Psalm 74:1-23 Book# 3 of Psalms

A Maschil, [a.k.a. Maskil,] of Asaph

Psalm 74:1-23           Book# 3 of Psalms [in Smaller Chunks]

O God, why [have] You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? [Isaiah 54:7-8 I have [abandoned] you for a [little] moment; but I will gather you with great mercies. I hid My face from you in a little [anger,] for a moment, but I will have mercy on you with everlasting kindness, [says] the Lord your Redeemer.]

Remember Your congregation, [that] you have purchased of old. The rod of Your inheritance, [that] You [have] redeemed, & Mount Zion, [where] You have dwelt. [Acts 20:28 Therefore, [pay attention] to yourselves, & to all the flock, [a.k.a. fellow believers in Christ,] [of] which the Holy Ghost, [a.k.a. Holy Spirit, has] made you the overseers, to feed the church of God, [that] He [has] purchased with His Own blood.]

Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations, even all that the enemy [has] done wickedly in the sanctuary. [2 Kings 24:13 And he carried out [of there,] all the treasures of the [Lord's] house, & the treasures of the king's house, [a.k.a. palace,] & cut in pieces all the vessels of gold [that] Solomon, [Israel's] king, had made in the temple of the Lord, [like] the Lord had said.]

Your enemies roar in the [middle] of Your congregations. They set up their [banners] for signs. A man was [once] famous, according [to his lifting] axes upon the thick trees. But now, they break down the carved work [of it] at once with axes & hammers.

[2 Kings 18:16 At that time, Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the [Lord's] temple, & from the pillars [that] Hezekiah, [Judah's] king had overlaid [with gold,] & gave it to [Assyria's] king.]

They: have defiled & cast fire into Your sanctuary, & by [throwing] down the dwelling place of Your Name to the ground. [Jeremiah 52:12-13 Now, [on] 10th day, of the 5th month, which was the 19th year of Nebuchadrezzar [a.k.a. Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon's] king, the captain of the guard, Nebuzar Adan, [who] served [Babylon's] king, came into Jerusalem, & burned the [Lord's] house; & the king's house, [a.k.a. palace;] & all the houses of Jerusalem, & all the houses of the great, [a.k.a. important,] men with fire.]

They said [within] their hearts, Let us destroy them together. They have burned up all of [God's] synagogues in the land. [Psalm 83:4 They have said, Come & let's cut them off from being a nation, [so] that the name of Israel, may no [longer] be [remembered.]

We [don't] see our signs, & there no [longer] is any prophet. Neither is there any among us [who knows] how long. [Matthew 23:37-39 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you, [who killed] the prophets, & [stoned those who] are sent to [warn] you.

How often I would have gathered your children together, even [like] a hen [gathers] her chickens under her wings, & you would not! [Look,] your house is left to you desolate. For I say to you, You shall not see Me [from now on, until] you shall say, Blessed is He [Who comes] in the Name of the Lord.]

O God, how long shall the adversary [criticize?] Shall the enemy blaspheme Your Name forever? [Leviticus 24:16 And he [who blasphemes] the Name of the Lord, shall surely be put to death. And all the congregation shall certainly stone him, as well [as] the stranger, & he, [who] is born in the land, shall be put to death, when he [blasphemes] the Name of the Lord.]

Why [do] You [withdraw] Your hand, even Your right hand? [Pull] it out of Your [clothing over Your] [chest.]  [Isaiah 1:23-24 Your princes are rebellious, & companions of thieves. Everyone [loves] gifts, & [follows] after rewards, [a.k.a. bribes.] They [don't] judge the fatherless, & neither [does] the [case] of the widow come to them. Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, [says,] Ah, I will ease [Myself] of [My] adversaries, & avenge [Myself] of [My] enemies.]

For God is my King of old, working Salvation in the midst of the earth. You [divided] the sea by Your strength. You [break] the heads of the [serpents] in the waters.

[Exodus 14:21-22 And Moses stretched out his hand over the [Red] Sea, & the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong East wind all that night, & made the sea dry land, & the waters were divided. And the children, [a.k.a. people,] of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground. And the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, & on their left.]

