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Commentary on Psalms 74 verses 1–11
This psalm is entitled Maschil - a psalm to give instruction, for it was penned in a day of affliction, which is intended for instruction; and this instruction in general it gives us, That when we are, upon any account, in distress, it is our wisdom and duty to apply to God by faithful and fervent prayer, and we shall not find it in vain to do so. Three things the people of God here complain of: -
I. The displeasure of God against them, as that which was the cause and bitterness of all their calamities. They look above the instruments of their trouble, who, they knew, could have no power against them unless it were given them from above, and keep their eye upon God, by whose determined counsel they were delivered up into the hands of wicked and unreasonable men. Observe the liberty they take to expostulate with God (Psa 74:1), we hope not too great a liberty, for Christ himself, upon the cross, cried out, My God my God, why hast thou forsaken me? So the church here, O God! why hast thou forsaken us for ever? Here they speak according to their present dark and melancholy apprehensions; for otherwise, Has God cast away his people? God forbid, Rom 11:1. The people of God must not think that because they are cast down they are therefore cast off, that because men cast them off therefore God does, and that because he seems to cast them off for a time therefore they are really cast off for ever: yet this expostulation intimates that they dreaded God's casting them off more than any thing, that they desired to be owned of him, whatever they suffered from men, and were desirous to know wherefore he thus contended with them: Why does thy anger smoke? that is, why does it rise up to such a degree that all about us take notice of it, and ask, What means the heat of this great anger? Deu 29:24. Compare Psa 74:20, where the anger of the Lord and his jealousy are said to smoke against sinners. Observe what they plead with God, now that they lay under the tokens and apprehensions of his wrath. 1. They plead their relation to him: "We are the sheep of thy pasture, the sheep wherewith thou hast been pleased to stock the pasture, thy peculiar people whom thou art pleased to set apart for thyself and design for thy own glory. That the wolves worry the sheep is not strange; but was ever any shepherd thus displeased at his own sheep? Remember, we are thy congregation (Psa 74:2), incorporated by thee and for thee, and devoted to thy praise; we are the rod, or tribe, of thy inheritance, whom thou hast been pleased to claim a special property in above other people (Deu 32:9), and from whom thou hast received the rents and issues of praise and worship more than from the neighbouring nations. Nay, a man's inheritance may lie at a great distance, but we are pleading for Mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt, which has been the place of thy peculiar delight and residence, thy demesne and mansion." 2. They plead the great things God had done for them and the vast expense he had been at upon them: "It is thy congregation, which thou hast not only made with a word's speaking, but purchased of old by many miracles of mercy when they were first formed into a people; it is thy inheritance, which thou hast redeemed when they were sold into servitude." God gave Egypt to ruin for their ransom, gave men for them, and people for their life, Isa 43:3, Isa 43:4. "Now, Lord, wilt thou now abandon a people that cost thee so dear, and has been so dear to thee?" And, if the redemption of Israel out of Egypt was an encouragement to hope that he would not cast them off, much more reason have we to hope that God will not cast off any whom Christ has redeemed with his own blood; but the people of his purchase shall be for ever the people of his praise. 3. They plead the calamitous state that they were in (Psa 74:3): "Lift up thy feet; that is, come with speed to repair the desolations that are made in thy sanctuary, which otherwise will be perpetual an irreparable." It has been sometimes said that the divine vengeance strikes with iron hands, yet it comes with leaden feet; and then those who wait for the day of the Lord, cry, Lord, lift up thy feet; exalt thy steps; magnify thyself in the outgoing of thy providence. When the desolations of the sanctuary have continued long we are tempted to think they will be perpetual; but it is a temptation; for God will avenge his own elect, will avenge them speedily, though he bear long with their oppressors and persecutors.
II. They complain of the outrage and cruelty of their enemies, not so much, no, not at all, of what they had done to the prejudice of their secular interests; here are no complaints of the burning of their cities and ravaging of their country, but only what they had done against the sanctuary and the synagogue. The concerns of religion should lie nearer our hearts and affect us more than any worldly concern whatsoever. The desolation of God's house should grieve us more than the desolation of our own houses; for the matter is not great what becomes of us and our families in this world provided God's name may be sanctified, his kingdom may come, and his will be done.
