Psalm 74
Words: The
Psalter of the United Presbyterian Church of North America, 1887 ed.
Note: this page also has a Common Metre version of this
psalm
Metre: 8 6 4 (this is quite nice with "Landloff") "Landloff," anonymous, Presbyterian Psalter of 1887 1 O God, why hast thou cast us off? Why doth forever smoke Thy wrath against thy chosen race, Sheep of thy flock? 2 Thy church by thee redeemed of old In love remember still, The rod of thy inheritance, This Zion hill. 3 Here thou hast dwelt; lift up thy feet, To these sad ruins haste, Thy holy place, with wicked hands By foes laid waste. 4 Thy enemies in triumph shout Where saints were wont to pray; Their ensigns on thy temple's walls For signs display. 5 Once men were famed for felling trees, But now the carved work falls; With axes and with hammers now They break the walls. 6 They have thy temple set on fire In dust they have defiled Thy holy place where dwelt thy name Thy house despoiled. 7 They, to destroy us all at once Did in their hearts conspire; Through all the land God's synagogues They've burnt with fire. 8 Our signs we see not; there is now No prophet us among, Nor is there any one who knows The time how long. 9 O Lord, how long shall those blaspheme Thy name who thee withstand? Why hide thyself? make bare thy hand, Ev'n thy right hand. 10 Because God is my King of old; Salvation worketh he, Thro' all the earth, and by his strength Divides the sea. 11 Thou broken hast the dragons' heads, And as their meat didst give Leviathan to those who did In deserts live. 12 Fountain and flood thou didst divide, Made mighty rivers dry; The day is thine, the night is thine, The sun and sky. 13 Thou hast established by decree All borders of the earth; To summer and to winter thou Hast given birth. 14 O Lord, do thou this keep in mind, How enemies defame, And bow the foolish people have Blasphemed thy name. 15 Thy turtle-dove deliver not To crowds which it beset, And thy poor flock forevermore Do not forget. 16 Unto thy cov'nant have respect, For every where we see The earth's dark habitations filled With cruelty. 17 O let not those that are oppressed Return again with shame; But let the poor and needy ones Still praise thy name. 18 Arise, O God, plead thy own cause, Keep thou in memory How every day the foolish man Reproacheth thee. 19 Of them that up against thee rise The tumult ever grows; Forget not thou the voice of them That are thy foes.
1 O God, why hast thou cast us off ?
Is it forevermore?
Against thy pasture-sheep why doth
Thy anger smoke so sore?
2 Thy congregation, Lord, do thou
In thy remembrance hold;
Forget not those who purchased were
By thee in times of old.
3 The rod of thy inheritance,
Which thou redeemed hast,
This Zion hill, in which thou hadst
Thy dwelling in times past.
4 To these long desolations, Lord,
O haste, and tarry not!
For all the ills thy foes within
Thy holy place have wrought.
5 Amidst thy congregations, Lord,
Thy enemies do roar:
Their ensigns they set up for signs
Of triumph, thee before.
6 A man was famous, and was held
In honor and renown,
According as with lifted axe,
Re cut the thicket down.
7 But all at once, with axes now,
And hammers, they engage;
And all the carved work thereof
They break down in their rage.
8 Thy holy place they set on fire;
They have defiled the same,
By casting down, even to the ground
The place where dwelt thy name.
9 They said in heart, "Now let them be
To one destruction doomed;"
God's synagogues in all the land
With fire they have consumed.
10 Our signs we do not now behold,
There is not us among
A prophet now, nor any one
Who knows the time how long.
11 How long shall adversaries, Lord,
Thus in reproach exclaim?
Shall enemies forever thus
Blaspheme thy holy name?
12 Thy hand, even thy right hand of might,
Why dost thou thus draw back?
O from thy bosom pluck it out
For our deliv'rance sake.
13 Because my King is God alone,
Even from the times of old;
He works, in midst of all the earth,
Salvation manifold.
14 The sea by thy great power to part
Asunder thou didst make;
And thou the dragons' heads, O Lord,
Didst in the waters break.
15 The heads of the leviathan
Thy hand did break and give
To be the peoples' sustenance
Who in the deserts live.
16 The fount and flood were cleft by thee,
The mighty streams were dried.
The day and night are thine, and thou
Didst light and sun provide.
17 By thee the borders of the earth
Were settled everywhere;
The summer and the winter both
By thee created were.
18 That spiteful foes have thee reproached,
In memory record;
And that the foolish people have
Blasphemed thy name, O Lord. 19 O do not to the multitude
Thy turtle's soul give o'er;
The congregation of thy poor
Forget not evermore.
20 Lord, to thy cov'nant have respect;
Because in every clime
Are earth's dark places filled with homes
Of cruelty and crime.
21 O let not those who are oppressed
Return again with shame;
Let those that poor and needy are
Give praises to thy name.
22 Do thou, O God, arise and plead
The cause that is thy own:
Remember how thou art reproached
Still by the foolish one.
23 O Lord, do not forget the voice
Of such as are thy foes;
Of them that up against thee rise
The tumult ever grows.
