Why read Psalm 73?
Read Psalm 73 when loss leads you to pray for a community's restoration. Lament over the destruction of a sacred place is joined to remembrance of God's power and concern for the afflicted.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
Psalm 73 opens the heart with the cry "Why hast Thou cast me off, O God, unto...". It is one of the 24-verse psalms of the Tenth Kathisma, and it is said both at the services and in prayer at home — the Psalter being the constant companion of the Orthodox Christian.
The text of Psalm 73
1. Why hast Thou cast me off, O God, unto the end? Thy heart hath been kindled against the sheep of Thy pasture.
2. Remember Thy congregation, which Thou hast gotten from the beginning.
3. Thou hast redeemed the rod of Thine inheritance, the mount of Sion, in which Thou hast dwelt.
4. Lift up Thy hands against their pride unto the end, for the enemy hath done evil in Thy holy place.
5. And they that hate Thee have boasted in the midst of Thy feast; they have set up their signs as signs,
6. And they have destroyed the entrance above.
7. As with axes in a woodland they have hewn the doors of Thy sanctuary; with axes and hammers have they broken it down.
8. They have burned Thy holy sanctuary with fire down to the ground; they have defiled the place of Thy name.
9. They have said in their heart, together with their kindred: "Come, let us burn all the feast-places of God in the land".
10. Our signs we have not seen; there is no longer a prophet, and us he will know no more.
11. How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach Thee? Shall the adversary provoke Thy name for ever, unto the end?
12. Why turnest Thou Thy hand away, and Thy right hand out of Thy bosom, unto the end?
13. But God is our King before the ages; He hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
14. Thou hast divided the sea by Thy power; Thou hast broken the heads of the dragons in the water;
15. Thou hast crushed the head of the dragon; Thou hast given him as food to the peoples of the desert.
16. Thou hast opened fountains and streams; Thou hast dried up the rivers of Ethan.
17. Thine is the day and Thine is the night. Thou hast fashioned the light and the sun.
18. Thou hast made all the borders of the earth; summer and spring hast Thou formed.
19. Remember this: the enemy hath reproached the Lord, and the foolish people hath blasphemed Thy name.
20. Give not the soul that praiseth Thee unto the beasts; the souls of Thy poor forget not unto the end.
21. Have regard unto Thy covenant, for the hidden places of the earth are filled with the dens of iniquity.
22. Let not the humble be turned away ashamed; the poor and the needy shall praise Thy name.
23. Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause; remember the daily reproach with which the foolish man dishonoureth Thee.
24. Forget not the cry of Thine enemies! The rebellion of them that hate Thee ascendeth ever unto Thee.
When Psalm 73 is read
- It belongs to the Tenth Kathisma; it is said in private prayer, especially for peace and understanding.
- At the end of each psalm, the tradition adds: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Neighbouring psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
