Psalm 74 A Contemplation of Asaph.

 ¹O God, why have You cast us off forever?

Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

²Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,

The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed—

This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.

³Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations.

The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.

⁴Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;

They set up their banners for signs.

⁵They seem like men who lift up

Axes among the thick trees.

⁶And now they break down its carved work, all at once,

With axes and hammers.

⁷They have set fire to Your sanctuary;

They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.

⁸They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them altogether.”

They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our signs;

There is no longer any prophet;

Nor is there any among us who knows how long.

¹⁰O God, how long will the adversary reproach?

Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?

¹¹Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?

Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.

¹²For God is my King from of old,

Working salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³You divided the sea by Your strength;

You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.

¹⁴You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces,

And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

¹⁵You broke open the fountain and the flood;

You dried up mighty rivers.

¹⁶The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;

You have prepared the light and the sun.

¹⁷You have set all the borders of the earth;

You have made summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O Lord,

And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.

¹⁹Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast!

Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.

²⁰Have respect to the covenant;

For the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty.

²¹Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed!

Let the poor and needy praise Your name.

²²Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;

Remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily.

²³Do not forget the voice of Your enemies;

The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.

Preamble: This psalm was written during the Temple’s destruction by the then Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar and his armies, roughly 586 BC. Its destruction came about because of Israel’s ongoing idolatry and sins against the Lord.

Commentary

Vs.1-2 ¹O God, why have You cast us off forever?

Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

²Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,

The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed—

This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.

The psalmist now decries the nation being overrun by the Babylonian invaders. But God had warned them through His prophets, (especially Jeremiah who was then a contemporary with the people), that this was going to happen to them. It is then in the midst of that terrible time, of national ruin, and of the highest symbol of their being God’s people being completely desecrated, that this psalm is written. To begin then the Psalmist can only ask, “O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?” However, the question need not be answered, for Israel had for centuries paved the way for their own ruin, by their own ongoing deeds which had violated God’s Law and were completely contrary to His person. Nonetheless the question comes from a broken place, from a contrite spirit, from someone who was interceding on behalf of the nation as God would have them do. Therefore, they ask that God remember His congregation, the people which He purchased from old. Which is so important for us to always remember and recall that the Lord Jesus Christ has paid the purchase price of all of our redemption by the Crucifixion death of Himself. Therefore the Psalmist asks that the Lord remember the tribe of His inheritance, His people which He has redeemed, and that He remember His Mount Zion, the very place where He made His Presence and His Throne to be established for Himself on earth.

Vs. 3-4 ³Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations.

The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.

⁴Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;

They set up their banners for signs.

The Psalmist now calls upon God to lift Himself up and see the perpetual desolations which the enemy has done, how they have ruined everything in the sanctuary. How they roar in the midst of His sacred meeting place, while they loot and destroy everything in their sight. For they even set up their own banners within as an act of conquest of it. Thus, they do regard His Holy dwelling place. But again, it was Israel’s own disregard of Him, that has brought about this day on them.

Vs. 5-7 ⁵They seem like men who lift up

Axes among the thick trees.

⁶And now they break down its carved work, all at once,

With axes and hammers.

⁷They have set fire to Your sanctuary;

They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.

Such was their overthrow of it that they seemed to Psalmist like woodsmen with axes felling large trees, falling one upon another until the forest is laid bare. And so it was that they broke down everything within the Temple, all its magnificent carved work they destroyed with hammers and axes. And having completely looted it they then set fire to it, defiling the dwelling place of God’s Name to the ground. And for a man of worship like Asaph, who reverenced this holy place, this was more than he could bare to see. But there he was powerless in the midst of it all, thus his only weapon was his pen and ink and his heart of prayer towards God for Him to save them from them all.

Vs. 8 They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them altogether.”

They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.

Asaph now recalls to God the arrogant strength of the Babylonian invaders. How in their hearts they said, “Let us destroy them altogether.” How they have not only destroyed the Temple, but every meeting place of God in the land, what we would call synagogues and churches. Then then left nothing untouched where God was truly worshipped. 

Vs. 9 “We do not see our signs;

There is no longer any prophet;

Nor is there any among us who knows how long.”

