73
1 A Psalm of *instruction for Asaph.
Wherefore hast thou rejected us, O God, for ever? wherefore is thy wrath kindled against the sheep of thy pasture? 2 Remember thy congregation which thou hast purchased from the beginning; thou didst ransom the rod of thine inheritance; this mount Sion wherein thou hast dwelt. 3 Lift up thine hands against their pride continually; because of all that the enemy has done wickedly in thy holy places.
4 And they that hate thee have boasted in the midst of thy feast; they have set up their standards for signs, 5 ignorantly as it were in the entrance above; 6 they cut down its doors at once with axes as in a wood of trees; they have broken it down with hatchet and stone cutter. 7 They have burnt thy sanctuary with fire to the ground; they have profaned the †habitation of thy name. 8 They have said in their heart, even all their kindred together, Come, let us abolish the feasts of the Lord from the earth. 9 We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet; and God will not know us any more.
10 How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach? shall the enemy provoke thy name for ever? 11 Wherefore turnest thou away thine hand, and thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom for ever? 12 But God is our King ‡of old; he has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. 13 Thou didst establish the sea, in thy might, thou didst break to pieces the heads of the §dragons in the water. 14 Thou didst break to pieces the heads of the dragon; thou didst give him for meat to the Ethiopian nations. 15 Thou didst cleave fountains and torrents; thou driedst up **mighty rivers. 16 The day is thine, and the night is thine; thou hast prepared the sun and the moon. 17 Thou hast made all the borders of the earth; thou hast made summer and spring.
18 Remember this thy creation: an enemy has reproached the Lord, and a foolish people has provoked thy name. 19 Deliver not to the wild beasts a soul that gives praise to thee: forget not for ever the souls of thy poor. 20 Look upon thy covenant: for the dark places of the earth are filled with the habitations of iniquity. 21 Let not the afflicted and shamed one be rejected: the poor and needy shall praise thy name. 22 Arise, O God, plead thy cause: remember thy reproaches that come from the foolish one all the day. 23 Forget not the voice of thy suppliants: let the pride of them that hate thee continually ascend before thee.
* 73:1 Gr. understanding. † 73:7 Gr. tabernacle. ‡ 73:12 Gr. before the age. § 73:13 Or, serpents. ** 73:15 Heb. rivers of Etham.