You [broke] the heads of Leviathan [into] pieces, & [gave] him to be meat, [a.k.a. food,] to the people inhabiting the wilderness. You [cut] the fountain & the flood, & You [dried] up mighty rivers. [Psalm 105:40-41 The people asked, & He brought quails, & satisfied them with the bread of heaven, [a.k.a. manna.] He opened the rock, & the waters gushed out. They ran in the dry places like a river.]

The day is Yours, & also the night is Yours. You [have] prepared the light, & the sun. [Genesis 1:16-18 And God made two [large] lights. The [larger] light to rule the day, & the lesser light to rule the night; & He also made stars.] And God [put] them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, & to rule over the day, & over the night, & to divide the light from the darkness; & God saw that it was good.]

You [have put] all the borders of the earth. [Genesis 1:9-10  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to one place, & let the dry land appear; & it was so. And God called the dry land: Earth; & the gathering together of the waters, He called: Seas; & God saw that it was good.]

You [have] made summer, & winter. [Genesis 1:14-15 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; & let them be for signs, & for seasons, & for days, & years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth, & it was so.]

O Lord, remember this, that enemy [has [disgraced,] & that the foolish people have blasphemed Your Name. [Acts 17:24-26 God, [Who] made the world, & all things [in it;] seeing that He is Lord of heaven, & earth, & [doesn't dwell] in temples made with hands. Neither is [He] worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, [since] He [gives:] life, & breath, & all things, to all. And [has] made all nations of men, of one blood, to dwell on the face of the earth, & [has previously] determined the times appointed, & the [boundaries] of their habitation.]

O [don't] deliver the soul, [a.k.a. life,] of Your turtledove into the multitude of the wicked. [Don't] forget the congregation of Your poor forever. [Isaiah 11:4 But He shall judge the poor with righteousness, & [repay] the meek of the earth with equity. And He shall [strike] the earth with the rod [from] His mouth, & He shall slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.]

Have respect [for] the covenant, [a.k.a. contract.] For the dark places of the earth are full of the [homes] of [the] [cruel.] O [don't] let the oppressed return ashamed.

[Romans 8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or the sword? As it is written, For Your sake we are killed all day long. We are [considered like] sheep for the slaughter. [No,] in all these things, we are more than conquerors, through Him, [Who] loved us.]

Let the poor & needy praise Your Name. [Philippians 2:5-11 Let [your] [minds within] you, also be [like that] in Christ Jesus, Who [is] in the [image] of God, & thought it not [a crime] to be equal with God. But made Himself of no reputation, [a.k.a. without status,] & was made in the likeness of men, & took upon [Himself] the [image] of a servant. And being found in [the image like] a man, He humbled Himself, & became obedient [until] death, even the death [on] the cross.*[For this reason,] God [has] also highly exalted Him, & [has] given Him a Name [that] is above every Name. That every knee should bow at the Name of Jesus, of things in heaven, & things [on] earth, & things under the earth. *And [so] that every tongue, [a.k.a. language,] should confess to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus Christ Is Lord.]

O God, arise, & plead Your Own [case.] Remember how the foolish man [scolds] You daily. [Psalm 12:4-5 Who have said, We will prevail with our tongue, & our lips are our own. Who is lord over us? The Lord [says,] I will now arise, for the oppression of the poor, & the [sighs] of the needy. I will [put] him in [a safe] [place] from him, [who scoffs] at him.]

[Don't] forget the voice of Your enemies. The [uproar] of [those who] rise up against You, increases continually. [Mark 15:29-32 *And [those who] passed by [expressed disapproval of] Him, wagging their heads, & saying, Ah, You, [Who destroys] the temple, & [rebuilds] it in 3 days, save Yourself, & come down from the cross. Likewise, also the chief priests mocking, said among themselves with the scribes, He's saved others, & He can't save Himself. Let Christ the King of Israel now descend from the cross, [so] that we may see, & believe. And [those who] were crucified with Him, [slandered] Him.]