How Long, O God?

Psalm 74 is Asaph's great lament over the destruction of the Temple. After Part 1 described the ruin in the sanctuary, Part 2 opens at the most painful point of all: no signs, no more prophet, and no one who knows how long. Out of that darkness rises the cry that names this song — How Long, O God — and inside the cry the psalm's great turning takes place: For God is my King of old. Asaph lifts his eyes from the ruins to the ancient King who divided the sea, crushed leviathan, cleaved a fountain in the desert and dried up mighty rivers — and He can save now as well.

The verse that carries the song's name:

"O God, how long shall the adversary reproach?"

And the verse that answers it from within the chorus:

"For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth"

Question and answer are sung together in the chorus — true prayer: a painful question resting on deep trust.

This psalm, too, is part of the project's great journey: to compose, with God's help, the entire Book of Psalms in diverse, emotional, Jewish and uplifting musical language.

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