Psalms 74:1–20

Psalm 74 complains of the enemy's ruin of the sanctuary, after it had been rebuilt in the land. God's enemies, as faith calls them here, roar in the assemblies. Man's banners, not God's, are the signs of power. All public Jewish worship lay in ruins. Not only this — what might have been a comfort in such a time fails. There are no signs from God to meet it, no prophets, no one who knows how long — no one taught by God when He will step in with power. Still there is faith here that God will not forsake His people. And that word, "How long?", when no answer comes, turns into a cry. It cannot be for ever.

The psalm begins with a cry to God as a people abandoned by Him. He has forsaken them — not "forever," as if they were predicting the future, but "perpetually," that is, as a matter of day-by-day experience. They ask Him, as it were, to "lift His feet": to come and look at these unending desolations. Those ruins are the terrible and clear proof that He has abandoned them, for they are the ruins of His own dwelling place among them.

The believing remnant of Israel feel as though they are cast off perpetually — not "forever," but it seems endless. So they trace this to God's anger smoking against them, though they are the sheep of His pasture. They feel their troubles to be not only the persecution of enemies, but the disciplining hand of God. That is the proper way for a believer to feel his afflictions, for it is only God who can give a proper answer.

But they are "the sheep of His pasture," whom He has forsaken! This is not meant to claim any righteousness on their part. It is not that they have been teachable, obedient, submissive to government: who could claim that for them? No, it is privilege they are thinking of — His provision for them, what He had brought them into, little as they may have responded to His care. They were His assembly, His in a relationship that He Himself had formed with them: for He had purchased them; He had redeemed them. Whatever they might be, would the One who never goes back on His word deny His own work? He had chosen Zion and lived there: could He forsake it altogether?

No wonder, then, that this is another Maskil psalm — a special "instruction" for Israel in the last days.

This Psalm came true in part in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. Its complete fulfilment waits for the time of "the great tribulation." … Asaph lived at the same time as David. It is not certain that he lived to see the Temple built, yet he writes so vividly of its destruction!

It is most needful to mark the difference between God's ways in government with His people, and His ways in grace. Under the righteous government of God, the Jews have been and still are under His chastening hand, because of their sins and their refusal to repent. But the grace and love of His heart towards them never change. Mark the terms of the covenant: "And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever." This principle matters immensely — not only for Israel and the church, but for the individual Christian.

They ask that God will remember His inheritance — as though He could ever forget! God had purchased and redeemed them, as Exodus 15 plainly records. He had brought them to Mount Zion to dwell in His presence. He did not forget His own gracious work among His inheritance. He did not forget Mount Zion, the centre of His own dealings with His people.

But they are "the sheep of His pasture," whom He has forsaken like this! Not that this is meant to claim any righteousness on their part. It is not that they have been teachable, willing, obedient to God's rule — who could claim that for them? No, it is privilege they are thinking of: His provision for them, and what He had brought them into, however little they answered to His care. They were His assembly. They were His in a relationship He Himself had formed with them, for He had purchased them; He had redeemed them. Whatever they might be, would the One who never changes His mind disown His own work? He had chosen Zion and dwelt there — could He forsake it altogether?

So we see that there is no self-righteousness in this plea made with God. It rests on that covenant name, Jehovah, though for good reason the name does not appear here. But it was in the power of that name that He redeemed them out of Egypt at the first. He will be true to it. He will act according to His own nature. He does not change His mind, or alter because men alter. And the ground taken here is grace — purchase and redemption, which implies the putting away of sin.

Israel is lifted up above the nations, as the chosen inheritance of the Most High, who owns heaven and earth. Israel is the rod of His inheritance — the One who created Jacob and formed Israel to be a people for His praise (Jer. 10:16; Deut. 32:9; Isa. 43).

Here, in Psalm 74, the psalmist appeals to the fact of redemption and purchase of old in view of the present desolations. The sanctuary lay in flames, its decorations destroyed, all God's places of assembly burned. No sign of divine power remained, and no one was left to pass on the Word. Well might they cry, How long?

He pleads the covenant too, and that this cause was God's cause. This follows their mediator Moses. In his day he appealed to the fathers, to the covenant of promise, and to the honour of the name of Him who had redeemed them from Egypt (see Ex. 32:12-13).

The enemy is seen in the sanctuary. Some have applied this to the defiling of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes. But prophetically it points instead to that end time, when the enemy will defile the temple with the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15). Then the remnant who love the sanctuary tell the Lord about it, as we read in this Psalm. In a mighty prayer they plead for Him to step in.

They spread out before God the work of the enemy. They say, "Lift up your feet to the perpetual desolations." They ask God to look at the ruin the enemy has caused — a ruin that is beyond repair. The enemy has destroyed everything in the place of God's assembly. In the house of God, man has set up his own signs in place of God's signs. Instead of showing God, the house of God becomes a place to display man.

The psalm begins with a cry to God from a people who feel He has abandoned them. They do not say "forever," as if they were predicting the future. They say "perpetually" — that is, day after day they live as people He has forsaken. They beg Him, as it were, to "lift His feet," that is, to come and look at these lasting ruins. Those ruins are the terrible and plain proof that He has left them, for they are the ruins of His own dwelling place among them. But who could have done this, as long as He still owned the place in any way? How impossible for an enemy to win against God!

