Psalm 74 (KJV): Do not deliver the dove unto the wild beasts

From Psalms

Psalm 74
(A maskil of Asaph.)

¹O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?
      why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
²Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old;
      the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed;
      this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
³Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations;
      even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

⁴Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations;
      they set up their ensigns for signs.
⁵A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes
      upon the thick trees.
⁶But now they break down the carved work
      thereof at once with axes and hammers.
⁷They have cast fire into thy sanctuary,
      they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.
⁸They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together:
      they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
⁹We see not our signs:
      there is no more any prophet:
      neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

¹⁰O God, how long shall the adversary reproach?
      shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
¹¹Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand?
      pluck it out of thy bosom.

¹²For God is my King of old,
      working salvation in the midst of the earth.
¹³Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength:
      thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
¹⁴Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces,
      and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

¹⁵Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood:
      thou driedst up mighty rivers.
¹⁶The day is thine, the night also is thine:
      thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
¹⁷Thou hast set all the borders of the earth:
      thou hast made summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD,
      and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
¹⁹O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked:
      forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

²⁰Have respect unto the covenant:
      for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
²¹O let not the oppressed return ashamed:
      let the poor and needy praise thy name.

²²Arise, O God, plead thine own cause:
      remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
²³Forget not the voice of thine enemies:
      the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.

There are still days when the lure of pornography is still very strong for me.  I realize that it's easy to talk about my alcoholism because that for me is easier to manage than my sex addiction.  It's not always easy - but easier.  I need to start being more honest though - there are more days when I think porn would make things better than there are days when I think about drinking.  As I pray psalm 74, today, pornography and strip clubs are my beasts and my enemy.

God, today, please remember the needy and opressed, and do not let us retreat into our addiction.  Be with us and give us each other, that we may be stronger over the enemies and the beasts that we struggle with.  Help us remember the people in our lives that we love.  Help us to be open and honest with them and to show them and tell them how much they mean to us.  When opportunities present themselves help us be selfless and generous to help those around us.  Let us be a reflection of your son Jesus, let us be the channel of your peace.  Where there is wrong let us bring foregiveness...and where there is despair that we bring hope.  Lord, grant that we may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted.  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.