Chapter 73

A prayer of the Church under grievous persecutions.

1. 1

   Understanding for Asaph.

2. 2

   Remember thy congregation, which thou hast possessed from the beginning.

3. 3

   Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end; see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

4. 4

   And they that hate thee have made their boasts, in the midst of thy solemnity.

5. 7

   They have set fire to thy sanctuary: they have defiled the dwelling-place of thy name on the earth.

6. 8

   They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together: Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land.

7. 9

   Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he will know us no more.

8. 10

   How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach? is the adversary to provoke thy name for ever?

9. 11

   Why dost thou turn away thy hand: and thy right hand out of the midst of thy bosom for ever?

10. 12

    But God is our king before ages: he hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.

11. 13

    Thou, by thy strength, didst make the sea firm: thou didst crush the heads of the dragons in the waters.

12. 14

    Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon: thou hast given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians.

13. 15

    Thou hast broken up the fountains and the torrents: thou hast dried up the Ethan rivers.

14. 16

    Thine is the day, and thine is the night: thou hast made the morning light and the sun.

15. 17

    Thou hast made all the borders of the earth: the summer and the spring were formed by thee.

16. 18

    Remember this, the enemy hath reproached the Lord: and a foolish people hath provoked thy name.

17. 19

    Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee: and forget not to the end the souls of thy poor.

18. 20

    Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth, have been filled with dwellings of iniquity.

19. 21

    Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor and needy shall praise thy name.

20. 22

    Arise, O God, judge thy own cause: remember thy reproaches with which the foolish man hath reproached thee all the day.

21. 23

    Forget not the voices of thy enemies: the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth continually.