"Your enemies roar in the midst of your meeting place" (v. 4). Notice, they do not say "our enemies." They realize that this is much more serious. God's own enemies have found their way into what is God's property, and they set up their own business there as signs of their conquest… They have come not just to take the place over, but to destroy it. They break down and burn what was built as the dwelling of God, and they defile it.

But they are "the sheep of His pasture," and He has forsaken them like this! This is not a claim that they were righteous. It is not that they had been teachable, obedient, submissive to authority — who could claim that for them? No, they are thinking of privilege: of His provision for them, and of all He had brought them into, however little they may have responded to His care. They were His assembly, His in a relationship He Himself had formed with them, for He had bought them; He had redeemed them. Whatever they might be, would He who never changes His mind deny His own work? He had chosen Zion and lived there: could He forsake it altogether?

The apostasy of the future runs like a strong current, and it has harmful effects on people. Psalm 74 carries us on to hear of the punishment that will follow it. What Daniel foretold is now seen as having come to pass: "The place of His sanctuary was cast down." Once the image of the Beast, that abomination of desolation, has been set up in the holy place (Matt. 24:15-21), the invasion of the land must follow, and the sanctuary must be brought low.

This is clearly a prayer of believers on Jewish ground, not on Christian ground. Christians have no such earthly sanctuary. The whole company of Christians are God's House in this present age (Eph. 2:22; 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Tim. 3:15), and Christians in any one place are together God's Temple there (1 Cor. 3:16)… So it is a believer within Judaism who speaks here.

They feel their troubles to be not only persecution from enemies, but the disciplining hand of God. That is the right way for a believer to feel his afflictions, because only God can give a proper answer.

Psalm 74 complains of the hostile destruction of the sanctuary, when it had been rebuilt in the land. God's enemies, as faith here calls them, roar in the congregations. Man's flags, not God's, are the signs of power. All public Jewish worship lay in ruins.

"Your enemies roar in the midst of your meeting place" (v. 4). Notice, they do not say, "our enemies." They realise this is much more serious. God's own enemies have found their way into what belongs to God, and they set up their own business as signs of their conquest. This was similar to those who were buying and selling in the temple in the Lord's time, and whom He threw out.

The enemies now roar in the middle of it. They set up their flags — human, and perhaps idolatrous, witnesses of pride — as the rallying points of power and confidence.

There is worse still. In the very place where people had seen only the marks of the worship of the true God, "they set up their signs as signs." Delitzsch says: "By 'signs' we must not understand military flags. The setting is the Temple, where other marks replaced Israel's own national marks. So the word must carry the religious sense it has when it is used of circumcision and of the Sabbath."

On the outside, things look at their worst. The ravaging goes unchecked. The sanctuary lies desolate. There is roaring in the assemblies. Man's sign is the only sign in view anywhere. There is no voice even from God, no prophet, and no one who knows "how long." Yet faith owns God as "my King" from of old, and owns His mighty deliverances.

The wrath of God was "smoking over the sheep of His pasture," and the enemy had acted wickedly in the sanctuary. He roared in the middle of His congregations, set up his flags for signs, broke down the carved work at once with axes and hammers, and threw fire into the sanctuary, leaving a scene of ruin. Yet the most hopeless of all these things was this: "there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knows how long."

Matthew Henry in his commentary says, "It was to be the temple of the God of peace, so no iron tool must be heard in it. Quietness and silence both suit and help worship. God's work should be done with as much care and as little noise as possible. Men threw down the temple with axes and hammers, and those who did it roared in the middle of the congregation (Ps. 74:4, 6). But it was built up in silence. Noise and violence often hinder, but never advance the work of God."

In Psalm 74 we have a lament of Asaph about the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar. He tells us that at one time a man was counted famous for going to Lebanon. There he cut down trees with an axe, and shaped them with a hammer to decorate the temple. He used destructive tools in the right way. Remember that when they built the temple, the workmen used neither tool inside the house itself. We learn from this Psalm that they used them outside the house, to get material for building it. There have been famous men in our own day who, by the gospel, cut men down from their high places in this world. In that way they helped to produce spiritual material for the house of God. But Asaph goes on to say that men were now using the axes and hammers inside the temple — not outside — and destroying the skilled work of others.

Men once famous for felling trees now spending their strength destroying the sanctuary of God. Heart-breaking to those who loved the house for the sake of the One who dwelt there.

This was much used in the Temple. "Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers." They were then overlaid with gold. 1 Kings 6:18, 29-35. In prophecy the Psalmist mourns as the enemy breaks it down with axes and hammers. Ps. 74:6.

Everything that speaks of the beauty of God's house — the carved work — they break down without pity. They care no more about it than a man cutting down trees in a wood.

Notice, they do not say, "our enemies." They realize that this is much more serious. God's own enemies have found their way into what is God's property, and they set up their own business there as signs of their conquest… Rather than using axes to cut down trees outside, they were using them to break down the carved work of the sanctuary (v. 5). For they have come, not simply to take possession, but to destroy.

