O God, why hast Thou cast us off for ever? why doth Thine anger smoke against the sheep of Thy pasture ? Psalm 74 The wail and prayer of a true patriot Homilist. I. THE WAIL (vers. 1-17). 1. Some communities of men are far more favoured of Heaven than others. The Jews were (vers. 1, 2). In this diversity of endowment —(1) There is no just reason for complaining of God. As the Sovereign Author of all life, He has an undoubted right to determine as to whether He should give life to any or not; what kind of life it should be, and to how many; and what kind or measure of power He should give to each.(2) There is no injury done to any. The man or community least favoured has no right to complain, for he is only responsible for what he has. Obligation is bounded by capacity. 2. The most favoured communities are not exempted from terrible calamities (vers. 7-9). 3. These terrible calamities are often inflicted by wicked men. 4. The wicked men who inflict these calamities are ever under the control of God. (1) He has power to arrest them (ver. 10). (2) This power He has sometimes signally displayed (vers. 13, 14). (3) This power is implied in the universality of His dominion. II. THE PRAYER (vers. 18-23). 1. The enemies of God are the enemies both of themselves and of their country (ver. 18). A bad man cannot be a good citizen, but must be more or less a curse to his country. An ungodly man can never be a true patriot. 2. The interposition of God is necessary to deliver a country from the pernicious influence of wicked men (ver. 22). (1) The cause of true philanthropy is the cause of God. (2) The cause of philanthropy is outraged on earth. Men, instead of loving each other as brethren, hate each, oppress each other, murder each other. (3) The cause of philanthropy is dear to the heart of the good.Hence the prayer, "Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause." In this prayer two things are to be noted — (i.) The anthropomorphic tendency of the soul. (ii.) A good man's conscious need of God.How deeply did this godly patriot feel the necessity of God's interposition. In the midst of his country's distress he looked around, but there was help to be found nowhere but in heaven. ( Homilist. ) A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. Psalm 74:5 The axe and the altar A. Wallace, D. D. Shall we regard the text as an epitaph on the headstone of some worker for God and the good of man, long, long ago? If so, we shall find but the merest fragment of a sentence, which you have to complete by supplying the first two words, as our translators did, when they bent over it, as it were, on hands and knees, to read it. They found no name, and, in order to make sense of the broken record, they had to prefix two words — "a man"; for his name, whatever it was, has been lost to us, but not to God, in the dim shadows of the past. I. His WORK. We must throw our minds back to the time when the temple was in course of building. This man had no gold, or silver, or precious stones to bring: it may have been that he had little or nothing of material substance at his command; but he had strength in his brawny arm, and he gave himself, his time and his labour, and all the ardour of a loving heart to the good cause. Now he is on his way to the stately cedars with a fixed purpose clearly set in his face; he selects those that are best fitted for the roof, or for beams, or pillars, or for the doors, or other finer parts of the work that must be carved with great taste and care; and if he can do nothing else for the national undertaking, he can at least do the rough work of felling trees. II. His MOTIVE. Nothing is said about this in the text, but we may rest assured that his work would never have found a place in the sacred minstrelsy of the ancient Church, had there not been underlying it all a noble motive. It was the cause of God in the land that made him stand forth, and which brought him out of obscurity, just as it has done with many others in seasons of religious awakening, when the peasant and the artisan have come nobly forward to fight side by side, and generously to give of their substance for what was dearer to them than life itself. If the common people are not roused to action in the interests of true godliness, the heart of the nation will never be stirred to that combined effort, which must ever be put forth to secure any permanent good, and to give vitality and stability to any great religious movement. It is, therefore, a pleasing picture to us, to see "our man" with his axe, which he consecrates most heartily to the cause of righteousness and truth. The work he does with it is not for personal or selfish ends, but for the nation; yea, for the world — for God Himself. It is this that gives surpassing dignity to every stroke, and makes him stand out on the page of the sacred record as a striking example of unselfish service, and true, honest work. III. HIS REWARD. 1. This he received, in the noble enthusiasm with which he inspired others. Such a man could not but have a large following. He was from the people, and many of his comrades, animated by a similar spirit, went forth with him to do valiant things. The man who can move others for good has received a great gift, and when he makes use of it he has his reward in the number of enthusiastic followers he draws into the same path. 2. In the consciousness that he was doing good. The commendation of one's own conscience, and the sunshine of God's approving smile, are no small part of the reward connected with any work of faith or labour of love. 3. In the sacred memorial of the text. Rough as the work of the man referred to appears to be, in the mere felling of trees, it reached the very depths, and at the same time rose to the sublimest heights of man's spiritual nature, for it was inseparably bound up with the glorious future that lies before the cause of God, in its fullest development in earth or in heaven. The marble may be broken up and crumble into dust, and every feature that genius has impressed upon it may pass away, but the influence and the record of true worth are eternal as the spirit of goodness itself, and like the word of the Lord must endure for ever. So shall it be with the memorial of this man. 4. In the "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." He did his work for God in a loving spirit, and was called home when it was done to enter into his rest, and to receive his reward. IV. His LIFE-LESSONS. 1. It matters not whether we work with the axe or the pen, with hand or with brain; given but the power of true faith, there will be work done, and that of a kind to an extent that will surprise ourselves and others. We have all our daily tasks, and in doing them honestly and thoroughly well, we are doing nobly for ourselves, for others, and for God, and thus the toils of every day may be pervaded by the Master's spirit, and lifted up to a higher level, far above the mere drudgery of life. 2. Passing from this personal view of the work for Christ in our own hearts and in connection with His Church, let me remind you that you are all members of the general community, and as such should be deeply interested in its welfare, and ready to do your part in securing this. ( A. Wallace, D. D. ) They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. Psalm 74:8 The synagogues of God J. Aldis. We do not know the precise circumstances under which this psalm was written. But we thank God our synagogues are not destroyed as were those of the Jews. I. LET US GLANCE AT THE SYNAGOGUES OF JUDAEA AND IN THE ANCIENT WORLD. And we note — 1. That they express one of the greatest marvels of Providence. They were to be the places where, and by means of which, the message of the Gospel was to be delivered. The Jews had synagogues everywhere, and thus God by His providence had prepared the field in which first the Gospel seed was sown. 2. They were intimately connected with our Lord's work. 3. And with the ministry of the apostles. II. AT THE SYNAGOGUES OF GOD TO-DAY. The word means a coming together, and it expresses an essential idea of Christian worship. And they are synagogues of God. This the main thing. There God works and blesses souls. And think of them all, and of those especially in our own land. May God's power be manifested in them more and more. ( J. Aldis. ) The synagogue a post-exilian institution