741 Why, O God, hast thou cast off for ever? [why] doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? 2 Remember thine assembly, which thou hast purchased of old, which thou hast redeemed [to be] the portion of thine inheritance, this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. 3 Lift up thy steps unto the perpetual desolations: everything in the sanctuary hath the enemy destroyed. 4 Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy place of assembly; they set up their signs [for] signs. 5 [A man] was known as he could lift up axes in the thicket of trees; 6 And now they break down its carved work altogether, with hatchets and hammers. 7 They have set on fire thy sanctuary, they have profaned the habitation of thy name to the ground. 8 They said in their heart, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all God's places of assembly in the land. 9 We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet, neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. 10 How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy contemn thy name for ever? 11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, and thy right hand? [pluck it] out of thy bosom: consume [them].
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 74:1-11
Commentary on Psalm 74:1-11
(Read Psalm 74:1-11)
This psalm appears to describe the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Chaldeans. The deplorable case of the people of God, at the time, is spread before the Lord, and left with him. They plead the great things God had done for them. If the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt was encouragement to hope that he would not cast them off, much more reason have we to believe, that God will not cast off any whom Christ has redeemed with his own blood. Infidels and persecutors may silence faithful ministers, and shut up places of worship, and say they will destroy the people of God and their religion together. For a long time they may prosper in these attempts, and God's oppressed servants may see no prospect of deliverance; but there is a remnant of believers, the seed of a future harvest, and the despised church has survived those who once triumphed over her. When the power of enemies is most threatening, it is comfortable to flee to the power of God by earnest prayer.