Psalms 74:1-23
1 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the roda of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.
5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.
7 They have castb fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.
8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroyc them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.
12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou didst divided the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mightye rivers.
16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast madef summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.
22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increasethg continually.
Title. Maschil of Asaph; that is, instruction, as Psalms 32. The EDDA is the title of the Icelandic poem, which also signifies instruction. This mournful ode is also alleged to have been written in Babylon, and to bear the name of Asaph, because sung to his musical compositions, or sung by the sons of Asaph. See Psalms 79. But Lyranus thinks that Asaph foretold the destruction of the temple; and the use of the pronoun this, in Psalms 74:2: “Remember THIS mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt,” sufficiently indicates that the psalmist wrote in Jerusalem. The phraseology would not be natural to a resident in Babylon.
Psalms 74:2. Thine inheritance redeemed from Egypt, as the Chaldaic adds: whom thou only hast a right to rule with thy rod, or thy sceptre. This is a good argument in prayer to God for another redemption.
Psalms 74:7. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary. 2 Chronicles 36:19. They burned the house of the Lord. Antiochus also burned the gates, and profaned the temple, 1Ma 4:38.
Psalms 74:8. They have burnt up all the synagogues. It is said that the Lord loveth the gates of Zion, more than all the dwellings of Jacob. The dwellingplaces were the synagogues, by consequence, synagogues existed more or less from the beginning of the Hebrew nation: the heathen made their boast of conquering the gods, and insulting Jehovah.
Psalms 74:9. We see not our signs, of altar, sacrifice, and temple.
Psalms 74:14. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan; figuratively, of Pharaoh and his princes at the Red sea. The alligator is killed by a stroke on the head. The bodies of the Egyptians were washed far and wide, even down the sea to Ethiopia, that the beasts and ravens might eat their flesh. See note on Amos 9:3.
Psalms 74:19. Thy turtle dove. As these doves were domestic favourites, so the Hebrews were dear to God.
Psalms 74:20. The dark places of the earth. Gentile lands and gentile lords are full of cruelty.
REFLECTIONS.
The psalmist asks here, “Oh God, why hast thou cast us off?” The prophets have said of Zion, her foundation standeth fast; she should not be moved for ever. Strange that the Lord should abhor his own inheritance. Moses gives the answer: but if there shall arise a root bearing wormwood and gall; a departure from the Lord to the worship of idols, then the Lord would send them into captivity, and scatter them on the face of the whole earth. Here then is an equal voice to the christian church.
The psalmist complains in the day of visitation of the peculiar pride with which the enemy raised their axes against the beautifully carved work of the cedars, and the branches of the palm-trees, which designated the ever- flourishing state of religion, and put fire to the temple, which for three nights illuminated the heavens, and then expired as an omen of departed glory. These were scenes which rent the hearts of all lovers of Zion. These were the severer strokes of an angry God; but the Hope of Israel was not lost; grace was reserved for the remnant.
He cries to heaven for help, being encouraged by ancient graces which God had conferred on the Hebrew church, in breaking the head of leviathan, the cruel tyrant, and dragon of the Nile; in dividing the rock of Horeb to give water, and in opening the Jordan to give passage to his saints. He pleads, that as God still gave them light from heaven, and fruitful seasons, so he would ultimately hear their prayers and avenge the blasphemies of the heathen who had insulted his name. It was a dark day for the Jews; but the eye of faith was not beclouded. Truly, after all chastisements, God is good to Israel, to them who are clean in heart. A glorious high throne is the place of our sanctuary from the beginning. That throne is higher than the heavens, and cannot be affected by the burning of earthly temples.