Psalm 74-76

Common English Bible

⁴ Your enemies roared in your own meeting place;
    they set up their own signs there!
⁵ It looked like axes raised
    against a thicket of trees.^[b]
6 And then all its carvings
    they hacked down with hatchet and pick.
⁷ They set fire to your sanctuary, burned it to the ground;
    they defiled the dwelling place of your name.
⁸ They said in their hearts, We’ll kill all of them together!
    They burned all of God’s meeting places in the land.
⁹ We don’t see our own signs anymore.
    No prophet is left.
        And none of us know how long it will last.

¹⁰ How long, God, will foes insult you?
    Are enemies going to abuse your name forever?
¹¹ Why do you pull your hand back?
    Why do you hold your strong hand close to your chest?

¹² Yet God has been my king from ancient days—
    God, who makes salvation happen in the heart of the earth!
¹³         You split the sea with your power.
        You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the water.
¹⁴         You crushed Leviathan’s heads.
        You gave it to the desert dwellers for food!
¹⁵         You split open springs and streams;
        you made strong-flowing rivers dry right up.
¹⁶         The day belongs to you! The night too!
        You established both the moon and the sun.
¹⁷         You set all the boundaries of the earth in place.
        Summer and winter? You made them!

¹⁸ So remember this, Lord:
    how enemies have insulted you,
    how unbelieving fools have abused your name.
¹⁹ Don’t deliver the life of your dove to wild animals!
    Don’t forget the lives of your afflicted people forever!
²⁰ Consider the covenant!
    Because the land’s dark places are full of violence.
²¹ Don’t let the oppressed live in shame.
    No, let the poor and needy praise your name!

²² God, rise up! Make your case!
    Remember how unbelieving fools insult you all day long.
²³ Don’t forget the voices of your enemies,
    the racket of your adversaries that never quits.

² God says,^[c] “When I decide the time is right,
    I will establish justice just so.
³     The earth and all its inhabitants will melt,
    but I will keep its pillars steady.” Selah

⁴ I said to the arrogant,
    “Don’t be arrogant!”
To the wicked I said,
    “Don’t exalt your strength!
⁵         Don’t exalt your strength so highly.
        Don’t speak so arrogantly against the rock.”^[d]
6 Because what exalts someone
    doesn’t come from the east or west;
    it’s not from the south either.
⁷ Rather it is God who is the judge.
    He brings this person down,
        but that person he lifts up.
⁸ Indeed, there’s a cup in the Lord’s hand
    full of foaming wine, mixed with spice.
    He will pour it out,
    and all of the earth’s wicked people
    must drink it;
    they must drink every last drop!

⁹ But I will rejoice^[e] always;
    I will sing praises to Jacob’s God!
¹⁰ God says:^[f]
“I will demolish every bit of the wicked’s power,
    but the strength of the righteous will be lifted up.”

⁴ You are ablaze with light,
    mightier than the mountains that give food.
⁵ The bravehearted lie plundered.
    They sank into deep lethargy.
    All the strong troops
    couldn’t even lift their hands!
⁶ At your rebuke, Jacob’s God,
    both chariot and horse were stopped dead-still.

⁷ You! You are awesome!
    Who can stand before you when you are angry?
⁸ You have announced judgment from heaven.
    The earth grew afraid and fell silent
⁹     when God rose up to establish justice,
    when God rose up to save all of the earth’s poor. Selah

¹⁰ Even human rage will turn to your praise
    when you dress yourself
    with whatever remains of your wrath.^[g]
11 Make promises to the Lord your God and keep them!
    Let all around him bring gifts to the awesome one.
¹² He breaks the spirit of princes.
    He is terrifying to all the kings of the earth.