In part this Psalm was fulfilled in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. Its complete fulfilment waits for "the great tribulation."… Asaph lived in David's day. It is not certain that he lived to see the Temple built, yet he writes so vividly of its destruction! The spirit of prophecy is divinely wonderful.

It is much easier to drive people out than to get them in. One has had the sad experience of seeing men stir up discord in the gatherings. As a result, people have been driven away. How much more blessed it would have been to work for the conversion of others, and to help them become material that beautifies the house of God… Destruction or construction, which is true of us?

Modernism is destructive, not constructive. It deals in subtraction and knows nothing of real helpfulness. It robs and leaves one the poorer. It takes away the fine gold and leaves the dross. In short, it is unbelief dressed up as religion — unbelief with a hypocritical veneer.

This was used a great deal in the Temple: "Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers." They were then overlaid with gold (1 Kings 6:18, 29-35). The Psalmist, speaking as a prophet, laments that the enemy breaks it down with axes and hammers (Ps. 74:6). For the 'carved images' of idolatry (Judges 18:18; 2 Chron. 33:7, 22; 34:3-4) another word is used, which is elsewhere translated 'graven image.'

They break down everything that speaks of the beauty of God's house — the carved work — without pity, as casually as a man cutting down trees in a wood. God's house is defiled, and the enemy aims to destroy every meeting place of God's people throughout the land.

He tells us that a man was once counted famous for going to Lebanon, cutting down trees with an axe, and shaping them with a hammer to decorate the temple. He used destructive tools in the right way. Remember that when the temple was built, neither of these tools was used in the house itself. This Psalm shows us that they were used outside the house, to get material for building it. In our own day there have been famous men who used the gospel to cut people down from their high places in this world, and so helped to produce spiritual material for the house of God. But Asaph goes on to say that the axes and hammers were now being used inside the temple, not outside, and the skilled work of others was being destroyed.

No trace of human tools appeared while the temple was being built. It went up in silence. No one heard an axe or a hammer. It was the work of God, and everything was prepared beforehand.

Notice, they do not say "our enemies." They realise this is much more serious: God's own enemies have found their way into what is God's property, setting up their own affairs there as signs of their conquest… Instead of using axes to cut down trees outside, they were using them to break down the carved work of the sanctuary (v. 5). They have come not simply to take possession, but to destroy.

Nothing but malice seems to guide the hands and strengthen the arms of these invaders of the holy places. They look like men levelling trees in a thicket. But no — it is the carved work of the sanctuary that they smash without mercy, with axes and hammers.

In part this Psalm was fulfilled in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. But its full fulfilment waits for the time of "the great tribulation"… Men once famous for felling trees now spend their strength destroying the sanctuary of God. It broke the hearts of those who loved the house for the sake of the One who lived in it. Asaph lived in the days of David. It is not certain that he lived to see the Temple built, yet he describes its destruction so vividly!

Every part of Israel's sorrow is here, except that they never say they feel their sin, or confess it — though verse 1 may hint at it… Every outward mark of an ordered relationship is gone.

It is much easier to drive people out than to bring them in. I have had the sad experience of seeing men busy sowing discord in the gatherings, and as a result people were driven away. How much more blessed it would have been to work at bringing people to conversion, and to help them become material that beautifies the house of God… Destruction or construction — which is true of us?

Modernism is destructive, not constructive. It deals in subtraction and knows nothing of real helpfulness. It robs and leaves one the poorer. It takes away the fine gold and leaves the dross.

"Your enemies roar in the midst of your meeting place" (v. 4). Notice, they do not say "our enemies." Realize that this is much more serious. God's own enemies have found their way into what is God's property, and they have set up their own business there as the signs of their conquest.

They have come not just to take the place over, but to destroy it. They break it down, set it on fire and defile it — and it was built as the dwelling of God. This was not only done on the spur of the moment. They had already said in their hearts, "Let us destroy them altogether" (v. 8). It was a planned project in bitter enmity against God.

Mere malice seems to guide the hands and strengthen the arms of the invaders of the holy places. They set the sanctuary on fire and burn it to the ground, with no respect for what is holy. And this flame spreads far and wide through the land, against every place of gathering that bears the Name of the "Mighty One." Men, who are only His creatures, attack that Name with their pitiful weak arms.

In the house of God man has set up his signs in place of God's signs. Instead of showing God, the house of God becomes a place for putting man on display.

The temple built by Solomon was destroyed by the Babylonians. This was the beginning of the "times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). The glory had departed from the temple. The sentence passed was, "Lo-ammi, not My people."

This Psalm describes the strong current of the turning away from God that is still in the future. Here in Psalm 74 we learn of the complete ruin of the sanctuary that follows that turning away. Then we hear true saints pleading with God.

After the enemy had wrecked the sanctuary and left it in ruins, the most hopeless thing of all was this: no prophet was left, and no one could tell how long it would last. Even in the worst disaster there is some comfort while you can still see the end of it, and while someone is there who can say how long it will last.

