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I

How long, Lord? Will you utterly forget me?
    How long will you hide your face from me?(A)

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IV

24 Awake! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
    Rise up! Do not reject us forever!(A)

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Psalm 74[a]

Prayer at the Destruction of the Temple

A maskil of Asaph.

I

Why, God, have you cast us off forever?[b](A)
    Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 74 A communal lament sung when the enemy invaded the Temple; it would be especially appropriate at the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Israel’s God is urged to look upon the ruined sanctuary and remember the congregation who worshiped there (Ps 74:1–11). People and sanctuary are bound together; an attack on Zion is an attack on Israel. In the second half of the poem, the community brings before God the story of their origins—their creation (Ps 74:12–17)—in order to move God to reenact that deed of creation now. Will God allow a lesser power to destroy the divine project (Ps 74:18–23)?
  2. 74:1 Forever: the word implies that the disaster is already of long duration, cf. Ps 74:9 and note.

II

Lord of hosts,
    how long will you smolder in anger
    while your people pray?(A)

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47 How long, Lord? Will you hide forever?
    Must your wrath smolder like fire?(A)

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31 For the Lord does not
    reject forever;(A)

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