Psalm 74
O Lord our God, why cast us off so utterly
: why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your congregation, whom you took to yourself of old
: the people that you redeemed to be your own possession,
and Mount Zion where you have dwelt.
Rouse yourself and go to the utter ruins
: to all the harm that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
Your adversaries have made uproar
in the place appointed for your praise
: they have set up their standards in triumph.
They have destroyed on every side
: like those who take axes up to a thicket of trees.
All the carved woodwork they have broken down
: and smashed it with hammers and hatchets.
They have set fire to your sanctuary
: and defiled to the ground the dwelling-place of your name.
They have said in their hearts ‘Let us make havoc of them’
: they have burned down all the holy places of God in the land.
We see no signs, there is not one prophet left
: there is none who knows how long these things shall be.
How long shall the adversary taunt you, O God
: shall the enemy blaspheme your name for ever?
Why do you hold back your hand
: why do you keep your right hand in your bosom?
Yet God is my king from of old
: who wrought deliverance upon the earth.
You divided the sea by your might
: you shattered the heads of the dragons in the waters.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan
: and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert waste.
You cleft open spring and fountain
: you dried up the everflowing waters.
The day is yours, and so also is the night
: you have established the moon and the sun.
You set all the boundaries of the earth
: you created winter and summer.
Remember, O Lord, the taunts of the enemy
: how a mindless people have blasphemed your name.
Do not give to the wild beasts the soul that praises you
: do not forget for ever the life of your afflicted.
Look on all that you have made
: for it is full of darkness, and violence inhabits the earth.
Let not the oppressed and reviled turn away rejected
: but let the poor and needy praise your name.
Arise, O God, plead your own cause
: remember how a mindless people taunt you all day long.
Do not forget the clamour of your adversaries
: or how the shouting of your enemies ascends continually.
Psalm 79
O God, the heathen have come into your land
: they have defiled your holy temple,
they have made Jerusalem a heap of stones.
They have given the dead bodies of your servants
as food to the birds of the air
: and the flesh of your faithful ones to the wild beasts of the earth.
Their blood they have spilt like water on every side of Jerusalem
: and there is none to bury them.
We have become a mockery to our neighbours
: the scorn and laughing-stock of those about us.
How long, O Lord, shall your anger be so extreme
: will your jealous fury burn like fire?
Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you
: on the kingdoms that have not called upon your name.
For they have devoured Jacob
: and made his dwelling-place a desolation.
Do not remember against us the sin of former times
: but let your compassion hasten to meet us,
for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God our saviour, for the honour of your name
: O deliver us and expiate our sins, for your name’s sake.
[Why should the heathen say ‘Where is their God?’
: O let vengeance for the blood of your servants that is shed
be shown upon the nations in our sight.]
Let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before you
: and as your power is great, reprieve those condemned to die.
[For the taunts with which our neighbours have taunted you, O Lord
: repay them seven times over into their bosoms.]
So we that are your people and the sheep of your pasture
shall give you thanks for ever
: we will declare your praise in every generation.