The people of God turn away from the cruelty and blasphemy of lawless wickedness and appeal to Him who long ago had taken Israel's name as His own. He had lived at Zion. He had bought the people and redeemed the land to be His own... So His Name is the only ground of this appeal.

Christians have no such earthly sanctuary. In this present age, all Christians together are God's House (Eph. 2:22; 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Tim. 3:15). And in any one place, the Christians there are together God's Temple (1 Cor. 3:16).

They have come not simply to take what is there, but to destroy. They break down what was built as God's dwelling, they set it on fire, and they defile it. This was not done on the spur of the moment. They had already said in their hearts, "We will utterly subdue them" (v. 8). It was a planned project in bitter hostility toward God, and the fire had destroyed "all the meeting places of God in the land."

In the Old Testament of the King James Version this word appears only once, in Psalm 74:8. But the same Hebrew word (moed) is translated 'congregation' many times. Darby, and the margin of the Revised Version, translate it in Psalm 74:8 as "places of assembly." … The main thought is 'congregation' or 'gathering.' As far as anyone knows, there were no buildings called synagogues in Old Testament times.

Then they set it on fire and burn it to the ground, treating what is holy as common. And this flame spreads far and wide through the land against every place of gathering that owns the Name of the "Mighty One." So the weak, pitiful arms of men attack that Name — and those men are His own creatures.

Only those serving God were meant to walk in the sacred courts, but pagan invaders have defiled them with their feet. They have also tried to wipe out every trace of true worship in the land (v. 8).

This is clearly a prayer of saints on Jewish ground, not on Christian ground. Christians have no such earthly sanctuary. In this present age the whole company of Christians is God's House (Eph. 2:22; 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Tim. 3:15), and in any one place the Christians there are together God's Temple (1 Cor. 3:16).

They burn all the meeting places of God (verse 8). For in that day there will be a man who wants to take the place of God. He will not allow anyone's requests to be made to anyone but himself. Darius is a picture of this (Dan. 6). But the king he pictures will do as he pleases, and not follow the advice of others. He will exalt himself above every god, and speak astonishing things against the God of gods (Dan. 11:36; 2 Thess. 2:4).

This Psalm was fulfilled in part in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. Its full fulfilment still waits for the time of "the great tribulation." The King of the North will come down with overwhelming armies. Because of the evil of the mass of the Jewish people, he will be allowed to take out his vengeance on the land and the sanctuary (Dan. 11:40; Joel 2).

And who knows the limit? There is no prophet any more: there is none who knows how long. But here evil at its worst stirs up the appeal to God again — and He does know.

Psalm 74 complains of the hostile desolation of the sanctuary, when rebuilt in the land. God's enemies, as faith here calls them, roar in the congregations. Man's ensigns, not God's, are the signs of power. All public Jewish worship was laid low. Not only this — what might have been a comfort in such a time fails. There are no signs from God to meet it, no prophets, none who know how long — that is, none taught by God when He will step in with power.

Sadly, the godly add, "We do not see our signs." In the past these signs had encouraged their faith in the living God. Now they were missing, because of the people's own lack of faith. Nor could they consult a prophet of God, for God had not raised up such a man. Also, among the people, no one had knowledge of how long this state of affairs might continue.

Among God's people there are no signs of God's work. There is no prophet to recall the people to God, or any who can give hope of any limit to the evil. There are none who can say "how long" the trial will continue.

When the wrath of God was "smoking over the sheep of His pasture," and the enemy had done wickedly in the sanctuary... the most hopeless of all these circumstances after all was this: "there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long." Even in the greatest calamity there remains some comfort as long as the end can be foreseen, and somebody is at hand who can tell how long it will last.

Psalm 74 may be taken as an expression of the very lowest extremity to which their own sin... had brought them... Yet there is faith that God will not utterly forsake His people, and the word "how long?" turns into a cry (v. 10). It cannot be "for ever."

And who knows the limit? There is no prophet any more: there is none who knows how long. But here the extremity of evil rouses afresh the appeal to God, who does know.

We have clearly a prayer of saints on Jewish, not on Christian, ground. Christians have no such earthly sanctuary... The faithful have to say, "We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long." These are dark days indeed. But this throws them upon God, as verses 10, 11 show.

He cannot cease to guide us, or where should we be? But He may not, and does not, show His action with a fallen church as with a fresh and new one. He never does. "We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long." Yet Haggai says, "My Spirit remains among you," as when they came out of Egypt. I believe faithfulness, in such a time, is a special privilege.

This leads to a fresh appeal to God. It is not now "how long" will God's people suffer, but "how long" will God allow the adversary to reproach and blaspheme His Name. If it is a question of God and the enemy, can God remain inactive? Will not God show His hand and act?

So the godly have pleaded that the enemy is attacking God's people (vv. 1-2); God's sanctuary (vv. 3-9); and God's name (v. 10).

Not only this — what might have been a comfort in such a time fails. There are no signs from God to meet it, no prophets, no one who knows how long — no one taught by God Himself when He will come in power. Still there is faith here that God will not forsake His people, and that word, How long? turns into a cry when no answer comes. It cannot be for ever. Faith rests on God's faithfulness.

And who knows the limit? But here the extremity of evil rouses a fresh appeal to God, who does know.

