Why read Psalm 74?
Psalm 74 encourages humility and trust in God's timing. It challenges pride and reminds us that human success does not stand outside His judgment.
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.
In the 10th Kathisma of the Psalter, Psalm 74 awaits its reader with 10 verses of prayer arising from a real experience. It begins with “We shall praise You, God, we shall praise You and...” — and from there onwards, everything is a dialogue between the human being and God.
The text of Psalm 74
1. We shall praise You, God, we shall praise You and call upon Your name.
2. I shall tell of all Your wonders. “When the time comes, says the Lord, I shall judge with righteousness.
3. The earth and all who dwell upon it shook; I strengthened its pillars.”
4. And I said to the lawless: “Do not work lawlessness!” and to the sinners: “Do not lift your brow!
5. Do not raise your brow high; do not speak injustice against God.”
6. For help comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the mountains of the wilderness;
7. But God is the judge; He humbles one and raises another.
8. The cup is in the Lord’s hand, full of pure, fragrant wine, and He passes it from one to another, but its dregs have not been poured out; from them all the sinners of the earth will drink.
9. But I shall rejoice for ever and sing to the God of Jacob.
10. And I shall crush all the brows of sinners, and the brow of the righteous will be raised.
When Psalm 74 is read
- It belongs to the 10th Kathisma — the psalms are read in full within the cycle of kathismata, at Matins and Vespers.
- At the end of each psalm, tradition adds: «Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.».
Adjacent psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
