Psalm 74
BSB
Why Have You Rejected Us Forever?
(Psalms 79:1–13; Jeremiah 52:1–11)
A Maskil of Asaph.
1Why have You rejected us forever, O God?
Why does Your anger smolder
against the sheep of Your pasture?
2Remember Your congregation,
which You purchased long ago
and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance—
Mount Zion where You dwell.
3Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins,
to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.
4Your foes have roared within Your meeting place;
they have unfurled their banners as signs,
5like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees
6and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.
7They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.
8They said in their hearts,
“We will crush them completely.”
They burned down every place
where God met us in the land.
9There are no signs for us to see.
There is no longer any prophet.
And none of us knows how long this will last.
10How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You?
Will the foe revile Your name forever?
11Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand?
Stretch it out to destroy them!
12Yet God is my King from ancient times,
working salvation on the earth.
13You divided the sea by Your strength;
You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
14You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
You fed him to the creatures of the desert.
15You broke open the fountain and the flood;
You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
16The day is Yours, and also the night;
You established the moon and the sun.
17You set all the boundaries of the earth;
You made the summer and winter.
18Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD,
how a foolish people has spurned Your name.
19Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts;
do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.
20Consider Your covenant,
for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
21Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame;
may the poor and needy praise Your name.
22Rise up, O God; defend Your cause!
Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.
23Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries,
the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.
Introduction
Psalms 74
This psalm does so particularly describe the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, by Nebuchadnezzar and the army of the Chaldeans, and can so ill be applied to any other event we meet with in the Jewish history, that interpreters incline to think that either it was penned by David, or Asaph in David's time, with a prophetical reference to that sad event (which yet is not so probable), or that it was penned by another Asaph, who lived at the time of the captivity, or by Jeremiah (for it is of a piece with his Lamentations,) or some other prophet, and, after the return out of captivity, was delivered to the sons of Asaph, who were called by his name, for the public service of the church. That was the most eminent family of the singers in Ezra's time. See Ezr 2:41; Ezr 3:10; Neh 11:17, Neh 11:22; Neh 12:35, Neh 12:46. The deplorable case of the people of God at that time is here spread before the Lord, and left with him. The prophet, in the name of the church I. Puts in complaining pleas of the miseries they suffered, for the quickening of their desires in prayer (Psa 74:1-11). II. He puts in comfortable pleas for the encouraging of their faith in prayer (Psa 74:12-17). III. He concludes with divers petitions to God for deliverances (Psa 74:18-23). In singing it we must be affected with the former desolations of the church, for we are members of the same body, and may apply it to any present distresses or desolations of any part of the Christian church.
Maschil of Asaph.
Cross-references: Ezra 2:41 · Ezra 3:10 · Neh 11:17 · Neh 11:22 · Neh 12:35 · Neh 12:46 · Ps 74:1 · Ps 74:12 · Ps 74:18