The heart calls on God to remember the enemy's attacks and reproaches instead of taking fright at them, for the reproach is on His name. And this is true. When the world is against His people, it is really against the Lord. If they were not His people, the world would not trouble itself much about them. God's people have to remember the same thing, and in their own weakness to remember what is at stake.

Deeply troubled, Asaph cries, "O God, how long?" In this affliction, what matters most is the question of God's glory. Will the enemy never be stopped from blaspheming His name? (v. 10). Why has God withdrawn His hand as though He were not concerned? They plead with Him (unnecessarily) to take His hand out of His bosom to destroy the enemy. God will do this in His own time and in His own way, for He cares for His own glory more rightly than we do.

Blasphemy must reach its full measure in the land and in the city where the Lord was crucified. God will be dishonoured, as He has often been before, in His sanctuary with a final provocation.

He must appear; He must vindicate Himself, for His name is openly reproached. The fool scoffs at it; and though he shows himself by this a "fool," yet how can God allow it? "Why do You withdraw Your hand?" yes, "Your right hand?" Why is the blow, which so often seems about to fall, so constantly delayed? "Get it ready from inside Your bosom!"

This leads to a fresh appeal to God. It is not now "how long" will God's people suffer, but "how long" will God allow the adversary to reproach and blaspheme His Name. If it is a question of God and the enemy, can God remain inactive? Will not God show His hand and act?

Thus the godly have pleaded that the enemy is attacking God's people (vv. 1-2); God's sanctuary (vv. 3-9); and God's name (v. 10).

Why has God withdrawn His hand as though He were not concerned? They plead with Him (unnecessarily) to take His hand out of His bosom to destroy the enemy. God will do this in His own time and in His own way, for He cares for His own glory more rightly than we do.

All the elements of Israel's sorrow are on the scene, except that they never express or confess their sense of sin — though perhaps verse 1 implies it. Every outward mark of an ordered relationship is gone. So the name Jehovah is only mentioned; but faith calls on God as Elohim, bound for His own sake to step in.

It is not that they have been teachable, obedient to government: who could claim this for them? No, it is privilege that they are thinking of — of His provision for them, of what He had brought them into, little as they may have responded to His care. They were His assembly, His in a relationship which He Himself had formed with them: for He had purchased them; He had redeemed them. Whatever they were, would the One who never changes His mind disown His own work? He had chosen Zion and lived there: could He forsake it completely?

Still there is faith here that God will not forsake His people. That word, How long?, if there is no answer to it, turns into a cry. It cannot be for ever. Faith trusts God's faithfulness. In the past He had struck Egypt and delivered His people through a divided sea. All power in creation was His.

To no event before the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans can reference here have been made. Twice has the Temple been destroyed — first by the Chaldeans, centuries before Christ; and the second time by the Romans. Between those two events the house was desecrated but never burned. In the days of Antiochus Epiphanes only the temple doors were burned, and not the house itself.

This has been applied to the defilement of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes. But prophetically it points instead to the end time, when the enemy will defile the temple with the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15).

Psalm 74 complains of the hostile destruction of the sanctuary, after it was rebuilt in the land. God's enemies, as faith here calls them, roar in the congregations. Man's ensigns, not God's, are the signs of power. All public Jewish worship was laid low... There are no signs from God to meet it, no prophets, none who know how long. Still there is faith here that God will not forsake His people, and that word, How long? if there is no answer to it, turns into a cry. It cannot be for ever.

qedem, 'ancient, that which is before.' "The eternal God is your dwelling place." Deuteronomy 33:27. "Are you not from everlasting?" Habakkuk 1:12. "Yet God my King is from of old." Psalm 74:12.

(vv. 12-17) Having fully spread the trial out before God, the psalmist encourages himself in God. Despite all failure among the people of God, and all the power of the enemy, God is King. And God is working salvation in the midst of the earth.

But it is a known God, the King of His people, working salvation in the midst of the earth (12). And He is the Creator, who made day and night, and prepared the light and the sun. What idol has done or could do that? Moreover, He has shown His power in past times, a power exercised on behalf of Israel, and for no others. He delivered them from the power of Egypt. He brought them through the Red Sea. He made a pathway for them through the Jordan. Remembering all that gives the saint in Israel courage to look to God in this terrible distress (12-17).

The psalmist now goes back to the history of old. He comforts himself with the experience of God's wonders for the people, when He led them out of Egypt into this very land. Now so terrible a calamity has fallen on them here. "For God is my King of old," he says, "working deliverances in the midst of the earth" — there where the eyes of men would be most upon them. Egypt, which he goes on to speak of, was such a place. Its proud king was just the person in whom God could make His power known and declare His name throughout all the earth.

Here, in Psalm 74, the psalmist appeals to the fact of redemption and purchase of old in view of the present desolations... But faith recalls that God was Israel's King of old, accomplishing deliverances in the midst of the earth (v. 12). The Red Sea was a proof of it, the destruction of Egypt's hosts, the smitten rock, the drying up of Jordan's waters, the ordinances of the heavens and the earth — that is to say, creation and redemption were alike witnesses of it.

