Psalm 74 is the 74th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 73. In Latin, it is known as "Ut quid Deus reppulisti in finem iratus". Subheaded a maschil or contemplation, and a community lament, it expresses the pleas of the Jewish community in the Babylonian captivity. It is attributed to Asaph. The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has been set to music, notably in Bach's Gott ist mein König, BWV 71. Several composers set the psalm or verses from it in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Text

Hebrew

The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).

King James Version

Content

Verses 1–3 open this psalm by imploring God to "remember your people", and to "remember Mount Zion". The psalm continues in verses 3b to 11 by describing the destruction of the Temple by "the enemies of God". Verses 12–17 recall and praise the might of God, and the psalm ends (verses 18–23) by imploring the Lord (verse 18) to remember Israel and come to her aid. The enemy is not named, but may refer to King Nebuchadnezzar. According to the Targum, the reference is to Antiochus Epiphanes. Verse 1 portrays the image of the people of Israel as God's flock, "the sheep of your pasture".

Uses

Judaism

Christian churches

In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month.

Musical settings

Heinrich Schütz set Psalm 74 in a metred version in German, "Dennoch hat Israel zum Trost", SWV 171, as part of the Becker Psalter, first published in 1628. In his 1708 cantata Gott ist mein König, BWV 71, Bach used three verses from the psalm. Pavel Chesnokov composed "Salvation is Created'" as a choral work in 1912, the fifth in his Ten Communion Hymns, scored for six voices (SATTBB), as a communion hymn based on verse 12 in Russian and on a synodal Kievan chant melody. Max Drischner composed a setting of verse 16, added to Psalm 4: 7, 9, as the final movement of his Tübinger Psalmen for voice, violin and organ, or choir, melody instrument and keyboard instrument, in 1948. Stefans Grové set the psalm for mezzo-soprano, flute and harp in 1974. Ernani Aguiar composed a choral setting in Latin, Salmo 74, in 2001.