Dr. Prideux affirms that the Jews had no synagogues before the Babylonish captivity; for the main service of the synagogue being the reading of the law unto the people, where there was no book of the law to be read, there certainly would be no synagogue. How rare the book of the law was through all Judaea before the captivity, many texts of Scripture tell us. Dr. Fairbairn, in support of the same view, says, "There is every reason to think that this psalm was composed during the Babylonish captivity, and was intended to describe the desolation which had been brought by the Chaldeans upon all the sacred spots of Palestine. The word for synagogue in the original, however, properly expresses the places of the revelation of God, and can refer only to the temple, that one place on which God had chosen to put His name." We see not our signs. Psalm 74:9 Signs of life J. C. Philpot. This psalm is clearly not one written by David. Vers. 6, 7 prove that; but it is one of the psalms of the Exile. The signs here meant, which the writer mourns that he did not see, were certain outward marks of God's special favour. It is said that there were five signs in the first temple which the second had not — the ark of the covenant; the fire from heaven; the Shechinah; the Urim and Thummim; the spirit of prophecy, for that spirit ceased with Malachi, and did not reappear until John the Baptist. Now, on this groundwork we may build up a spiritual interpretation. We may not always do this, but only where there is, as here, a real groundwork for it, and where there is a response to it in the heart. The Church of to-day often has to lament that she sees not her signs. In considering this, note — I. THE NATURE OF THEIR SIGNS. They are marks of God's favour, and there appear to be two classes of them. 1. Those which, if removed, would not remove the thing itself which they signify. The crown of a monarch, you may take that away, but he remains a monarch still. Remove the milestones on a road, but you do not remove the distances which they indicate. Banknotes also. But — 2. There are other signs which are constituent parts of the thing itself, so that the taking away of the sign is a taking away of the thing. For example, the lengthening days are a sign of spring; but if there be not this sign there is no spring. Now, of this sort of sign are those which the text tells of. Not, however, entirely. For good works may be absent, partly and for a time, but the life of grace may yet be present. And when good works are present they are not infallible signs of grace. 3. But for the most part the sign and the thing it indicates go together. As, the fear of the Lord; the spirit of grace and of supplication; repentance; faith in Christ; love to the Lord's people and to Christ; the witness of the Spirit; a life consistent with the Gospel. II. THE SEEING OF THESE SIGNS. What does this mean? It is implied that there are times when the signs can be seen, as well as when they cannot. Now, what is requisite to see them? Those that travel along the heavenward way have certain landmarks — Ebenezers, stones of help. But in order to see them there must be light, that told of in Psalm 36:9 ; not the pale moonlight of speculation, nor the frosty northern light of cold doctrine, nor the meteor light — the "ignis fatuus " of delusion; not the mere phosphoric light, which dimly gleams by rubbing together rotten evidences; not the sparks of their own kindling, elicited by the collision of flinty hearts and steeled consciences; we want no light such as we can make, but the Lord's light. III. WHY IT IS THAT WE SEE NOT OUR SIGNS. Some people say they can always see them. This is not true, and the belief of it full of evil. But the causes of our not seeing them are various: the smoke of infidelity; the fogs of unbelief; the valley of trouble; the sun may go down by the Lord's bidding. But all this will be a source of sorrow and lamentation, for such things are no signs of grace, though not inconsistent with it. But you must have seen the signs before you can lament that you see them not. ( J. C. Philpot. ) The prospects of the age James Orr, D. D. If it were suggested that there could be any parallel between our own prosperous, progressive, enlightened age, and those melancholy days to which the psalm relates, the supposition might at once be scouted as absurdity. Yet I am not so sure but that in respect at least of the one particular referred to in the text — the dearth of the greater order of men — some degree of parallel might not very fairly be argued. I. First, then, as to THE FACT — how far this description of the text answers to anything that exists in our own times. I have in view chiefly the bearings of this subject on religion, but it is not in religion only, but in all the spheres of our thought and life that I think this falling off of the greater order of minds can be detected. We had a series of great poets in the early part and middle of last century. Where is the poet of the present day whose works are likely to live like theirs? We have had a succession of great writers of fiction — their books are on every one's shelves — but where is the writer of to-day whose books we would put in the same rank? We have had great musicians — Mozart, Handel, Beethoven, Haydn, and the like. Their compositions live. Who are producing pieces of the same grandeur? We have had a century of great statesmen. It is no disparagement of the men of the younger generation to say that they are not men of the calibre of those who have led the country for the last fifty or eighty years. We had a generation or two of great preachers — men like Chalmers, Guthrie, MacLeod. Once more the piety and teaching of the past generation gave us Christians, whose weight of religious character it was a pleasure to acknowledge — men reverent, sober-minded, deeply instructed in God's Word, massive in Christian substance, matured and real in Christian experience; is the newer type of religious character — brighter and more attractive as it is in some of its aspects — characterized by anything like the same depth, solidity, and durableness? II. THE causes of this apparent absence, in all spheres of life, of the greater order of men in our midst, and what are the possible remedies. 1. One thing which should give us hope is the fact that after every great and creative epoch in history, there comes necessarily a period of pause. The human mind cannot always be at its highest stretch. History does not flow on evenly, but in great ebbs and flows — in grand creative epochs, followed by long-breathing spaces, in times when the strongest call is made for great men, and they are drawn out and developed by the very magnitude of the crisis that calls for them, and quieter times, when people rejoice in the possessions they have won, and do not feel impelled to great efforts. 2. Again, it is to be remembered that after every great creative period which men live through, there comes a time when the results of that creative activity have to be gathered up; and this very process puts of necessity a check, for the time being, on further production. This, indeed, is how history proceeds — there is first a great burst of creative genius under the influence of some new idea or impulse; then, when the wealth of that new movement has been poured into the lap of the age, men have the new task laid upon them of sitting down and looking carefully into the nature of their treasure, taking stock of it, as it were, seeing what it really amounts to; getting to understand it, and working it out to its practical results. This is the labour of industry more than of creation, but it is equally essential to the world's progress. There is another part of this task which is of great importance. With every great advance of thought or discovery — with every burst of new truth into the world — there is laid on those who receive it, the duty of adjusting it to the truth they already possess. 3. There are, however, special causes which do belong to the character of the present age which tend, I think, to explain more particularly the dearth of the greatest type of minds in our midst.(1) It is obvious that from the very multiplicity of its possessions our age tends to diffusion rather than to concentration.(2) Our age is critical rather than constructive.