge people with equity?
² No, in your heart you devise injustice,
    and your hands mete out violence on the earth.

³ Even from birth the wicked go astray;
    from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
⁴ Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
⁵ that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be.

⁶ Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!
⁷ Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.
⁸ May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.

⁹ Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
    whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.^[c]
10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
    when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.
¹¹ Then people will say,
    “Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
    surely there is a God who judges the earth.”