1.The psalmist complains of the desolations of the sanctuary, as Daniel, Dan 9:17. The temple at Jerusalem was the dwelling-place of God's name, and therefore the sanctuary, or holy place, Psa 74:7. In this the enemies did wickedly (Psa 74:3), for they destroyed it in downright contempt of God and affront to him. (1.) They roared in the midst of God's congregations, Psa 74:4. There where God's faithful people attended on him with a humble reverent silence, or softly speaking, they roared in a riotous revelling manner, being elated with having made themselves masters of that sanctuary of which they had sometimes heard formidable things. (2.) They set up their ensigns for signs. The banners of their army they set up in the temple (Israel's strongest castle, as long as they kept closely to God) as trophies of their victory. There, where the signs of God's presence used to be, now the enemy had set up their ensigns. This daring defiance of God and his power touched his people in a tender part. (3.) They took a pride in destroying the carved work of the temple. As much as formerly men thought it an honour to lend a hand to the building of the temple, and he was thought famous that helped to fell timber for that work, so much now they valued themselves upon their agency in destroying it, Psa 74:5, Psa 74:6. Thus, as formerly those were celebrated for wise men that did service to religion, so now those are applauded as wits that help to run it down. Some read it thus: They show themselves, as one that lifts up axes on high in a thicket of trees, for so do they break down the carved work of the temple they make no more scruple of breaking down the rich wainscot of the temple than woodcutters do of hewing trees in the forest; such indignation have they at the sanctuary that the most curious carving that ever was seen is beaten down by the common soldiers without any regard had to it, either as a dedicated thing or as a piece of exquisite art. (4.) They set fire to it, and so violated or destroyed it to the ground, Psa 74:7. The Chaldeans burnt the house of God, that stately costly fabric, Ch2 36:19. And the Romans left not there one stone upon another (Mat 24:2), rasing it, rasing it, even to the foundations, till Zion, the holy mountain, was, by Titus Vespasian, ploughed as a field.
2.He complains of the desolations of the synagogues, or schools of the prophets, which, before the captivity, were in use, though much more afterwards. There God's word was read and expounded, and his name praised and called upon, without altars or sacrifices. These also they had a spite to (Psa 74:8): Let us destroy them together; not only the temple, but all the places of religious worship and the worshippers with them. Let us destroy them together; let them be consumed in the same flame. Pursuant to this impious resolve they burnt up all the synagogues of God in the land and laid them all waste. So great was their rage against religion that the religious houses, because religious, were all levelled with the ground, that God's worshippers might not glorify God, and edify one another, by meeting in solemn assemblies.
III. The great aggravation of all these calamities was that they had no prospect at all of relief, nor could they foresee an end of them (Psa 74:9): "We see our enemy's sign set up in the sanctuary, but we see not our signs, none of the tokens of God's presence, no hopeful indications of approaching deliverance. There is no more any prophet to tell us how long the trouble will last and when things concerning us shall have an end, that the hope of an issue at last may support us under our troubles." In the captivity in Babylon they had prophets, and had been told how long the captivity should continue, but the day was cloudy and dark (Eze 34:12), and they had not as yet the comfort of these gracious discoveries. God spoke once, yea, twice, good words and comfortable words, but they perceived them not. Observe, They do not complain, "We see not our armies; there are no men of war to command our forces, nor any to go forth with our hosts;" but, "no prophets, none to tell us how long." This puts them upon expostulating with God, as delaying, 1. To assert his honour (Psa 74:10): How long shall the adversary reproach and blaspheme thy name? In the desolations of the sanctuary our chief concern should be for the glory of God, that it may not be injured by the blasphemies of those who persecute his people for his sake, because they are his; and therefore our enquiry should be, not "How long shall we be troubled?" but "How long shall God be blasphemed?" 2. To exert his power (Psa 74:11): "Why withdrawest thou thy hand, and dost not stretch it out, to deliver thy people and destroy thy enemies? Pluck it out of thy bosom, and be not as a man astonished, as a mighty man that cannot save, or will not," Jer 14:9. When the power of enemies is most threatening it is comfortable to fly to the power of God.
