1A Maskil[1] of Asaph. O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? (De 29:20; Ps 18:8; Ps 44:9; Ps 50:1; Ps 79:13; Ps 95:7; Ps 100:3; Jer 23:1; Eze 34:31)2Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt. (Ex 15:16; De 32:6; Ps 9:11; Ps 74:18; Ps 74:22; Ps 77:15; Ps 78:54; Isa 63:9; Isa 63:17; Jer 10:16; Jer 51:19)3Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary! (Isa 61:4)4Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs. (Nu 2:2; Ps 74:9; La 2:6; Mt 24:15)5They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees.[2] (Jer 46:22)6And all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers. (1Ki 6:18; 1Ki 6:29; 1Ki 6:32; 1Ki 6:35)7They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground. (2Ki 25:9; Ps 26:8; Ps 79:1; Ps 89:39; La 2:2)8They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land. (Ps 83:4)9We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long. (1Sa 3:1; Ps 74:4; La 2:9; Eze 7:26; Am 8:11)10How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? (Ps 74:18; Ps 74:22; Ps 79:12; Ps 89:51)11Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment[3] and destroy them! (La 2:3)12Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. (Ps 44:4)13You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters[4] on the waters. (Ex 14:21; Isa 27:1; Isa 51:9)14You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. (Job 41:1)15You split open springs and brooks; you dried up ever-flowing streams. (Ex 14:21; Ex 17:5; Nu 20:11; Jos 2:10; Jos 3:13; Jos 4:23; Ps 66:6; Ps 78:15; Ps 105:41; Isa 48:21; Isa 51:10)16Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun. (Ge 1:14; Ps 104:19)17You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter. (Ge 8:22; De 32:8; Ac 17:26)18Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs, and a foolish people reviles your name. (De 32:6; Ps 39:8; Ps 74:2; Ps 74:22; Ps 89:50; Re 16:19; Re 18:5)19Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of your poor forever. (Ps 68:10; So 2:14)20Have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. (Ge 17:7; Le 26:44; Ps 10:8; Ps 106:45; Jer 33:21)21Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame; let the poor and needy praise your name. (Ps 6:10; Ps 9:9; Ps 10:18; Ps 86:1)22Arise, O God, defend your cause; remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day! (1Sa 24:15; Ps 74:2; Ps 74:18)23Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually! (Ps 65:7)