Single lesson
Psalm 74: Why Have You Rejected Us Forever?
Psalms 74:1–23
Psalm 74 is a prayer from a time of deep loss. Children can learn how this psalm moves from grief about ruined worship, to remembering God’s power, and then to asking God to act.
Before you teach
In this psalm, the speaker calls God’s people his congregation and sheep, speaks about Mount Zion and the sanctuary, and describes enemies damaging places of worship. The prayer asks why God seems far away, remembers God’s power over sea, rivers, day and night, and ends by asking God to remember and arise.
Students will be able to identify who is speaking to God, name at least three images in the psalm, and describe how the prayer moves from complaint to remembrance to request.
Welcome: A prayer that asks hard questions
5 minTell the class that Psalm 74 is a prayer spoken to God in a painful time. Read verse 1 aloud slowly. Ask children to listen for who is being addressed and what question is asked. Explain that the psalm begins with sorrow, using the picture of God’s people as the sheep of his pasture.
Psalms 74:1
Read and explain: What has happened?
8 minRead verses 2 to 11. Help children notice the speaker asks God to remember his congregation, inheritance and Mount Zion. Then list what enemies did: roared in the assembly, broke carved work, burned the sanctuary, and burned places where God was worshipped. Point out that the prayer also says there is no prophet and no one knows how long.
Psalms 74:2, Psalms 74:3, Psalms 74:4, Psalms 74:6, Psalms 74:7, Psalms 74:8, Psalms 74:9, Psalms 74:10, Psalms 74:11
Discuss: Remembering God’s great power
7 minRead verses 12 to 17. Explain that the word yet marks a turn in the prayer. After grief and questions, the speaker remembers who God is. Notice the images: God as King of old, dividing the sea, breaking Leviathan, opening springs, drying rivers, making day and night, and setting earth’s boundaries and seasons.
Psalms 74:12, Psalms 74:13, Psalms 74:14, Psalms 74:15, Psalms 74:16, Psalms 74:17
Make and respond: Illustrated prayer card
7 minChildren make a simple card with three panels labelled Grief, Remember, Ask. In the first panel, they draw one image from verses 1 to 11. In the second, one image from verses 12 to 17. In the third, one request from verses 18 to 23. Invite them to write a short line from the psalm in each panel.
Psalms 74:1, Psalms 74:7, Psalms 74:12, Psalms 74:16, Psalms 74:18, Psalms 74:20, Psalms 74:22
Closing: How the prayer ends
3 minRead verses 18 to 23. Ask children to listen for repeated requests. Point out the repeated words remember and don’t forget, and the final call, Arise, God. Summarise the movement of the psalm together: the speaker brings pain to God, remembers God’s power, and asks God to act for his name and for the poor and oppressed.
Psalms 74:18, Psalms 74:19, Psalms 74:20, Psalms 74:21, Psalms 74:22, Psalms 74:23
Questions to explore
In verse 1, who is the speaker talking to, and what picture is used for God’s people?
The prayer is spoken to God, and God’s people are called the sheep of your pasture.
Psalms 74:1
What changed in the prayer when we reach verse 12?
The speaker turns from describing ruin and asking why to saying, Yet God is my King of old, and then remembers God’s mighty works.
Psalms 74:7, Psalms 74:9, Psalms 74:12
Which requests are repeated near the end of the psalm, and what does that show about the prayer?
The speaker says remember, don’t forget, and arise, showing that this is a strong plea for God to notice and act.
Psalms 74:18, Psalms 74:19, Psalms 74:22, Psalms 74:23
Make, think or respond
Three-Part Illustrated Prayer Card
What you’ll need
- paper or card
- pencils or crayons
- markers
- Bible
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels and label them Grief, Remember, and Ask.
- Read the psalm sections again: verses 1 to 11, 12 to 17, and 18 to 23.
- Draw one image for each panel, such as sheep, the sanctuary, the sea, the sun, or hands lifted in prayer.
- Write one short phrase from the psalm in each panel.
- Share the card with a partner and explain how the prayer moves through the three parts.
This activity helps children see the movement of Psalm 74 from sorrow, to remembering God’s power, to asking God to act.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, offer three prepared words on the board: sad, remember, ask, and let them choose one image for each.
- For older or stronger readers, ask them to find repeated words such as remember and don’t forget, and add those words to their card.
An optional closing prayer
You might pray: Dear God, when people feel hurt or confused, help us bring our words to you. Help us remember your power and trust you with our needs. Amen.
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Psalms 74
1 God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember 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.
3 Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs.
5 They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees.
6 Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.
7 They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.
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.
9 We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.
10 How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it from your chest and consume them!
12 Yet God is my King of old, working salvation throughout the earth.
13 You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.
15 You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.
16 The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.
17 You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, Yahweh. Foolish people have blasphemed your name.
19 Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.
20 Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth.
21 Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day.
23 Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.