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Psalm 74:8

They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.” They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped.

6Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.
7They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.
8They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.” They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped.
9We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.
10How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
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Notice

Burned worship places make the threat to crush a people concrete, exposing how violence can strike at their shared life before God.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What would losing the place where you gather for worship mean to you?

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What do the attackers’ words reveal about the harm this lament brings before God?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

10 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
Psalm 83:4“Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”Both record enemies declaring their intent to destroy a people, with Psalm 83 naming Israel and the threat to its remembrance.
Matthew 4:23Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the …The shared thread is places of worship: the psalm describes their burning, while Matthew describes Jesus teaching in synagogues.
Psalm 35:25Don’t let them say in their heart, “Aha! That’s the way we want it!” Don’t let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”Both portray enemies speaking in their hearts and wanting the ruin of those they oppose.
Esther 3:8–9Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws …Both record hostile speech against a people, with enemies treating that people’s continued existence as something to end.
2 Kings 2:5The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” …The connection is slight: prophets speak at Jericho in Kings, while the psalm’s surrounding lament says no prophet remains.
2 Kings 2:3The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” He …Prophets at Bethel know a departure is coming; the psalm’s surrounding lament grieves having no prophet who knows how long.
2 Kings 4:23He said, “Why would you want to go to him today? It is not a new moon or a Sabbath.” She said, “It’s all right.”The link is slight: the psalm concerns worship places, while Kings mentions the new moon and Sabbath.
Psalm 137:7Remember, LORD, against the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, “Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!”Both record enemies demanding total destruction, whether crushing a people or razing Jerusalem to its foundations.
Psalm 94:5They break your people in pieces, LORD, and afflict your heritage.Both describe violence against God’s people, naming the attackers’ intent to crush them and the suffering they inflict.
2 Chronicles 17:9They taught in Judah, having the book of the LORD’s law with them. They went about throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.Both describe religious life across a land: worship places throughout the land in the psalm, and teaching throughout Judah in Chronicles.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. grief.

What the Bible says about anger →What the Bible says about grief →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray for people whose worship places have been destroyed

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Encouragement

If violence against worshipers leaves you without words, this lament names the damage before God. The burned places and the threat of destruction belong in prayer.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 74:8. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 74 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).