(3) The bent of the present age has been to material ends rather than spiritual. ( James Orr, D. D. ) Faith in signs and without them T. R. Williams. The Israelites had formed a certain conception of God, and of His relation to them. They thought themselves to be His own peculiar people, and thought, therefore, that for them there would be a peculiar place among the nations of the earth. When they triumphed over their enemies, they regarded it as a sign of God's presence with them. National supremacy was one of the signs of God. At the time of this psalm that sign was not to be seen. National supremacy there was none. What was the truth behind that dogma? What was it that was struggling for utterance in it? That truth, I believe, was this: that through them the world was to receive a universal religion. They mistook their true spiritual significance for a prophecy of national dominion over the world. And, therefore, they were looking for victories as signs of the Divine Presence. In times of defeat they had to say, "We see not our signs." Again, they connected the Divine Presence specially with certain places. The sanctuaries were the peculiar dwelling-abodes of God — His places of revelation. But here are the enemies roaring in the midst of the congregation, and breaking down the carved work with axes and hammers; burning up all the synagogues of God in the land. No wonder they cry, "We see not our signs." This disposition to fix upon certain signs of God is still with us, and it is the prolific source of religious despondency and of partial temporary eclipses of religious faith. Some, when their undertakings do not succeed, cry dolefully, "We see not our signs." Others of us can maintain our spirit bravely enough until our sanctuaries are touched. One man's sanctuary is the Church. Another man's sanctuary is a theory about the Bible. The Bible is an infallible book, a Word of God indisputable. Question that theory, and they say they have no sign left, they can't be sure of God. Now, what are we doing when we thus choose signs of God? We are creating for ourselves the possibility, often the certainty, of overwhelming disappointments. We are liable to come to crises where such signs will fail us. In reality we have been setting up a little god of our own make as truly as if we had made an image of wood or stone, and .the idol may be destroyed. I am glad to think that there is a faith without signs, and a faith that persists when things are apparently against us. And it is this faith which lies deepest in the human soul. This, I think, is evident even in the history of those who have looked for signs. When the signs do not appear, they are disappointed, they cry bitterly; but even then, as a rule, they pray! Their eclipses are only temporary. Indeed, nothing is more remarkable than the way in which religious faith, that apparently rests on some supposed evidences, can still live when those evidences are taken from it. This shows that the real root of faith was not in such evidences at all, but deeper in the soul of man. The sense of God belongs to us. And like this psalm, even when we have been expecting signs, and cannot see them, we pray to a God above the clouds, whose face is light and whose favour is life. Like the man in the Gospels we say, "I believe, help Thou my unbelief." We may doubt all the arguments for God's existence, declare this unsatisfactory and that untenable, and when every argument fails we find we believe in God still. We feel and know that He is here. "Eternal Father, strong to save," Thy child lives in Thee. ( T. R. Williams. ) O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme Thy name for ever? Psalm 74:10, 11 The long forbearance of God D. Dickson. 1. Men's patience is much short of God's longsuffering and forbearance; for here it is the speech of a suffering people: "O God, how long shall the adversary reproach?" when with God it is not yet time to fall upon them. 2. The Lord's longsuffering patience doth greatly harden the adversaries in their insolent mocking of God's people; for instead of saying, Lord, how long wilt Thou bear with them? he saith, "O God, how long shall the adversaries reproach?" 3. The truly godly can endure their own troubles better than they can bear the open dishonouring and blaspheming of God by occasion of their trouble. Therefore this expression, from the deepest sense of his heart, doth break forth, "Shall the enemy blaspheme Thy name for ever?" 4. Albeit tentations from carnal sense do represent God as if He were idle when He suffers His enemies to trample on His people, and on His glorious Name; yet faith will not admit of such a thought, but dealeth with God by prayer, to let His strength and power be so manifest, that the world may not think His hand is in His bosom; "Why withdrawest thou thy hand?" etc. This he believeth the Lord shall do, and giveth reasons for his hope, in that which followeth. ( D. Dickson. ) For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Psalm 74:12 The sovereignty of God William Jones. I. LOYALLY ACKNOWLEDGED. "My King." II. OF ANCIENT DATE. "Of old." III. BENEFICENT IN OPERATION. "Working salvation." At this time, as the psalm indicates, His people were in a most desolate and afflicted state. Was the King working for their salvation? Their misery arose from their sin from their rebellion against His authority and govern-mont. At present, darkness, suffering, and sorrow are here, but they are here because sin is here. God rules to bless. IV. AS A PLEA FOR HIS HELP. He mentions what God had done for them in olden time, and pleads that as their King He would interpose for them again. As their King — 1. He would possess sovereign authority. 2. He would be faithful to His sovereign obligations. 3. He was immutable. This plea may be used by us —(1) As communities forming part of His Church. When any portion of His Church languishes, or is afflicted, or is in difficulty, it may plead with the King for help.(2) As individuals on our own behalf. In our times of perplexity and distress, let us go to our King, and plead with Him for direction and deliverance. ( William Jones. ) Thou brakest the heads Of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. Psalm 74:14 Leviathan W. Jay. We cannot certainly tell what animal is meant by leviathan, but whatever be intended, it is here used to represent Pharaoh with all his policy and power. Who were the people inhabiting the wilderness? I. THE BIRDS AND BEASTS OF THE DESERT. The carcases of the Egyptians became their prey. II. THE JEWS THEMSELVES. For literally, Pharaoh and his hosts became meat for them by the spoils they took from them. And morally, because they gained from the event food for their faith, gratitude, and hope. III. CHRISTIANS TO-DAY. For they are such a people: the world is a wilderness to them, not their rest. And for them many leviathans have been destroyed. Satan's power: the curse and condemnation of our natural state. And the remembrance will feed our humility, gratitude and trust. And there have been providential interpositions also. Take note of these things. ( W. Jay. ) The day is Thine, the night also is Thine. Psalm 74:16 The day and the night A. L. Simpson, D. D. I. GOD'S ORDINANCES. 1. Day is a Divine institution, and is strongly characterized by that wisdom and goodness which are over all God's works. In its principal feature — light — light over all, filling the heavens, flushing the earth, mantling over hill and valley, meadow and plain, kindling the great face of the ocean into a mirror, till it reflects on its bosom all that is above it, and repeats in shadow all that is upon it — it may even be regarded as the similitude of God, for "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." 