Psalm 74 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

A Plea for Relief from Oppressors

Psa 74:1A Contemplation[fn] of Asaph.

O God, why have You cast us off forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

Psa 74:2

Psa 74:2Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed—
This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.

Psa 74:3

Psa 74:3Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations.
The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.

Psa 74:4

Psa 74:4Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;
They set up their banners for signs.

Psa 74:5

Psa 74:5They seem like men who lift up
Axes among the thick trees.

Psa 74:6

Psa 74:6And now they break down its carved work, all at once,
With axes and hammers.

Psa 74:7

Psa 74:7They have set fire to Your sanctuary;
They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.

Psa 74:8

Psa 74:8They said in their hearts,
“Let us destroy them altogether.”
They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.

Psa 74:9

Psa 74:9We do not see our signs;
There is no longer any prophet;
Nor is there any among us who knows how long.

Psa 74:10

Psa 74:10O God, how long will the adversary reproach?
Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?

Psa 74:11

Psa 74:11Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.

Psa 74:12

Psa 74:12For God is my King from of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.

Psa 74:13

Psa 74:13You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.

Psa 74:14

Psa 74:14You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces,
And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Psa 74:15

Psa 74:15You broke open the fountain and the flood;
You dried up mighty rivers.

Psa 74:16

Psa 74:16The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have prepared the light and the sun.

Psa 74:17

Psa 74:17You have set all the borders of the earth;
You have made summer and winter.

Psa 74:18

Psa 74:18Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O LORD,
And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.

Psa 74:19

Psa 74:19Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast!
Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.

Psa 74:20

Psa 74:20Have respect to the covenant;
For the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty.

Psa 74:21

Psa 74:21Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed!
Let the poor and needy praise Your name.

Psa 74:22

Psa 74:22Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
Remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily.

Psa 74:23

Psa 74:23Do not forget the voice of Your enemies;
The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(74:1)

Hebrew Maschil

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