So the Spirit of Christ writes for them by the pen of Asaph, "Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. You divided the sea by Your might." (Psalm 74:12-13.) By the power and might of His own right arm He brought them out of Egypt. That was the pledge that they would pass over by the same strength into the mountain of His inheritance... "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Psalm 74 is a lament. Godly Jews in a coming day will take a lament like this on their lips, when they see the devastation caused on the earth by the powers of evil, headed up in Antichrist.

There are no signs from God to meet it, no prophets, no one who knows how long. Still there is faith here that God will not forsake His people. If the words How long? get no answer, they turn into a cry. It cannot be for ever. Faith trusts God's faithfulness. Before this He had struck Egypt and delivered His people through a divided sea. All power in creation was His.

Having laid the whole trial out before God, the psalmist takes courage in God. Despite all the failure among God's people, and all the power of the enemy, God is King, and God is working salvation in the midst of the earth.

The psalmist now looks back to the far past. He comforts himself with what God did for the people, when He led them out of Egypt into this very land — the land where such a terrible disaster has now fallen. "God my King is from of old," he says, "working salvation in the midst of the earth" — there where the eyes of men would be most upon them. Egypt, which he speaks of next, was such a place. Its proud king was just the person in whom God could make His power known, and declare His name throughout all the earth.

He has been Israel's King from all past ages, working salvation in the midst of Egyptian oppression (v. 12). God's greater power divided the mighty sea that blocked their escape from Egypt, and Israel marvelled at their rescue. He broke the head of the sea serpent in the waters. This speaks of the satanic power that threatened them.

It may mean any great serpent or sea monster, a symbol of a huge destructive creature… Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is called the great dragon (Ezekiel 29:3)… In the New Testament the dragon is a picture of Satan and those he empowers.

So the Spirit of Christ writes for them by the pen of Asaph, "Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. You divided the sea by Your might" (Psalm 74:12-13). By the power and might of His own right arm He brought them out of Egypt. That act was the pledge that the same strength would carry them over into the mountain of His inheritance.

The circumstances were special. The Arm of Jehovah, who had cut Rahab in pieces and wounded the dragon (Isaiah 51:9), was sitting at the table with them… Israel in Egypt had proved God's power and faithfulness. At the supper the disciples saw how lasting divine love is, and how low the Lord would stoop to serve His own.

The psalmist appeals to the fact that God redeemed and bought them long ago, and he holds that up against the present ruins. The sanctuary was on fire, its decorations destroyed, all God's meeting places burned up. There were no signs of divine power, and no one left to pass on His Word. No wonder they cried, "How long?" But faith remembers that God was Israel's King long ago, working deliverances in the midst of the earth.

Leviathan is clearly a crocodile, and here it refers to Egypt (see Ezekiel 32:2). God broke the heads of that nation to pieces, and in effect gave them as food for the people who lived in the wilderness.

He was "working deliverances in the midst of the earth" — there where the eyes of men would be most upon them. Egypt, which he goes on to speak about, was such a place. Its proud king was just the man in whom God could make His power known, and declare His name throughout all the earth.

Leviathan is a fitting symbol of the enemy of God's people, Ps. 74:14. In Isa. 27:1 it also typifies Satan: "leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent," whom God will punish.

Some object that the word only means animals of the desert. Even so, these last words surely refer to Israel. For a time they lived in the wilderness, and their enemies became their spoil. Caleb and Joshua later speak of the Canaanites in the same way: "they shall be food for us" (Num. 14:9)… Israel's difficulties only become God's opportunities, and their enemies only supply them with food… and so it is with all the people of God.

The desire is that the Lord will show Himself as the kinsman-avenger of Israel. For under the law, the kinsman was to ransom, to avenge, and to build up the brother's house. And this is a cry to Him to act as an avenger. At the exodus from Egypt He acted in just that way, and the psalmist pleads it here. As their kinsman He had done both. He ransomed Israel out of Egypt, and He avenged Israel on Egypt. He divided the waters for His people, and He broke the heads of leviathan.

The psalmist has spread the whole trial out before God, and now he encourages himself in God. Despite all the failure among God's people, and all the power of the enemy, God is King, and God is working salvation in the middle of the earth.

God brought water from the rock, and so sustained His people in the wilderness; He dried up the Jordan, and brought them into the land (v. 15).

Only two experiences of the journey are given, and they are clearly set against each other. They were chosen for that reason: to show the different ways nature acts under the power of God. In the first, human need is met — a "place of springs and brooks" is split open in the hard rock, and the barren desert itself feeds the people. In the second, the rushing Jordan — no mere winter stream, and at full flood — is dammed back and dries up. The long journey ends with the same display of power that began it.

"You broke open the fountain and the flood" (v. 15). When Israel was in need of water, God broke open the fountain, giving water from a rock! He was also able to sweep away the opposition of enemies as though by a flood. So the water He gave proved a blessing to Israel, but devastating to their enemies. He also dried up mighty rivers before them, such as the Jordan.

This is the first mention of a rock in Scripture, and that is striking. As 1 Corinthians 10:4 tells us, "that rock was Christ." The rock was struck, and the waters gushed out. It is a clear picture of the Holy Spirit — a river of living water flowing out as a result of the death of Christ. Here was all the water that the people needed, given in grace despite their complaining.