2. But if the day is God's institution, so also is the night, which is not less closely written over with the characters of His wisdom and goodness. If day unto day uttereth speech, night unto night showeth knowledge. They are parts and counterparts of each other. The day makes us ready to welcome the night, and the night furnishes us with a standard by which to measure and estimate the splendours of the day. II. GOD'S SERVANTS. Neither of these two servants of God ever rests. There is always day somewhere, and there is always night somewhere. Continually the night is laying down one half the world to repose, and continually the day is leading forth the other half of the world to work. The night receives the world weary from the hands of the day, and puts it to rest; and the day receives the world refreshed from the hands of the night, and lights it to action. And all the time also they are otherwise doing for man what man cannot do for himself. They are growing his food. They are weaving his raiment. They are enriching his dwelling-place with beauty and verdure. And in all this multiform kindness to us they are serving God, fulfilling His pleasure, doing what He meant them to do, when He set them in the heavens to be for signs and for seasons, for days and for years. So that, in point of fact, this manifold service of nature is just God's kindness to us through the ministry of His two great servants, the day and the night. III. GOD'S ABSOLUTE POSSESSION. That is to say, we are not at liberty to do what we choose with them. For the manner in which we deal, with the possibilities of good which they contain, we are strictly and constantly under law to God. In ministering to us as He has ordained, they are serving Him. But in the use we make of them we must serve Him too. What they do unconsciously we must do consciously, in the exercise of those higher faculties which render us capable of a higher service. God has always been jealous of the treatment His servants have received at the hands of those whom He has appointed them to serve. "Touch not Mine anointed, nor do My prophets any harm." And even these unconscious and inanimate servants, the Day and the Night, have a voice in His ears which He does not disregard, calling for judgment on those who treat them ill, who turn them to purposes of selfishness and sin; who degrade them to be the ministers of unworthy pleasures, or even slothful ease, and who do not rather send them back to their Proprietor laden with the fruits of righteousness unto life everlasting. ( A. L. Simpson, D. D. ) Disorder in the Church Canon Scott Holland. We have lost that immediate vision which is the peculiar privilege and gift of those religious Easterns, who see God in the undeviating realities of experience. The Jew sees God with the seeing of the eye, sees Him in the mighty activities of nature, sees Him in the concrete facts of experience. God is present to him there, attesting His validity, disclosed as the supreme and only actuality. In the roar of the storm, in the rush of the rain, in the splendour of the sun, in the obedience of the moon, in the steady fixities of rock and tree and cliff, he and his God come face to face and commune together. There is the dominion where his God never fails him. Tossed and afflicted as he may be in his spiritual experiences, he still holds fast to this abiding consolation. Anyhow "the day is Thine, the night also is Thine: Thou hast prepared the light and the sun." We have to learn to see with his eyes. That is what we mean by taking the Bible as our authority in revelation. And then we have one other lesson to learn from him. Not only did he find absolute certainty of evidence of God in nature, but he was also prepared to be loyal to a revelation which for long dark periods may fail to accord him that clear security of God's close presence, that regularity of order and seemliness in God's workmanship which he found so constant in the natural world, It is his revelation which is disturbed by such strange perplexities. It is his special privileges, sealed to him by God, which is open to such terrible insecurities. It is the holy Church which seems to be emptied of God, deserted, forgotten, left to the scorn of adversaries who make havoc of its fair delights. Outside there the great order of nature proclaims aloud God's mighty name, "The day is thine; the night is thine." They never languish or grow troubled. But inside the Church he cannot understand what God is about; and yet it is His congregation. It is His inheritance. Nothing shakes the Jew's loyal belief in the peculiar favours which were shown to him. He never dreams of arguing, "If it is a revelation it is bound to be clear, decided, protected against all possible doubts and uncertainties. God would never give a revelation and then leave it open to perplexities." The Jew answers, "That is just what God has done. It is a revelation which He gives. We are His flock, His inheritance, His Church. That is certain, and yet look at our actual situation, how we are troubled, and tossed, and agonized, not knowing which way to turn. Nature is calm, but we are disturbed. And yet we will not fail the word given us, for all that. We are the Divine society, the holy congregation, even though God seems absent from us so long." And we must possess ourselves of a like loyalty to his. The extraordinary assumption that a revelation, if it be a revelation, must be free from difficulties, must be clear-cut, logical, complete, must leave no problem unsolved, must secure itself against every possible misunderstanding, is flatly contradicted by everything that we know of the only revelation of which we have any experience at all. It is the mark of heresy — it was always the mark in old years — to aim at logical completeness, at clear-cut consistency. Surely we will take courage from this Israelite in our psalm. We may desire, as he did, that God's revelation in Jesus Christ might work with the even, smooth, unbroken regularity of natural law. We may painfully contrast, as he did, the comfortable certainty of the one with the perplexity of the other. But God will not have it so. And we know too little of the end He has in view to criticize or complain. Therefore, as the Jew of old, so we at all costs will surrender ourselves to the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, however strange its adverse fortunes, however belated its victory. ( Canon Scott Holland. ) The night also is Thine The God of the night Wingate Thomas. Regard night — I. AS A DIVISION OF TIME. And as such it is — 1. The first. 2. Natural. 3. Universal. 4. Beneficent. "The dews of the night heal the wounds of the day." II. AS THE PRODUCT AND POSSESSION OF GOD. Of storm as well as of calm, of night as well as of day. God is at once the Source and Sovereign. Therefore — III. LEARN. 1. A lesson for the regulation of conduct. Take care to wisely and rightly use the night time. 2. A message for the consolation of human sorrows. For our nights of pain and sorrow are ordained, relieved and terminated by God. ( Wingate Thomas. ) Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: Thou hast made summer and winter . Psalm 74:17 Summer Stopford A. Brooke, M. A. This season so changes the whole of life, so intensifies and blesses it, that we begin to think of summer as a personal friend. One of its chiefest charms is its fulness. And this fulness is its peace. And with the peace is welfare, welfare in the world. For the perfect health of things makes us most happy. The air seems fondly to caress our cheek, the tree to give us its love in its shade, the stream to rejoice for our sakes in its own music. Summer has the deep consciousness of fruitfulness, it rejoices in its own fulness and wealth. Few things are more full of teaching than the beautiful endurance and quiet resolution of Nature during its stormy spring. It has so much to make grow, so much to perfect. Though all the aspirations of spring are not fulfilled, yet more than enough are, to give to summer satisfied content.

