Yet God Is My King

¹Why, O God? Have You rejected us forever?

Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

²Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,

Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;

And this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.

³Lift up Your steps toward the perpetual ruins;

The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.

⁴Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place;

They have set up their own signs for signs.

⁵Each seems like one who lifts up

An axe against the undergrowth of trees.

⁶And now its carved work altogether

They smash with hatchet and hammers.

⁷They have set Your sanctuary on fire;

By bringing it to the ground, they have defiled the dwelling place of Your name.

⁸They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.”[#74:8 Lit altogether; #74:8 Or oppress]

They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our signs;

There is no longer any prophet,

Nor is there any among us who knows how long.

¹⁰How long, O God, will the adversary reproach?

Will the enemy spurn Your name forever?

¹¹Why do You turn back Your hand, even Your right hand?

From within Your bosom, destroy them !

¹²¶Yet God is my King from of old,

Who works deeds of salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³You divided the sea by Your strength;

You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

¹⁴You crushed the heads of Leviathan;[#74:14 Or the sea monster]

You gave him as food for the creatures of the desert.

¹⁵You split open spring and river;[#74:15 Or You Yourself]

You dried up ever-flowing rivers.

¹⁶Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;

You have established the light and the sun.

¹⁷You have caused all the boundaries of the earth to stand firm;[#74:17 Or You Yourself]

You have formed summer and winter.

¹⁸¶Remember this, O Yahweh, that the enemy has reproached,

And a wickedly foolish people has spurned Your name.

¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beast;

Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.

²⁰Look to the covenant;

For the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.

²¹Let not the oppressed return dishonored;

Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.

²²¶Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause;

Remember how the wicked fool reproaches You all day long.

²³Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries,

The rumbling of those who rise against You which ascends continually.