18 Remember this -- an enemy reproached Jehovah, And a foolish people have despised Thy name.
Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Thy servants, I have borne in my bosom all the strivings of the peoples, Wherewith Thine enemies reproached, O Jehovah, Wherewith they have reproached The steps of Thine anointed.
Be lifted up, O Judge of the earth, Send back a recompence on the proud. Till when `do' the wicked, O Jehovah? Till when do the wicked exult? They utter -- they speak an old saw, All working iniquity do boast themselves. Thy people, O Jehovah, they bruise, And Thine inheritance they afflict. Widow and sojourner they slay, And fatherless ones they murder. And they say, `Jehovah doth not see, And the God of Jacob doth not consider.' Consider, ye brutish among the people, And ye foolish, when do ye act wisely?
Whom hast thou reproached and reviled? And against whom lifted up the voice? Yea, thou dost lift up on high thine eyes Against the Holy One of Israel. By the hand of thy servants Thou hast reviled the Lord, and sayest: In the multitude of my chariots I have come up to a high place of hills, The sides of Lebanon, And I cut down the height of its cedars, The choice of its firs, And I enter the high place of its extremity, The forest of its Carmel.
`On thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen, All the day, and all the night, Continually, they are not silent.' O ye remembrancers of Jehovah, Keep not silence for yourselves, And give not silence to Him, Till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem A praise in the earth.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 74
Commentary on Psalms 74 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 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 Ezra 2:41; 3:10; Neh. 11:17, 22; 12:35, 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
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.
Psa 74:1-11
This psalm is entitled Maschil-a psalm to give instruction, for it was penned in a day of affliction, which is intended for instruction; and this instruction in general it gives us, That when we are, upon any account, in distress, it is our wisdom and duty to apply to God by faithful and fervent prayer, and we shall not find it in vain to do so. Three things the people of God here complain of:-
Psa 74:12-17
The lamenting church fastens upon something here which she calls to mind, and therefore hath she hope (as Lam. 3:21), with which she encourages herself and silences her own complaints. Two things quiet the minds of those that are here sorrowing for the solemn assembly:-
Psa 74:18-23
The psalmist here, in the name of the church, most earnestly begs that God would appear fro them against their enemies, and put an end to their present troubles. To encourage his own faith, he interests God in this matter (v. 22): Arise, O God! plead thy own cause. This we may be sure he will do, for he is jealous for his own honour; whatever is his own cause he will plead it with a strong hand, will appear against those that oppose it and with and for those that cordially espouse it. He will arise and plead it, though for a time he seems to neglect it; he will stir up himself, will manifest himself, will do his own work in his own time. Note, The cause of religion is God's own cause and he will certainly plead it. Now, to make it out that the cause is God's, he pleads,