Benson Commentary Psalm 74:1 Maschil of Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? Psalm 74:1 . O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever — So as to leave us no visible hopes of restitution? Why doth thine anger smoke? — That is, why doth it rise to such a degree, that all about us take notice of it, and ask, What meaneth the heat of this great anger? Deuteronomy 29:24 . Compare Psalm 74:20 , where the anger of the Lord and his jealousy are said to smoke against sinners. Against the sheep of thy pasture — Against thy chosen people. Psalm 74:2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. Psalm 74:2 . Remember thy congregation — That is, the Israelites, who are thy church, and whom at the expense of so many miracles, thou didst make thy peculiar people; show by thine actions that thou hast not utterly forgotten and forsaken them; which thou hast purchased — Hebrew, ???? , kanita, rendered bought, Deuteronomy 32:6 , but which also signifies acquired or procured, though without price, as Ruth 4:9-10 . Of old — When thou didst bring them out of Egypt, and form them into a commonwealth; gavest them laws, and didst enter into covenant with them at Sinai. The rod of thine inheritance — That people which thou hast measured out, as it were, by rod, to be thy portion: or, the tribe (as the word ????? , shebet, here rendered rod, commonly signifies) of thine inheritance, that is, the tribe of Judah, which thou hast, in a special manner, chosen for thine inheritance, and for the seat of thy church and kingdom, and the birth of the Messiah. And thus here is an elegant gradation from the general to particulars: First, the congregation, consisting of all the tribes; then the tribe of Judah; and lastly, mount Zion. Nor is it strange that he mentions this tribe particularly, because the calamity and captivity here lamented principally befell this tribe and Benjamin, which was united with it, and subject to it; and those who returned from the captivity were generally of this tribe. This mount Zion — Which is often put for the temple, or the hill of Moriah, on which it was built. Psalm 74:3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. Psalm 74:3 . Lift up thy feet — This is spoken after the manner of men, and means, Come speedily to our rescue, and do not delay, as men do when they sit or stand still; unto — Or rather, because of, the perpetual desolations — Namely, those ruins of the city and country, which had lasted so very long, and which, if God did not come to their help, he intimates, would be perpetual and irrecoverable. Even all that the enemy hath done wickedly, &c. — God had deserted his sanctuary, and the shechinah, or cloud of glory, emblematical of the divine presence, had gone up from between the cherubim: see Ezekiel 10:4 . In consequence of which the heathen people had invaded that holy place, and laid it waste. And the psalmist here supplicates and urges God’s return to them, as that which alone could restore their temple, city, and country to their former happy state. Psalm 74:4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs. Psalm 74:4 . Thine enemies roar — Make loud outcries; either out of rage and fury against the conquered and captivated Israelites, now in their power; or rather, in the way of triumph for their success and victory. In the midst of thy congregations — In the places where thy people used to assemble together for thy worship; whereby they designed to insult, not only over us, but over thee also, as if their idols had been too strong for thee. They set up their ensigns for signs — As trophies, in token of their victory over us and over thee. “No sound,” says Dr. Horne, “can be more shocking than the confused clamours of a heathen army sacking the temple; no sight so afflicting as that of the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. Turbulent passions are the enemies which raise an uproar of confusion in the heart; wealth, power, and pleasure are the idols which profane that sanctuary.” Psalm 74:5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. Psalm 74:5-6 . A man was famous, &c. — The meaning, according to this translation, is this: The temple was so noble a structure, that it was a great honour to any man to be employed in the meanest part of the work, though it were but in cutting down the trees of Lebanon. And this interpretation is favoured by the opposition in the next verse. But now, &c. — Some learned expositors, however, translate the first words of this verse, ???? , not, He was famous, but, as is more literal, It is, or will be, well known; and they interpret the two verses thus: “It is, or rather, will be, known or manifest; it will be published to all posterity, as matter of astonishment and admiration, that, as one lifteth up axes in the thick wood, or upon thick trees, to cut them down; so now they, the enemies above mentioned, break down the carved wood thereof, namely, of the sanctuary, with axes and hammers.” It has been ingeniously observed by some, that the two words thus rendered are not Hebrew, but Chaldee or Syriac words, to point out the time when this was done, even when the Chaldeans brought in their language, together with their arms, among the Israelites. Dr. Horne thinks that the Hebrew word above mentioned may be translated a knowing, or skilful person; and then the sense is, “As a skilful person, who understands his business, lifteth up the axe in the thick wood, so now men set themselves to work to demolish the ornaments and timbers of the sanctuary.” They neither regard the sacredness of the place, nor the exquisite curiosity and art of the work, (here signified by the term carved work, ) but cut it down as indifferently and rashly as men cut down the thick and entangled boughs of the trees of the forest. “The words,” adds Dr. H., “suggest another reason why God should arise and have mercy upon Zion, lest his name should be blasphemed among the nations, when they saw and heard of the sacrilegious and horrible destruction wrought by the enemy; whom neither the majesty of the temple, nor the reverence of its divine inhabitant, could restrain from defacing the beauty of holiness. The ornaments of the internal and spiritual temple sometimes suffer as much from the fury of inordinate affections, as the carved work of the sanctuary ever did from the armies of Nebuchadnezzar or Antiochus.” Psalm 74:6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. Psalm 74:7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. Psalm 74:7-8 . They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, &c. — The Chaldeans first polluted, and then set fire to Solomon’s temple, and burned that stately and costly fabric down to the ground. And Antiochus set fire to the gates of the second temple, ( 1Ma 4:28 ,) and afterward the Romans razed it from the foundation, and left not one stone upon another. They said, Let us destroy them together — Root and branch, one as well as another, or all at once. So they desired, and so, it seems, many of them intended, although afterward they changed their counsel, and carried some away captive, and left others to cultivate the ground. They have burned up all the synagogues — All the public places wherein the Jews used to meet together to worship God every sabbath day, as is mentioned Acts 13:27 , and upon other occasions. That the Jews had such synagogues is manifest, both from these and other places of Scripture, and from the testimony of the Hebrew doctors, and other ancient and learned writers, who affirm it, and particularly of Jerusalem, in which they say there were above four hundred; and from the necessity of such places: for seeing it is undeniable that they did worship God publicly on every sabbath, and at other holy times, even when they could not go up to Jerusalem, both conscience and prudence must needs have directed them to appoint convenient places for that purpose. Psalm 74:8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. Psalm 74:9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. Psalm 74:9 . We see not our signs — Those tokens of God’s gracious presence with us, which we and our ancestors used to enjoy. There is no more any prophet — Either, 1st, Any public teacher. We have few or none left to instruct us in the law of God, and in divine things. Or, 2d, Any extraordinary prophet, who can foretel things to come, as the next words explain it. For as for Jeremiah and Ezekiel, they might be dead when this Psalm was composed; and Daniel was involved in civil affairs, and did not teach the people as a prophet; and the prophetical spirit, which sometimes came upon him, and made those great discoveries to him which we read in his book, might possibly at this time suspend his influences. Besides, it is not unusual, in Scripture, to say there is none of a sort of persons or things, when there is a very great scarcity of them. Bishop Patrick thinks what is here said respecting there being no prophet, to tell the Jews how long the captivity would last, is a proof that this Psalm was written toward the end of that captivity. Psalm 74:10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? Psalm 74:10-12 . How long shall the adversary reproach — Namely, thy name, (which is expressed in the next clause,) by saying that thou art either unkind to thy people, or unfaithful in thy covenant, or unable to