Psalm 74: How long?

This is a psalm of trouble, and speaks of a time when the city of God and the sanctuary

are under a literal assault. It is said to be a maschil, or teaching psalm, of Asaph.

However, the type of calamity spoken of in the psalm did not occur in the time of Asaph,

and so it has been suggested that it is prophetic of future troubles, or possibly that it is

written by his descendants who would have led worship in a later century. The first

possibility seems more likely.

In a pattern typical of David, the present troubles are recited and complained of to God,

followed by an appeal to God’s covenant with His people and His general reputation.

The language is stirring and portrays the horrors of the destruction of the city.

(1) Maschil of Asaph. O God, why have you cast us off forever? Why does

your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?

• It was not possible for Jews to see the destruction of their holy places and things

without thinking that God has cast them off forever. We should remember how

much their sense of calling was connected with the land itself. God not only

wanted to bring them out of slavery, He wanted to bring them into something.

The ability to live their life before God depended on having a place of their own.

• There is an immediate appeal to the shepherd heart of God.

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(2) Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, the rod

of your inheritance, which you have redeemed; this mount Zion, in which

you have dwelt. (3) Lift up your feet to the perpetual desolations, even all

that the enemy has done wickedly in the sanctuary.

• God was viewed in a real sense as having “bought” His people. They were His

inheritance – a thing owned by Him. The “rod” here means a tribe, because each

tribe had its own staff which its chief carried.

• There is also an appeal to God to save the place, on the basis that it was His

“home” on earth, He having literally shown His glory on Mount Zion. He asks

God to drawn near to the destruction that seemed permanent.

(4) Your enemies roar in the midst of your assembly; they set up their

ensigns for signs. (5) A man was famous according to how he had lifted up

axes upon the thick trees. (6) But now they break down its carved work at

once with axes and hammers.

• The enemy now shows that he is sovereign by being able to raise up his banners

in the holy places.

• Verse 5-6 mean that formerly a man was known for strength and skill for how he

handled an ax to cut trees, but now he is known for how he destroys the beautiful

carved work of the Temple with axes and hammers.

(7) They have cast fire into your sanctuary, they have defiled by casting

down the dwelling place of your name to the ground. (8) They said in their

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hearts, “Let us destroy them together.” They have burned up all the

synagogues of God in the land. (9) We do not see our signs; there is no

longer any prophet, neither is there any among us who knows how long.

• In 2 Kings 25 we read that the Babylonians not only destroyed the Temple, but

literally every house in the city, burning them all. Some did want to destroy them

completely. The Bible also singles out the Edomites for judgment because they

rejoiced so much: Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of

Jerusalem; who said, “Raze it, raze it, even to its foundation.” (Psalm 137:7)

• The reference to “no signs” is interesting. These might have been the signs of the

Temple sacrifices, which we know were said to have stopped before the Romans

destroyed the city. The people did not feel there were any prophets either; there

were no miracle-workers to stop the invaders, only prophets of judgment such as

Jeremiah.

(10) O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy

blaspheme your name forever? (11) Why do you withdraw your hand, even

thy right hand? Pluck it out of thy bosom. (12) For God is my King of old,

working salvation in the midst of the earth.

• This is an appeal to God’s reputation. All these terrible events are seen as

personal insults against the Lord. He is pictured as a relaxed person with his

hand at rest. People in that day kept things, perhaps even their hands, in the folds

of their garments. For us this is akin to telling God to get His hands out of His

pockets!

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• There is an appeal to His kingship and the greatness of His saving power.

(13) You did divide the sea by your strength; you broke the heads of the

dragons in the waters. (14) You broke the heads of leviathan in pieces, and

gave him to be food to the people inhabiting the wilderness. (15) You did

cleave the fountain and the flood; you dried up mighty rivers. (16) The day

is yours, the night also is yours; you have prepared the light and the sun.

(17) You have set all the borders of the earth; you have made summer and

winter.

• There is an appeal here to God’s power over the Earth. The leviathan was a sea

monster and was used here to refer to Egypt. The people were fed in the

wilderness with the spoil of Egypt. God’s infinite power is seen in how He

destroyed the leviathan and also how He arranged the natural world.

(18) Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O LORD, and that the

foolish people have blasphemed your name. (19) O deliver not the soul of

your turtledove to the multitude of the wicked; do not forget the

congregation of your poor forever. (20) Have respect to the covenant, for

the dark places of the earth are full of the dwelling places of cruelty.

• Here is an appeal to the covenant relationship which God made with Abraham

and with all the people.

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(21) O let not the oppressed return ashamed; let the poor and needy praise

your name. (22) Arise, O God, plead your own cause; remember how the

foolish man reproaches you daily. (23) Do not forget the voice of your

enemies; the tumult of those who rise up against you increases continually.

• Here is an appeal to God’s sense of care for the poor and the needy, who would

suffer greatly from the calamities of the war.

• Here is an appeal, too, to the holiness of God – that His enemies should not be

allowed to blaspheme Him so. He is also being asked to plead His own cause – in

other words He should be avenging Himself on these enemies Himself without

needing Asaph to cry out to Him!

Psalm 75: The Horn

We have no details about the background of this Psalm, other than that it is another

song of Asaph. It seems to be a song of government. Some say that Asaph, as a teacher

and priest, or perhaps some king or ruler is speaking of how he will deal with those who

are unwise and given to folly. Others say that there is more of God speaking than man

speaking here.

For the Hebrews, it has been said that foolishness was a moral question, not simply bad

decision-making as it is for us, but morally wrong decision-making.

(1) To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph. To you, O

God, do we give thanks, to you do we give thanks; for your wondrous works

declare that your name is near. (2) When I shall receive the congregation I

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will judge uprightly. (3) The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are

dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.

• Al-taschith means “Do not destroy.” It is probably a melody.

• God’s works show that God’s presence is near.

• Verse 2 actually carries the meaning of God fixing a set time to judge. Society

falls in ruins; here God says He is the one who holds it up.

(4) I said unto the fools, “Do not deal foolishly;” and to the wicked, “Do not

lift not up the horn.” (5) Do not lift up your horn on high; do not speak with

a stiff neck. (6) For promotion does not come either from the east, or from

the west, or from the south. (7) But God is the judge: he puts one down, and

sets up another.

• The horn plays a prominent role here. It was a symbol of strength, obviously

borrowed from animals, and was used as a proverb when someone started to

boast or exalt himself over others.

• The stiff neck was, of course, a picture of stubbornness.

• Verse 6 and 7 comprise one of the most famous warnings in all of Scripture about

advancing one’s self or putting one’s self forward. It is God who makes the choice

in government and in every other sphere of life. He promotes whom He will.

• David is the supreme example of not advancing himself ahead of God’s timing.

(8) For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full

of mixture; and he pours out of it; but as for its dregs, all the wicked of the

earth shall wring them out, and drink them. (9) But I will declare for ever; I

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will sing praises to the God of Jacob. (10) All the horns of the wicked also

will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

• The wrath of God is often pictured as a cup the wicked are forced to drink. The

mixture means spices and has the idea of a drug that would strengthen the effect.

The dregs at the bottom would be the worst part of all. By contrast, the singer will

be exalted while the horns of the wicked will be cut off!