Psalms 74 - Introduction

A.M. 2989. B.C. 1015.

This Psalm seems to have been composed on occasion of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Chaldeans. The author, after lamenting the calamities of his country, and the insults of his enemies, calls to remembrance the glorious exploits which God had performed in ancient days for his people, and prays him to exert himself afresh in their cause, which, through the blasphemous defiance of the enemy, was now become his own. It could not certainly be composed by the same Asaph who wrote the foregoing Psalm; (see 2 Chronicles 29:30 ;) but, as Bishop Patrick thinks, by some one of his posterity, who, during the captivity, was suffered to remain in Jerusalem with the Chaldeans. The psalmist, in the name of the Jews, complains of the miseries they suffered, Psalms 74:1. Encourages himself by recollecting the mighty works of God, Psalms 74:12. Prays for deliverance, Psalms 74:18.