deliver us out of our miseries. Why withdrawest thou thy hand? — Why dost thou suspend or forbear the exercise of that power which thou hast so often exerted in behalf of thy people? Pluck it out of thy bosom — In which thou now seemest to hide it, as idle persons used to do. This is spoken after the manner of men. It means, Why art thou an inactive spectator of our miseries? Why dost thou not put forth thy power and deliver us? For God is my king of old — In a singular manner. It belongs to thine office to protect and save us; working salvation in the midst of the earth — In the view of the world: saving thy people so eminently and gloriously, that all the nations around observed and admired it. Psalm 74:11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom. Psalm 74:12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Psalm 74:13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Psalm 74:13-14 . Thou didst divide the sea, &c. — “The first part of this verse alludes to that marvellous act of omnipotence which divided the Red sea for Israel to pass over; the second part to the return of its waves upon the heads of the Egyptians, who, like so many sea-monsters, opening their mouths to devour the people of God, were overwhelmed, and perished in the mighty waters.” — Horne. Thou brakest the heads of the dragons — The crocodiles, meaning Pharaoh’s mighty men, who were like these beasts in strength and cruelty. Thou brakest the heads — That is, the head of Pharaoh himself. He says heads, because of the several princes who were and acted under his influence. Dr. Waterland renders the first word, which we translate dragons, crocodiles, and the latter, the crocodile, meaning Pharaoh. And gavest him, &c., to the people inhabiting the wilderness — Hebrew, ??? ????? , legnam letziim, populo desertorum, locorum, (Buxtorf,) to the people of desert places. The Seventy render it, ????? ???? ??????? , to the Ethiopian people. Poole, Horne, and some other commentators, suppose that ravenous birds and beasts of the desert, and not men, are here intended; and that the sense of the clause is, that the bodies of Pharaoh and his captains were thrown on shore by the sea, and so became food for the wild beasts of the neighbouring deserts. We find the same word ???? , used for wild beasts haunting the deserts, Isaiah 13:21 ; Isaiah 34:14 . Psalm 74:14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. Psalm 74:15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers. Psalm 74:15 . Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood — That is, thou didst, by cleaving the rock, make a fountain in it, and a flood or stream to flow from it, for the refreshment of thy people in those dry deserts. Thou driedst up mighty rivers — Hebrew, ????? ???? rivers of strength. The Seventy, however, render it, ???????? ???? , taking the latter word, eethan, for a proper name. Undoubtedly Jordan is meant: so that “two other remarkable exertions of the divine power, in favour of the Israelites, are here referred to. Water was brought out of the rock to satisfy their thirst in the time of drought; and the river Jordan was dried up to open the passage for them into Canaan.” Psalm 74:16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Psalm 74:16 . The day is thine, the night also is thine — It is not strange that thou hast done these great and wonderful works, for thou hast made the heavenly bodies, and appointed the vicissitudes of day and night, depending upon them, which is a far greater work. Thou hast prepared — Hebrew, ?????? , hachinota, thou hast established, that is, not only created, but settled in a constant and orderly course, the light and the sun — That primitive light mentioned Genesis 1:3 , and the sun, in which it was afterward condensed and gathered: or the luminaries in general, with their chief the sun. Thus, “from the miraculous interpositions of God in behalf of his people, the psalmist passes to those ordinary and standing evidences of his goodness toward us, the sweet vicissitudes of light and darkness, and the grateful succession of times and seasons; by which man is taught, in the most sorrowful night, to look for a joyful morning; and, during the severest winter, to expect a reviving spring. Thus is the revolving year our constant instructer and monitor; incessantly inculcating the duties of faith and hope, as well as those of adoration, gratitude, and praise.” — Horne. Psalm 74:17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter. Psalm 74:17 . Thou hast set all the borders of the earth — Thou hast fixed the bounds, both of the habitable world in general, so that the seas, though they do encompass and assault them, yet are not, and never shall be, able to remove them, and of all the countries and people upon earth, whom thou hast confined within such bounds as thou hast seen fit. Thou hast made summer and winter — As the former clause of the verse shows God’s power and government over all places, so this displays his dominion over all times and seasons. And both together are fitly alleged as a motive to God, that he would, at this time, take care of his poor people, and restore them to their ancient land and borders, in which he had been pleased to set them. Psalm 74:18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. Psalm 74:18 . Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached thee — Though we deserve to be forgotten and destroyed, yet remember thyself, and do not suffer thine and our enemies to reproach and blaspheme the name of that great and glorious Being, the Creator and sovereign Lord of the whole world, whom they ought always to reverence and adore; and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name — Who, though they think themselves, and are thought by others, to be wise, yet in truth are fools, and herein show their stupendous folly, that they vilify and provoke that God whose powerful anger they can neither resist, nor escape, nor endure. Psalm 74:19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked : forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. Psalm 74:19 . O deliver not the soul — That is, the life; of thy turtle-dove — That is, thy church; unto the multitude of the wicked — Or, to the wild beast, as ??? , chajath, often signifies: or, to the troop, namely, of her enemies. As if he had said, Thou hast delivered thy people into captivity; do not deliver them to death, nor suffer their enemies utterly to destroy them. The church is fitly compared to a turtle-dove, as resembling it in disposition, being simple, harmless, meek, faithful, solitary, timid, mournful, exposed to manifold injuries, and unable to defend itself. Psalm 74:20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. Psalm 74:20 . Have respect unto the covenant — Made with Abraham, whereby thou didst give the land of Canaan to him, and to his seed for ever; and thou didst further promise, that if thy people were carried away captive into a strange land, and did there humble themselves and pray, and turn unto thee, thou wouldst mercifully restore them, 1 Kings 8:46-50 . Do thou, therefore, now restore us to that pleasant land which thou hast given us. For the dark places of the earth — That is, this dark and dismal land in which we live, wherein there is nothing but ignorance and confusion, and all the works of darkness; are full of the habitations of cruelty — Here are nothing but injustice, and oppression, and tyranny, under which we groan, in all the parts of this great empire, where we have our abode. Psalm 74:21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. Psalm 74:21-23 . O let not the oppressed return ashamed — From thee, and from the throne of thy grace, to which they have recourse in this their distressed condition. “It is for the honour of God that they who apply to him for help should not, by returning without it, suffer shame and confusion in the presence of their insulting adversaries.” Let the poor and needy praise thy name — Which they will have a fresh motive to do, if thou deliver us. O God, plead thine own cause — Maintain thy honour, worship, and service, against those that reproach thee, as it here follows, and was observed before, Psalm 74:10 ; Psalm 74:18 . As we are reviled and persecuted for thy sake, so thou art injured in all our wrongs. Forget not the voice of thine enemies — Their insulting and reproachful