3 Go up and see the unending destruction; all the evil which your haters have done in the holy place;
<A Psalm. Of Asaph.> O God, the nations have come into your heritage; they have made your holy Temple unclean; they have made Jerusalem a mass of broken walls.
Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers gave praise to you, is burned with fire; and all the things of our desire have come to destruction. In view of all this, will you still do nothing, O Lord? will you keep quiet, and go on increasing our punishment?
And they will be put to death with the sword, and will be taken as prisoners into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be crushed under the feet of the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles are complete.
And he gave them teaching, and said to them, Is it not in the Writings, My house is to be named a house of prayer for all the nations? but you have made it a hole of thieves.
For see, the Lord is coming out from his place, and will come down, stepping on the high places of the earth.
And armies sent by him will take up their position and they will make unclean the holy place, even the strong place, and take away the regular burned offering and put in its place an unclean thing causing fear.
And a strong order will be sent out against the great number for one week; and so for half of the week the offering and the meal offering will come to an end; and in its place will be an unclean thing causing fear; till the destruction which has been fixed is let loose on him who has made waste.
And now, give ear, O our God, to the prayer of your servant and to his request for grace, and let your face be shining on your holy place which is made waste, because of your servants, O Lord.
It made itself great, even as great as the lord of the army; and by it the regular burned offering was taken away, and the place overturned and the holy place made waste. ... against the regular burned offering; and ... crushed down to the earth, and it did its pleasure and things went well for it. Then there came to my ears the voice of a holy one talking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was talking, How long will the vision be while the regular burned offering is taken away, and the unclean thing causing fear is put up, and the holy place crushed under foot? And he said to him, For two thousand, three hundred evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be made clean.
And he had the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned with fire:
And when they had made those kings come out to Joshua, Joshua sent for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, Come near and put your feet on the necks of these kings. So they came near and put their feet on their necks.
I have been crushing the grapes by myself, and of the peoples there was no man with me: in my wrath and in my passion, they were crushed under my feet; and my robes are marked with their life-blood, and all my clothing is red. For the day of punishment is in my heart, and the year for the payment of the price for my people has come. And I saw that there was no helper, and I was wondering that no one gave them support: so my arm did the work of salvation, and my wrath was my support. And in my passion the peoples were crushed under my feet, and broken in my wrath, and I put down their strength to the earth.
And they will be building again the old broken walls, and will make new the old waste places, and will put up again the towns which have been waste for long generations.
For in this mountain will the hand of the Lord come to rest, and Moab will be crushed down in his place, even as the dry stems of the grain are crushed under foot in the waste place.
You will again get up and have mercy on Zion: for the time has come for her to be comforted. For your servants take pleasure in her stones, looking with love on her dust.
Up! and come to our help, and give us salvation because of your mercy.
And I went out by night, through the doorway of the valley, and past the dragon's water-spring as far as the place where waste material was put, viewing the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, and the doorways which had been burned with fire.
And said to the king, May the king be living for ever: is it not natural for my face to be sad, when the town, the place where the bodies of my fathers are at rest, has been made waste and its doorways burned with fire?
I have sent destruction on them and given them wounds, so that they are not able to get up: they are stretched under my feet. For I have been armed by you with strength for the fight: you have made low under me those who came out against me. By you their backs are turned in flight, so that my haters are cut off. They were crying out, but there was no one to come to their help: even to the Lord, but he gave them no answer. Then they were crushed as small as the dust of the earth, stamped down under my feet like the waste of the streets.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 74
Commentary on Psalms 74 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 74
Ps 74:1-23. If the historical allusions of Ps 74:6-8, &c., be referred, as is probable, to the period of the captivity, the author was probably a descendant and namesake of Asaph, David's contemporary and singer (compare 2Ch 35:15; Ezr 2:41). He complains of God's desertion of His Church, and appeals for aid, encouraging himself by recounting some of God's mighty deeds, and urges his prayer on the ground of God's covenant relation to His people, and the wickedness of His and their common enemy.
1. cast … off—with abhorrence (compare Ps 43:2; 44:9). There is no disavowal of guilt implied. The figure of fire to denote God's anger is often used; and here, and in De 29:20, by the word "smoke," suggests its continuance.
sheep … pasture—(Compare Ps 80:1; 95:7).
2. The terms to denote God's relation to His people increase in force: "congregation"—"purchased"—"redeemed"—"Zion," His dwelling.
3. Lift … feet—(Ge 29:1)—that is, Come (to behold) the desolations (Ps 73:19).
4. roar—with bestial fury.
congregations—literally, "worshipping assemblies."
ensigns—literally, "signs"—substituted their idolatrous objects, or tokens of authority, for those articles of the temple which denoted God's presence.
5, 6. Though some terms and clauses here are very obscure, the general sense is that the spoilers destroyed the beauties of the temple with the violence of woodmen.
was famous—literally, "was known."
6. carved work—(1Ki 6:29).
thereof—that is, of the temple, in the writer's mind, though not expressed till Ps 74:7, in which its utter destruction by fire is mentioned (2Ki 25:9; Isa 64:11).
7. defiled—or, "profaned," as in Ps 89:39.
8. together—at once, all alike.
synagogues—literally, "assemblies," for places of assembly, whether such as schools of the prophets (2Ki 4:23), or "synagogues" in the usual sense, there is much doubt.
9. signs—of God's presence, as altar, ark, &c. (compare Ps 74:4; 2Ch 36:18, 19; Da 5:2).
no more any prophet—(Isa 3:2; Jer 40:1; 43:6).
how long—this is to last. Jeremiah's prophecy (Jer 25:11), if published, may not have been generally known or understood. To the bulk of the people, during the captivity, the occasional and local prophetical services of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel would not make an exception to the clause, "there is no more any prophet."
10. (Compare Ps 31:1).
how long … reproach?—us, as deserted of God.
blaspheme thy name—or, "perfections," as power, goodness, &c. (Ps 29:2).
11. Why cease to help us? (Compare Ps 3:7; 7:6; 60:5).
12. For—literally, "And," in an adversative sense.
13-15. Examples of the "salvation wrought" are cited.
divide the sea—that is, Red Sea.
brakest … waters—Pharaoh and his host (compare Isa 51:9, 10; Eze 29:3, 4).
14. heads of leviathan—The word is a collective, and so used for many.
the people … wilderness—that is, wild beasts, as conies (Pr 30:25, 26), are called a people. Others take the passages literally, that the sea monsters thrown out on dry land were food for the wandering Arabs.
15. cleave the fountain—that is, the rocks of Horeb and Kadesh; for fountains.
driedst up—Jordan, and, perhaps, Arnon and Jabbok (Nu 21:14).
16, 17. The fixed orders of nature and bounds of earth are of God.
18. (Compare Ps 74:10; De 32:6). The contrast is striking—that such a God should be thus insulted!
19. multitude—literally, "beast," their flock or company of men (Ps 68:10).
turtledove—that is, the meek and lonely Church.
congregation—literally, "the company," as above—thus the Church is represented as the spoiled and defeated remnant of an army, exposed to violence.
20. And the prevalence of injustice in heathen lands is a reason for invoking God's regard to His promise (compare Nu 14:21; Ps 7:16; 18:48).
21. oppressed—broken (Ps 9:9).
return—from seeking God.
ashamed—(Ps 35:4).
22, 23. (Compare Ps 3:7; 7:6). God hears the wicked to their own ruin (Ge 4:10; 18:20).