An Appeal to God against the Enemy

74¹ God, why have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? ² Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old,
which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance;
Mount Zion, in which you have lived. ³ Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins,
all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary. ⁴ Your adversaries have roared in the midst of your assembly.
They have set up their standards as signs. ⁵ They behaved like men wielding axes,
cutting through a thicket of trees. ⁶ Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers. ⁷ They have burned your sanctuary to the ground.
They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name. ⁸ They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.”
They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped. ⁹ We see no miraculous signs.
There is no longer any prophet,
neither is there among us anyone who knows how long. ¹⁰ How long, God, shall the adversary reproach?
Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever? ¹¹ Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand?
Take it out of your pocket and consume them!

¹² Yet God is my King of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth. ¹³ You divided the sea by your strength.
You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. ¹⁴ You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces.
You gave him as food to people and desert creatures. ¹⁵ You opened up spring and stream.
You dried up mighty rivers. ¹⁶ The day is yours, the night is also yours.
You have prepared the light and the sun. ¹⁷ You have set all the boundaries of the earth.
You have made summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, Yahweh.
Foolish people have blasphemed your name. ¹⁹ Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts.
Don’t forget the life of your poor forever. ²⁰ Honor your covenant,
for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth. ²¹ Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed.
Let the poor and needy praise your name. ²² Arise, God! Plead your own cause.
Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day. ²³ Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries.
The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.

A Morning Prayer of Trust in God

3¹ Yahweh, how my adversaries have increased!
Many are those who rise up against me. ² Many there are who say of my soul,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah. ³ But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.

⁴ I cry to Yahweh with my voice,
and he answers me out of his holy hill. Selah. ⁵ I laid myself down and slept.
I awakened; for Yahweh sustains me. ⁶ I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people
who have set themselves against me on every side. ⁷ Arise, Yahweh!
Save me, my God!
For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone.
You have broken the teeth of the wicked. ⁸ Salvation belongs to Yahweh.
Your blessing be on your people. Selah.