expressions against thee, as well as against us. The tumult — The tumultuous noise and loud clamours; of those that rise up against thee increaseth — They grow worse and worse, encouraging and hardening themselves in their wicked courses by their continual success and prosperity, and by thy patience extended to them. Psalm 74:22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. Psalm 74:23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 74:1 Maschil of Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? Psalm 74:1-23 Two periods only correspond to the circumstances described in this psalm and its companion ( Psalm 79:1-13 )-namely, the Chaldean invasion and sack of Jerusalem, and the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes. The general situation outlined in the psalm fits either of these; but, of its details, some are more applicable to the former and others to the later period. The later date is strongly supported by such complaints as those of the cessation of prophecy ( Psalm 74:9 ), the flaunting of the invaders’ signs in the sanctuary ( Psalm 74:4 ), and the destruction by fire of all the "meeting places of God in the land," ( Psalm 74:8 ). On the other hand, the earlier date better fits other features of the psalm-since Antiochus did not destroy or burn, but simply profaned the Temple, though he did, indeed, set fire to the gates and porch, but to these only. It would appear that, on either hypothesis, something must be allowed for poetical coloring. Calvin, whom Cheyne follows in this, accounts for the introduction of the burning of the Temple into a psalm referring to the desolation wrought by Antiochus, by the supposition that the psalmist speaks in the name of the "faithful, who, looking on the horrid devastation of the Temple, and being warned by so sad a sight, carried back their thoughts to that conflagration by which it had been destroyed by the Chaldeans, and wove the two calamities together into one." It is less difficult to pare down the statement as to the burning of the Temple so as to suit the later date, than that as to the silence of prophecy and the other characteristics mentioned, so as to fit the earlier. The question is still further complicated by the similarities between the two psalms and Jeremiah. {compare Psalm 74:4 with Lamentations 2:7 , and Psalm 74:9 with Lamentations 2:9 } The prophet’s well-known fondness for quotations gives probability, other things being equal, to the supposition that he is quoting the psalm, which would, in that case, be older than Lamentations. But this inference scarcely holds good, if there are other grounds on which the later date of the psalm is established. It would be very natural in a singer of the Maccabean period to go back to the prophet whose sad strains had risen at another black hour. On the whole, the balance is in favour of the later date. The psalm begins with a complaining cry to God ( Psalm 74:1-3 ), which passes into a piteous detail of the nation’s misery ( Psalm 74:4-9 ), whence it rises into petition ( Psalm 74:10-11 ), stays trembling faith by gazing upon His past deeds of help and the wonders of His creative power ( Psalm 74:12-17 ), and closes with beseeching God to vindicate the honour of His own name by the deliverance of his people ( Psalm 74:18-23 ). The main emphasis of the prayer in Psalm 74:1-3 lies on the pleas which it presents, drawn from Israel’s relation to God. The characteristic Asaphie name "Thy flock" stands in Psalm 74:1 , and appeals to the Shepherd, both on the ground of His tenderness and of His honour as involved in the security of the sheep. A similar appeal lies in the two words "acquire" and "redeem," in both of which the deliverance from Egypt is referred to, -the former expression suggesting the price at which the acquisition was made, as well as the obligations of ownership; and the latter, the office of the Goel , the Kinsman-Redeemer, on whom devolved the duty of obtaining satisfaction for blood. The double designations of Israel as "Thy congregation" and as "the tribe of Thine inheritance" probably point to the religious and civil aspects of the national life. The strongest plea is put last - namely, God’s dwelling on Zion. For all these reasons, the psalmist asks and expects Him to come with swift footsteps to the desolations, which have endured so long that the impatience of despair blends with the cry for help, and calls them "everlasting," even while it prays that they may be built up again. The fact that the enemy of God and of His flock has marred everything in the sanctuary is enough, the psalmist thinks, to move God to action. The same thought, that the nation’s calamities are really dishonouring to God, and therefore worthy of His intervention, colours the whole of the description of these in Psalm 74:4-9 . The invaders are "Thine adversaries." It is "in the place where Thou didst meet us" that their bestial noises, like those of lions over their prey, echo. It is "Thy sanctuary" which they have set on fire, "the dwelling place of Thy name" which they have profaned. It is "Thy meeting places" which they have burned throughout the land. Only at the end of the sad catalogue is the misery of the people touched on, and that, not so much as inflicted by human foes, as by the withdrawal of God’s Spirit. This is, in fact, the dominant thought of the whole psalm. It says very little about the sufferings resulting from the success of the enemy, but constantly recurs to the insult to God, and the reproach adhering to His name therefrom. The essence of it all is in the concluding prayer, "Plead Thine own cause" ( Psalm 74:22 ). The vivid description of devastation in these verses presents some difficulties in detail, which call for brief treatment. The "signs" in Psalm 74:4 b may be taken as military, such as banners or the like; but it is more in accordance with the usage of the word to suppose them to be religious emblems, or possibly idols, such as Antiochus thrust upon the Jews. In Psalm 74:5 and Psalm 74:6 a change of tense represents the action described in them, as if in progress at the moment before the singer’s eyes. "They seem" is literally "He is known" (or makes himself known), which may refer to the invaders, the change from plural to singular being frequent in Hebrew; or it may be taken impersonally, =" It seems." In either case it introduces a comparison between the hacking and hewing by the spoilers in the Temple, and the work of a woodman swinging on high his axe in the forest. "And now" seems to indicate the next step in the scene, which the psalmist picturesquely conceives as passing before his horror-stricken sight. The end of that ill-omened activity is that at last it succeeds in shattering the carved work, which, in the absence of statues, was the chief artistic glory of the Temple. All is hewed down, as if it were no more than so much growing timber. With Psalm 74:7 the tenses change to the calmer tone of historical narration. The plundered Temple is set on fire-a point which, as has been noticed above, is completely applicable only to the Chaldean invasion. Similarly, the next clause, "they have profaned the dwelling place of Thy name to the ground," does not apply in literality to the action of Antiochus, who did indeed desecrate, but did not destroy, the Temple. The expression is a pregnant one, and calls for some such supplement as is given above, which, however, dilutes its vigour while it elucidates its meaning. In Psalm 74:8 the word "let us crush them" has been erroneously taken as a noun, and rendered "their brood," a verb like "we will root out" being supplied. So the LXX and some of the old versions, followed by Hitzig and Baethgen. But, as Delitzsch well asks, -Why are only the children to be rooted out? and why should the object of the action be expressed, and not rather the action, of which the object would be self-evident? The "meeting places of God in the land" cannot be old sanctuaries, nor the high places, which were Israel’s sin; for no psalmist could have adduced the destruction of these as a reason for God’s intervention. They can only be the synagogues. The expression is a strong argument for the later date of the psalm. Equally strong is the lament in Psalm 74:9 over the removal of the "signs"- i.e. , as in Psalm 74:4 , the emblems of religion, or the sacrifices and festivals, suppressed