(Psalm 79:1–13; Jeremiah 52:1–11)

¹ A Maskil¹ of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?

1. Maskil is probably a musical or liturgical term; used for Psalms 32, 42, 44–45, 52–55, 74, 78, 88–89, and 142.

² Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance— Mount Zion where You dwell.

³ Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins, to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.

⁴ Your foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs,

⁵ like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees

⁶ and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.

⁷ They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.

⁸ They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely.” They burned down every place where God met us in the land.

⁹ There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.

¹⁰ How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?

¹¹ Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand? Stretch it out to destroy them!¹

1. Literally From the midst of Your bosom destroy them! or From the midst of Your bosom remove it!

¹² Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth.

¹³ You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;

¹⁴ You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.

¹⁵ You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.

¹⁶ The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon¹ and the sun.

1. Literally the light

¹⁷ You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name.

¹⁹ Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.

²⁰ Consider Your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.

²¹ Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame; may the poor and needy praise Your name.

²² Rise up, O God; defend Your cause! Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.

²³ Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.