Such then was God’s turning away from His people, again because of their ongoing sins, that the land that was once filled with signs (like with the Urim and Thummim which guided the High Priest) and the words of the prophets which God gave to encourage the people when they walked with Him, they no longer saw, nor heard these anymore. And no one amongst them knew just how long this was going to be, at least not until Jeremiah’s 70-year prophecy of their captivity, which of course would come later.

Vs. 10-11 ¹⁰O God, how long will the adversary reproach?

Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?

¹¹Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?

Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.

In desperation then Asaph now asks God to stop the enemy from reproaching them, from even blaspheming His Name, because people with righteous hearts cannot endure hearing the blasphemy of God’s Name. Therefore, in his frustration he also asks God, “Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.” But God will not destroy them yet, not until His people’s judgment is completed.

Vs. 12 “For God is my King from of old,

Working salvation in the midst of the earth.”

Having made his supplications to God, Asaph now turns from great despair to great faith! His declaration here should be mine and yours as well when we too go “under the rod” for correction as well. “For God is my King from of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth.” And so even though everything looked lost, still he had the Spiritual wisdom to see that our God is still our King and that he is working salvation in the midst of the earth. Working out our salvation when we have done everything to ruin it. For that is the heritage of us all who believe in Him, in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ

Vs. 13-17 ¹³You divided the sea by Your strength;

You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.

¹⁴You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces,

And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

¹⁵You broke open the fountain and the flood;

You dried up mighty rivers.

¹⁶The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;

You have prepared the light and the sun.

¹⁷You have set all the borders of the earth;

You have made summer and winter.

These verses then recall just how God has worked salvation in the midst of the earth for His people. Notice that every line opens with You, that is it was God alone who had done this for them. From dividing the Red Sea so that His people could pass through safely, to breaking the head of Leviathan (an ancient sea monster, that is often used metaphorically to describe God’s people’s ancient enemies, here the Egyptians who perished when they pursued them into the Red Sea. To His providing life saving water for them while they were in their rebellion years in the wilderness. To His drying up the Jordan river so that Joshua could lead the people out of the wilderness and into the promised land. Therefore, in recalling God’s mighty works for His people, Asaph also declares that it is God who owns the day and the night, that He in His Sovereignty He sets all the borders of the earth, the geographical boundaries, that He alone makes summer and winter, for He alone controls the climate, all the seasons on earth.

Vs. 18 “Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O Lord,

And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.”

Asaph now returns to the current distress and asks God to remember how the enemy has reproached them, how a foolish people, a people who does not fear Him, yet He gave them all the success that they have had, has now in their self-sufficient arrogance they have blasphemed His Name.

Vs. 19 ¹⁹Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast!

Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.

²⁰Have respect to the covenant;

For the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty.

²¹Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed!

Let the poor and needy praise Your name.

Therefore, Asaph asks God to remember His people; here described as a turtledove, whose middle eastern variety is smaller and more timid than regular doves, thus it is a gentle bird that often feeds on the ground, and yet here it is being hunted down by the wild beast. i.e., Nebuchadnezzar’s army, a people so cruel that there has never been any like them, before them. Therefore he asks that God not forget the life of His poor forever, who are so completely defenseless against them. For God is the defender of the poor, that is His Nature (vs. 19). That God respect the covenant He made with them when He took them as His own people, and all that the entails, that parenthood entails. For as the Scripture says, the dark places of the earth (that is those places where God is not known nor believed in are full of the haunts of cruelty, vs. 20). Therefore the prayer is for God to intercede for them, for all the oppressed (consider Psalm 10:14, 18; 103:6; 146:7), so that the poor and needy could once again praise His Name (vs. 21).

Vs. 22-23 ²²Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;

Remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily.

²³Do not forget the voice of Your enemies;

The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.

In his finial appeal for God's intercession, Asaph now asks that God plead His own cause, that He remember how the foolish man (the arrogant unbeliever) reproaches Him daily. For though Israel may need to pass through the fire before His deliverance of them, still God will not allow His enemies to continually exalt themselves against Him. For though they increase their tumult against Him daily, He will deal with them all, and He will be most justified when He judges and fully repays them all, amen.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.