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Psalm 74:1
A contemplation by Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
1A contemplation by Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
2Remember 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.
3Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
Notice
The sheep belong to God’s pasture, yet their prayer asks why his anger smolders against them, making belonging and apparent rejection hard to reconcile.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What would you want to ask God about the word “forever” in this lament?
Write on thisWhen you read “the sheep of your pasture,” whose suffering comes to mind?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Deuteronomy 29:20The LORD will not pardon him, but then the LORD’s anger and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall …God’s anger smokes in Deuteronomy and smolders in the psalm, where the sufferers call themselves his sheep.
Psalm 13:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?Both prayers use “forever” to ask God about an absence or rejection that seems to have no end.
Psalm 44:9But now you rejected us, and brought us to dishonor, and don’t go out with our armies.Both psalms address God about rejection of his people, with Psalm 44 naming dishonor and his absence from their armies.
Psalm 100:3Know that the LORD, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.Both identify God’s people as sheep of his pasture, a bond Psalm 74 names within its cry about rejection.
Psalm 79:13So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.Both call the people sheep of God’s pasture; Psalm 74 questions rejection forever, while Psalm 79 promises thanks forever.
John 10:26–30But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.Both use sheep to speak of belonging, though the psalm addresses God and Jesus speaks to people who do not believe.
Ezekiel 34:31You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord GOD.”Both describe people as sheep of God’s pasture, with Ezekiel stating that these sheep are human and he is their God.
2 Samuel 24:17David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have …Both prayers call suffering people sheep; David asks that God’s hand fall on him and his father’s house instead.
Jeremiah 23:1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says the LORD.Both name the people as sheep of God’s pasture; Jeremiah condemns the shepherds who destroy and scatter them.
Jeremiah 31:37The LORD says: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel …Jeremiah ties casting off all Israel to measuring heaven and searching earth’s foundations; the psalm asks about rejection forever.
Romans 11:1–2I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.God’s rejection of his people is the question in both texts; the psalm asks why, while Paul denies that God has rejected them.
Luke 12:32“Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.Both describe God’s people as a flock; the psalm questions his anger, while Jesus speaks of the Father’s pleasure in giving the Kingdom.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. doubt. grief.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Even amid the sanctuary’s ruins, the prayer still addresses God and names the people as his sheep. Their unanswered questions remain part of their speech to him.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).