祈求上帝眷顾祂的子民

亚萨的训诲诗。

74 上帝啊,
你为何永远丢弃了我们?
你为何对自己草场上的羊大发雷霆?
求你眷顾你在古时所救赎的子民,
你拣选为产业的族类,
求你眷顾你所居住的锡安山。
求你前去观看那久已荒凉之地,
看看敌人对圣所的破坏。
他们在你圣所中高声叫嚷,
竖立起自己的旗帜。
他们大肆毁坏,
好像人抡起斧头砍伐树林。
他们用斧头、锤子把雕刻的墙板都捣毁了。
他们纵火焚烧你的圣所,
把它夷为平地,
亵渎了你的居所。
他们心里说:“我们要彻底毁灭一切。”
于是他们烧毁了境内所有敬拜上帝的地方。
我们再也看不到你的征兆,
先知也没有了。
无人知道这一切何时才会结束。
10 上帝啊,
仇敌嘲笑你的名要到何时呢?
他们要永无休止地辱骂你吗?
11 你为何不伸出大能的右手?
求你出手给他们致命的一击。
12 上帝啊,
你自古以来就是我的王,
你给世上带来拯救。
13 你曾用大能分开海水,
打碎水中巨兽的头。
14 你曾打碎海怪的头,
把它丢给旷野的禽兽吃。
15 你曾开辟泉源和溪流,
也曾使滔滔河水枯干。
16 白昼和黑夜都属于你,
你设立了日月。
17 你划定大地的疆界,
又创造了盛夏和寒冬。
18 耶和华啊,
求你记住敌人对你的嘲笑和愚妄人对你的亵渎。
19 求你不要把你的子民交给仇敌[a]
不要永远对你受苦的子民弃置不顾。
20 求你顾念你的应许,
因地上黑暗之处充满了暴力。
21 求你不要让受压迫的人羞愧而去。
愿贫穷困苦的人赞美你的名。
22 上帝啊,求你起来维护自己,
别忘记愚妄人怎样整天嘲笑你。
23 不要对你仇敌的喧嚷置之不理,
与你为敌的人不停地叫嚣。

Footnotes

  1. 74:18-19 子民”希伯来文是“鸽子”;“仇敌”希伯来文是“野兽”。

A maskil [a] by Asaph.

74 Why, O God, have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger
smolder against the sheep in your care?

Remember your congregation.
Long ago you made it your own.
You bought this tribe to be your possession.
This tribe is Mount Zion, where you have made your home.
Turn your steps toward these pathetic ruins.
The enemy has destroyed everything in the holy temple.

Your opponents have roared inside your meeting place.
They have set up their own emblems as symbols.
Starting from its entrance, they hacked away
like a woodcutter in a forest.
They smashed all its carved paneling with axes and hatchets.
They burned your holy place to the ground.
They dishonored the place where you live among us.
They said to themselves, “We will crush them.”
They burned every meeting place of God in the land.

We no longer see miraculous signs.
There are no prophets anymore.
No one knows how long this will last.
10 How long, O God, will the enemy insult us?
Will the enemy despise you forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, especially your right hand?
Take your hands out of your pockets.
Destroy your enemies!

12 And yet, from long ago God has been my king,
the one who has been victorious throughout the earth.
13 You stirred up the sea with your own strength.
You smashed the heads of sea monsters in the water.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave them to the creatures of the desert for food.
15 You opened the springs and brooks.
You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day and the night are yours.
You set the moon and the sun in their places.
17 You determined all the boundaries of the earth.
You created summer and winter.

18 Remember how the enemy insulted you, O Lord.
Remember how an entire nation of godless fools despised your name.
19 Do not hand over the soul of your dove to wild animals.
Do not forget the life of your oppressed people forever.
20 Consider your promise [b]
because every dark corner of the land is filled with violence.
21 Do not let oppressed people come back in disgrace.
Let weak and needy people praise your name.
22 Arise, O God!
Fight for your own cause!
Remember how godless fools insult you all day long.
23 Do not forget the shouting of your opponents.
Do not forget the uproar made by those who attack you.

Footnotes

  1. 74:0 Unknown musical term.
  2. 74:20 Or “covenant.”