A maskil of Asaph
74:Title This psalm is ascribed to Asaph. He lived during David’s reign and it is certain that at that time the events described in vs 3-8 did not take place. And v 9 was not true then, for Nathan the prophet was living, David himself was a prophet, and Asaph was a seer – another name for a prophet (2 Chron 29:30). A seer could look into the future and describe events that had not yet taken place as though they had. Asaph wrote this psalm by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit regarding future calamities. Let no one think this a strange thing (see Isa 46:9-10). In Ps 22 David wrote of the crucifixion of Christ that took place a thousand years later. \fp There are many other examples of writings in the Old Testament which describe future events using verb forms in Hebrew that we would call in English past or present tenses. See, for example, Isaiah chapter 53. Here Asaph puts himself in the place of these future people of God and speaks as though he were one of them. In this way the Holy Spirit provides a prayer for those in the future who would actually experience the disaster described here.⚜
74
📚 📖O God, why have you cast us off forever?
Why does your anger smoke
against the sheep 📖 of your pasture?
74:1 See Ps 44:9; 77:7. There is no confession of sin in this psalm, only perplexity at God’s dealings with His people (vs 10,11). When strange events occur, when God’s anger seems to be aroused, it is no mistake to ask God for the cause. For of one thing we may be sure – God does nothing without a very good reason.⚜
2 📚Remember your congregation which
you purchased of old,
the tribe of your inheritance which
you redeemed 📖,
this mount Zion 📖, where
you have dwelt.
3 📚Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins,
all that the enemy has destroyed in the
sanctuary.
4 📚Your enemies roared in your
meeting places;
they set up their banners as signs.
5 📚A man was famous for lifting up
axes on the thick trees.
6 📚But now they have broken down
its carved work all at once with
axes and hammers.
7 📚They have set your sanctuary
on fire,
they have defiled the dwelling place
of your name by casting it down
to the ground.
8 📚They said in their hearts,
“Let us destroy them altogether”.
They have burned up all the meeting
places of God in the land.
9 📚We do not see our signs.
No longer is there a prophet,
nor is there anyone among us
who knows how long.
74:3-9 This language points to a time long after the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed. Both this verse and v 9 indicate a time after Jeremiah’s day (he described the destruction of the temple in Jeremiah chapter 52). So Asaph was looking several hundred years into the future.⚜
10 📚O God, how long will the foe
taunt you?
Will the enemy blaspheme
your name forever?
11 📚Why do you withdraw your hand,
your right hand?
Take it out of your bosom
and destroy them 📖!
74:11 God’s ways are not our ways and are not to be understood by mere human reason (Isa 55:8-9; Rom 11:33-34).⚜
12 📚For God is my King of old,
working salvation in the midst
of the earth.
13 📚You divided the sea by your strength.
You broke the heads of the monsters
in the waters.
14 📚You broke in pieces the heads of
leviathan and gave him
as food to
the people living in the desert.
15 📚You split open the fountain
and the flood.
You dried up mighty rivers.
16 📚The day is yours;
the night also is yours.
You prepared the light and the sun.
17 📚You set all the borders
of the earth.
You made summer and winter.
74:12-17 Here Asaph reminds God that He has previously acted in behalf of His people, and that He is the all powerful Creator and Ruler of the world. Vs 13,14 probably refer to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt and the destruction of the Egyptian armies in Exodus chapter 14. Happy is the person who can say as Asaph did “God is my king”. For God is the most benevolent of rulers, always seeking the highest good of His people. Of course, He demands their complete loyalty, trust, and obedience.⚜
18 📚Remember that the enemy has
taunted you, O LORD,
and that the foolish people have
blasphemed your name.
19 📚O do not deliver the soul
of your dove to the horde
of the wicked.
Do not forget forever the
congregation of your poor.
20 📚Have regard for the covenant.
For the dark places of the earth are
full of the habitations of cruelty.
21 📚Oh, do not let the oppressed
return ashamed!
Let the poor and needy praise
your name.
22 📚Arise, O God, plead
your own cause!
Remember how the foolish man
scorns you daily.
23 📚Do not forget the voice of
your enemies.
The uproar of those who rise up
against you increases continually.
74:18-23 Asaph appeals to God the great Creator to act on behalf of His people as He did before. They are like a dove, their enemies like fierce beasts trying to destroy them completely. He could not understand God’s inaction when people curse Him and mistreat His dear people. But God has His purposes in that too, and when they are fulfilled He will arise to judge the world.⚜