The Sanctuary in Ashes
A wisdom psalm of Asaph.
The sanctuary is burned and smashed with axes, no prophet is left, and nobody knows how long this lasts. Asaph reminds his Father of older work — splitting the sea, crushing Leviathan, fixing summer and winter — and asks him to look at the covenant.
74 1O our Father, why have you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
2Remember your congregation, which you purchased long ago, which you redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance—Mount Zion, where you have dwelt. 3Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins, all the destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.
4Your foes have roared inside your meeting place; they set up their own banners as signs. 5They were like men swinging axes high in a thicket of trees. 6And now they smash all its carved work with hatchet and hammer. 7They set your sanctuary on fire; they defiled the dwelling place of your name to the ground. 8They said to themselves, "We will crush all their meeting places together." They burned every meeting place of our Father in the land.
9We see no signs for us; there is no longer any prophet, and none among us knows how long. 10How long, our Father, will the foe scoff? Will the enemy revile your name forever? 11Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Draw it from the fold of your garment and make an end!
12Yet our Father is my King from ages past, working salvation across the earth.
13You divided the sea by your strength; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters. 14You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food to the creatures of the wilderness. 15You split open springs and brooks; you dried up ever-flowing rivers. 16Yours is the day, yours also the night; you established the moon and the sun. 17You set all the boundaries of the earth; you made summer and winter.
18Remember this—the enemy scoffs, our Father, and a foolish people reviles your name. 19Do not give the life of your dove to the wild beasts; do not forget forever the life of your afflicted ones. a a v19 "Your dove" is a tender poetic image for God's people, Israel.
20Look to the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence. 21Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame; let the poor and needy praise your name.
22Arise, our Father, defend your cause; remember how the fool scoffs at you all day long. 23Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the uproar of those who rise against you, growing louder all the time.