Still there is faith here that God will not forsake His people, and that word, How long? if there is no answer to it, turns into a cry. It cannot be for ever. Faith trusts God's faithfulness. Before now He had struck Egypt and delivered His people through a divided sea. All power in creation was His.

From these special acts of God in history, the psalmist moves on to His general, orderly rule in creation. Israel's God is the Creator, and His rule over all things fits the gracious relationship He has with His people.

"The day," the time when all is clear and open, "is Yours;" and "the night," when all is obscure and men think they can get away with evil doing, "also is Yours" (v. 16). Both day and night are alike to God: He has ordained them as they are, and is in perfect control of them. He has "prepared the light and the sun." All nature is His own creation, under His authority and always serving people.

And He is the Creator, who made day and night, and prepared the light and the sun. What idol has done or could do that?

Day by day the light appears in its appointed place, flooding the earth with light from which the guilty flee. Evening falls, and no word from man can stop it or hurry it along. Only One gave His command at the beginning: "Let there be light." Ever since, evening and morning have known their appointed time and place... no one but God can command the light... Let us gaze with wonder at the glorious sunset. Let us watch with awe the dawning of a new day. And let us say from the depths of our hearts: "Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun" (Ps. 74:16).

The day and the night are both His. The night uncovers a sky full of stars, which the glory of the day shuts out. So it has been for us spiritually, as we know. The very setting of Eden's glory has become the occasion for a display of many-sided glory. And for all of us the night of sorrow has revealed the lights God has set in it. For us the day comes only with the sun: it is not made on earth; it is heaven's gift.

Psalm 74 may be taken as an expression of the very lowest point to which their own sin had brought them — when "the enemies roar in the congregation" (v. 4)... and what is worse, "no signs from God" (v. 9), no prophets, no one who can tell "how long" before God comes in with power for His people. Yet there is faith that God will not utterly forsake His people, and the word "how long?" turns into a cry. It cannot be "for ever." They trust His faithfulness in redemption (vv. 2 and 13-15), and His covenant faithfulness (vv. 16, 17) — see Jeremiah 33:20.

In earlier times He often encouraged them to rest in the certainty of His word and promise. "If you can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night," He said, "so that day and night do not come at their appointed time, then my covenant with David my servant may also be broken."

Then, moving on from these miraculous interventions of God, the psalmist sees in creation the ever-present witness of God's mercy to man. The day and the night, the moon and the sun, the land and water, summer and winter, are a constant witness that God does not forget His creatures.

He has set the boundaries of the earth, allowing the sea to come so far and no farther (v. 17). In fact, God has ordained Israel's boundaries, and no doubt also the boundaries of other nations, so that they are not so independent as they like to think. God also declares that He has made summer and winter, another thing man cannot change.

Paul's address to the Athenians (Acts 17) is helpful here. Verse 26 of that chapter shows that the earth's surface is enough for men to live on, and that God has set the bounds of the nations. If men had respected these God-appointed bounds, and had been content with the "place in the sun" that He had given them, there would have been no wars. But they did not find satisfaction in what they owned, and they refused to feel after God for it. So they have cast covetous eyes on their neighbours' land and have broken the bounds God appointed. From that come the bloodshed and the sorrow. Again the cause lies in the sinful and covetous will of man, which refuses the restraint God has put on it.

In a world of opposites and constant conflict, how we need One who sets limits to it. God fixes the limits of the land itself in this way, and a little knowledge of physical geography will teach us how important that is. Compare land-locked Siberia, with its mountains cutting off the south. Then look at the countries washed by the currents from the equator. So the limits of the land tie in with that "arrangement" of summer and autumn, which man's food supply depends on.

Psalm 74 may be taken as the expression of the very lowest extremity to which their own sin had brought them — when "the enemies roar in the congregation" (v. 4), when there are "no signs from God" (v. 9), no prophets, none that can tell "how long" before God comes in power for His people. Yet there is faith that God will not utterly forsake His people, and the word "how long?" turns into a cry. It cannot be "for ever." His faithfulness is trusted in redemption (vv. 2 and 13-15); His covenant faithfulness (vv. 16, 17), see Jeremiah 33:20.

Then the Lord gives them the pledge that He will no more break this covenant with Israel than His covenant of day and night.

The clear light of God's deliverance is seen by looking back (verses 12-17). Faith remembers where the ancient mercies came from — the first covenant of promise — and draws from it signs of hope that hold it up while the desolations last. For the secret of God is known and treasured in the hearts of those who fear His name. He does not forsake His saints.

God's people turn from the cruelty and blasphemy of lawless wickedness and appeal to Him who long ago took the name of Israel as His own. He had lived at Zion. He had bought the people and redeemed the land to be His own. The covenant of His promise stayed in the hearts of the believing few among His servants, as the sure witness of these things. So His Name is the only ground of this appeal.

"How long" (the prophetic word of faith and grace) will the enemy outside and the oppressor inside blaspheme God's name? ... Someone had blasphemed Jehovah's name. It was the enemy outside, "the foolish people" — that is, people who in their folly did not know God and did not own Him — who had done it.