by Antiochus, which were the tokens of the covenant between God and Israel. The silence of prophecy cannot be alleged of the Chaldean period without some straining of facts and of the words here; nor is it true that then there was universal ignorance of the duration of the calamity, for Jeremiah had foretold it. Psalm 74:10 and Psalm 74:11 are the kernel of the psalm, the rest of which is folded round them symmetrically. Starting from this centre and working outwards, we note that it is preceded by six verses dilating on the profanations of the name of God, and followed by six setting forth the glories of that name in the past. The connection of these two portions of the psalm is obvious. They are, as it were, the inner shell round the kernel. The outer shell is the prayer in three verses which begins the psalm, and that in six verses which closes it. Psalm 74:10 takes up the despairing "How long" from the end of the preceding portion, and turns it into a question to God. It is best to ask Him, when ignorance pains us. But the interrogation does not so much beg for enlightenment as to the duration of the calamity as for its abbreviation. It breathes not precisely impatience, but longing that a state of things so dishonouring to God should end. That aspect, and not personal suffering, is prominent in the verse. It is "Thy name" which is insulted by the adversaries’ actions, and laid open to their contempt, as the name of a Deity powerless to protect His worshippers. Their action "reproaches," and His inaction lets them "despise," His name. The psalmist cannot endure that this condition should drag on indefinitely, as if "forever," and his prayer question "How long?" is next exchanged for another similar blending of petition and inquiry, "Why dost Thou draw back Thy hand?" Both are immediately translated into that petition which they both really mean. "From the midst of Thy bosom consume," is a pregnant phrase, like that in Psalm 74:7 b, and has to be completed as above, though, possibly, the verb stands absolutely as equivalent to "make an end"- i.e. , of such a state of things. The psalmist’s petition is next grounded on the revelation of God’s name in Israel’s past, and in creative acts of power. These at once encourage him to expect that God will pluck His hand out from the folds of His robe, where it lies inactive, and appeal to God to be what He has been of old, and to rescue the name which He has thus magnified from insult. There is singular solemnity in the emphatic reiteration of "Thou" in these verses. The Hebrew does not usually express the pronominal nominative to a verb, unless special attention is to be called to it; but in these verses it does so uniformly, with one exception, and the sevenfold repetition of the word brings forcibly into view the Divine personality and former deeds which pledge God to act now. Remembrance of past wonders made present misery more bitter, but it also fanned into a flame the spark of confidence that the future would be like the past. One characteristic of the Asaph psalms is wistful retrospect, which is sometimes the basis of rebuke, and sometimes of hope, and sometimes of deepened sorrow, but is here in part appeal to God and in part consolation. The familiar instances of His working drawn from the Exodus history appear in the psalm. First comes the dividing of the Red Sea, which is regarded chiefly as occasioning the destruction of the Egyptians, who are symbolised by the "sea monsters" and by "leviathan" (the crocodile). Their fate is an omen of what the psalmist hopes may befall the oppressors of his own day. There is great poetic force in the representation that the strong hand, which by a stroke parted the waters, crushed by the same blow the heads of the foul creatures who "floated many a rood" on them. And what an end for the pomp of Pharaoh and his host, to provide a meal for jackals and the other beasts of the desert, who tear the corpses strewing the barren shore! The meaning is completely misapprehended when "the people inhabiting the wilderness" is taken to be wild desert tribes. The expression refers to animals, and its use as designating them has parallels. {as Proverbs 30:25-26 } In Psalm 74:15 another pregnant expression occurs, which is best filled out as above, the reference being to cleaving the rock for the flow of water, with which is contrasted in b the drying up of the Jordan. Thus the whole of the Exodus period is covered. It is noteworthy that the psalmist adduces only wonders wrought on waters, being possibly guided in his selection by the familiar poetic use of floods and seas as emblems of hostile power and unbridled insolence. From the wonders of history he passes to those of creation, and chiefly of that might by which times alternate and each constituent of the Kosmos has its appointed limits. Day and night, summer and winter, recur by God’s continual operation. Is there to be no dawning for Israel’s night of weeping, and no summer making glad the winter of its discontent? "Thou didst set all the bounds of the earth,"-wilt Thou not bid back this surging ocean which has transgressed its limits and filled the breadth of Thy land? All the lights in the sky, and chiefly the greatest of them, Thou didst establish, -surely Thou wilt end this eclipse in which Thy people grope. Thus the psalmist lifts himself to the height of confident though humble prayer, with which the psalm closes, recurring to the opening tones. Its centre is, as we have seen, a double remonstrance-"How long?" and "Why?" The encircling circumference is earnest supplication, of which the keynote is "Remember" ( Psalm 74:2 and Psalm 74:18 ). The gist of this closing prayer is the same appeal to God to defend His own honour, which we have found in the former verses. It is put in various forms here. Twice ( Psalm 74:18 and Psalm 74:22 ) God is besought to remember the reproach and contumely heaped on His name, and apparently warranted by His inaction. The claim of Israel for deliverance is based in Psalm 74:19 upon its being "Thy turtle dove," which therefore cannot be abandoned without sullying Thy fame. The psalmist spreads the "covenant" before God, as reminding Him of His obligations under it. He asks that such deeds may be done as will give occasion to the afflicted and needy to "praise Thy name," which is being besmirched by their calamities. Finally, in wonderfully bold words, he calls on God to take up what is, after all, "His own" quarrel, and, if the cry of the afflicted does not move Him, to listen to the loud voices of those who blaspheme Him all the day. Reverent earnestness of supplication sometimes sounds like irreverence; but, "when the heart’s deeps boil in earnest," God understands the meaning of what sounds strange, and recognises the profound trust in His faithfulness and love which underlies bold words. The precise rendering of Psalm 74:19 is very doubtful. The word rendered above by "company" may mean life or a living creature, or, collectively, a company of such. It has been taken in all these meanings here, and sometimes in one of them in the first clause, and in another in the second, as most recently by Baethgen, who renders "Abandon not to the beast" in a, -and "The life of thine afflicted" in b. But it must have the same meaning in both clauses, and the form of the word shows that it must be construed in both with a following "of." If so, the rendering adopted above is best, though it involves taking the word rendered "greed" (lit., soul) in a somewhat doubtful sense. This rendering is adopted in the R.V. (margin), and is, on the whole, the least difficult, and yields a probable sense. Delitzsch recognises the necessity for giving the ambiguous word the same meaning in both clauses, and takes that meaning to be "creature," which suits well enough in a, but gives a very harsh meaning to b. "Forget not Thy poor animals forever" is surely an impossible rendering. Other attempts have been made to turn the difficulty by textual alteration. Hupfeld would transpose two words in a-and so gets "Give not up to rage the life of Thy dove." Cheyne corrects the difficult word into "to the sword," and Graetz follows Dyserinck in preferring "to death," or Krochmal, who reads "to destruction." If the existing text is retained, probably the rendering adopted above is best. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.