The enemy outside has destroyed everything in the sanctuary (v. 3), despises the name of God for ever (v. 10), and insults Jehovah (v. 18). The enemy within roars in God's place of assembly (v. 4), and sets up his own banners of power there. The people as a whole have become foolish and have turned away from God (v. 18), led by 'the foolish man' (v. 22), for folly and godlessness go closely together.

The moment calls for Him to step in now. It is Jehovah Himself whom the enemy insults! It is that glorious and awesome Name that the fool mocks and defies. Then the psalmist pleads with Israel's Redeemer: it is His turtle-dove that is in danger — defenceless, and innocent as far as the enemy is concerned.

But faith remembers that God was Israel's King long ago, working deliverance in the middle of the earth (v. 12). The Red Sea proved it ... So faith rises to see Jehovah as one with His people: to insult them was to insult Him and to despise His name.

So if the people are brought very low, and the uproar of enemies rises higher and higher, that is only one more reason to appeal to Him. It is grace, and faithful grace, and He holds power over all things. The heart calls on God to remember the enemy's attacks and insults instead of taking fright at them, for the insult falls on His name. And this is true. When the world hates God's people, it is the Lord it hates. If they were not His people, the world would not bother much about them.

But for that very same reason God allows no evil, because His name is connected with His people. We see this in Israel: "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities."

God's authority over all nations is settled. Could He then forget the contemptible insults of His enemies against Him? Of course He will remember, though He will repay in His own time. What foolishness man is guilty of when he blasphemes the name of the Almighty! (v. 18).

The psalmist has encouraged his soul by remembering how God stepped in for His people in the past. Now he boldly appeals to God to remember that His Name is being reproached, and that His people are defenceless — like a turtle dove — and poor, oppressed, and needy.

Asaph pleads for the life of God's turtledove, that it should not be delivered to a wild beast. The turtledove is a picture of helplessness, but it is a clean bird. It stands for the poor and oppressed of Israel, whom God will certainly not forget.

Even the poorest could easily get turtledoves for the offerings, and a pair of them was brought when the Lord was presented in the temple.

The enemy had reproached the name of Jehovah. Israel is still held to be, in the remnant, as God's turtledove. That name recalls the covenant relationship with His people, and Jehovah's tender love towards them.

Some have applied this to the defiling of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes. But as prophecy it points instead to that end-time, when the enemy will defile the temple with the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15). Then the remnant, who love the sanctuary, tell the Lord about it, and plead mightily for Him to step in.

Chajath, as in Psalm 68:10, literally means a "living creature." It is also used for a "troop" or "company" — a body of people who, as it were, breathe one spirit and live one life. It must surely be translated the same way in both halves of one verse.

The psalmist pleads with Israel's Redeemer: it is His turtle-dove that is in danger — defenceless, and innocent as far as the enemy is concerned. Can He give it up to men driven only by their lusts? They are His community, and their affliction is now the same for all. Can they be forgotten for ever?

So comes the prayer for the deliverance of God's turtledove, and of His poor, the oppressed, and the needy. Their cause is the cause of God. Their enemies are the enemies of God; for those who are carrying all before them are rising up against Him.

The oppressed, the poor, the needy are, as ever, presented to the eye and heart of God. We find them always coming before us as those whom God thinks about, and in whom Christ delighted in the land. And so it is even as to the spirit we are to be of.

Still there is faith here that God will not forsake His people, and that word, How long? if there is no answer to it, turns into a cry. It cannot be for ever. Faith trusts God's faithfulness… God still counts Israel, in the remnant, as His turtledove. He is asked to have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the earth (or land) are full of the habitations of cruelty. The oppressed, the poor, the needy, are, as always, presented to the eye and heart of God.

The turtledove is a picture of helplessness, but a clean bird. It stands for the poor and oppressed of Israel, whom God will certainly not forget… This is certainly not the covenant of law, for under law Israel could expect no favour from God. The New Covenant is entirely a promise of blessing from God to Israel, with nothing required on Israel's part (Jer. 31:31-34). God will have respect for this, no matter how dark and full of cruelty the haunts of evil men are.

Faith rises up to identify Jehovah with His people, so that to insult them was to insult Him, and to despise His name. The covenant rises once more on the horizon of faith — a lamp of hope for the dark places of the earth. It is now a covenant of mercy, for it is God's 'own cause,' not a right belonging to the nation. The adversaries were His, not merely theirs.

Some have applied this to the defilement of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes. But as prophecy it points instead to the end time, when the enemy will defile the temple with the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15). Then the remnant who love the sanctuary tell the Lord about it, as we read in this Psalm, They plead with all their strength for Him to step in… How true that will be during the great time of trouble.

The pagan temples, splendid as they are, are places of vile sin and dark superstition. "The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty" (Ps. 74:20). What a glorious day it will be! Then "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Hab. 2:14).

Grace led God to stoop down from His throne in the heavens to visit "the habitations of cruelty." It led Him to lift a poor perishing sinner out of them, and to bring him, through the purging power of the blood, into a place of marvellous blessing indeed.