"They have set signs, their own signs, and they have not known" [Psalm 74:5]. They had signs to place there, their standards, their eagles, their own dragons, the Roman signs; or even their statues which at first in the temple they placed; or perchance "their signs" are the things which they heard from the prophets of their demons. "And they have not known." Have not known what? How "you should have had no power against Me, except it had been given you from above." [John 19:11] They knew not how that not on themselves honour was conferred, to afflict, to take, or overthrow the city, but their ungodliness was made as it were the axe of God. They were made the instrument of Him enraged, not so as to be the kingdom of Him pacified. For God does that which a man also ofttime does. Sometimes a man in a rage catches up a rod lying in the way, perchance any sort of stick, he smites therewith his son, and then throwes the stick into the fire and reserves the inheritance for his son: so sometime God through evil men does instruct good men, and through the temporal power of them that are to be condemned He works the discipline of them that are to be saved. For why do you suppose, brethren, that discipline was even thus inflicted upon that nation, in order that it might perish utterly? How many out of this nation did afterwards believe, how many are yet to believe? Some are chaff, others grain; over both however there comes in the threshing-drag; but under one threshing-drag the one is broken up, the other is purged. How great a good has God bestowed upon us by the evil of Judas the traitor! By the very ferocity of the Jews how great a good was bestowed upon believing Gentiles! Christ was slain in order that there might be on the Cross One for him to look to who had been stung by the serpent.. ..
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SUMMARY
Psalms 74:5 powerfully articulates the profound desecration of God's sanctuary by enemy forces, employing a chilling metaphor of skilled lumberjacks methodically felling a dense forest. This verse, situated within a communal lament, vividly portrays the deliberate and brutal destruction of a sacred space, underscoring the deep anguish and sense of abandonment felt by the psalmist and the community. It highlights the perverse "fame" or notoriety achieved through acts of violence and sacrilege, emphasizing the sheer scale of the catastrophe that befell the spiritual heart of Israelite worship.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalms 74:5 employs several potent literary devices to convey its message of desolation and sacrilege. Metaphor is central, as the "thick trees" are not literal trees but represent the ornate, robust, and sacred wooden structures of the Temple. This metaphor powerfully conveys the scale and nature of the destruction, likening the felling of a holy edifice to the indiscriminate clearing of a common forest, thereby stripping it of its sanctity. Irony is powerfully present in the phrase "[A man] was famous." Instead of fame for noble deeds, the invaders gain notoriety for their destructive and sacrilegious actions, highlighting the perversion of true honor and the shocking audacity of their assault on God's dwelling. The verse also utilizes vivid Imagery, painting a stark picture of axes being lifted and brought down, evoking the sounds and actions of violent demolition. This sensory detail immerses the reader in the scene of desecration, making the psalmist's lament and the community's trauma more palpable and immediate.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 74:5 speaks profoundly to the theological concepts of divine presence, the nature of sacrilege, and the experience of divine hiddenness. The destruction of the Temple, God's dwelling place on earth, raised agonizing questions about God's covenant faithfulness and His apparent abandonment of His people in their moment of greatest need. The "fame" of the destroyers underscores the audacious nature of human rebellion against God and the depth of the spiritual wound inflicted when sacred spaces or principles are violated with such impunity. This lament calls upon God to remember His covenant and intervene, reflecting the enduring tension between human suffering and divine sovereignty. It highlights the vulnerability of physical manifestations of faith and the enduring need for God's protection and restoration, even when His presence seems withdrawn.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 74:5, though rooted in a specific historical tragedy, offers timeless insights for contemporary believers. It confronts us with the reality of destructive forces, both external and internal, that seek to dismantle what is sacred and undermine our faith. Just as the physical Temple was desecrated, so too can our spiritual "temples"—our bodies, our communities, our faith, and our sacred values—be attacked by sin, apathy, or external pressures. The "fame" of the destroyers serves as a stark reminder that the world often applauds actions that are antithetical to God's kingdom, celebrating power and dominance even when it comes at the expense of truth, justice, and holiness. This verse calls us to cultivate a deep reverence for God's presence, not just in physical structures but in every aspect of our lives, recognizing that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). It also validates the experience of lament, acknowledging that it is permissible and even necessary to cry out to God in times of profound loss, confusion, and apparent divine silence, trusting that He hears and will ultimately restore.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What specific historical event is Psalms 74:5 most likely referring to?
Answer: Psalms 74:5, along with the entire psalm, is widely understood by scholars to be a lament composed in response to the devastating destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in 586 BC. This catastrophic event is meticulously detailed in 2 Kings 25 and Jeremiah 52. The vivid description of the sanctuary's defilement and the methodical destruction aligns perfectly with the historical accounts of the Babylonian conquest and the profound trauma it inflicted upon the Israelite people.
Why does the KJV say "a man was famous" in the context of destruction?
Answer: The KJV translation "a man was famous" for the Hebrew word יָדַע (yâdaʻ) captures the sense of being "known" or "recognized." However, in this context, it carries a strong ironic or negative connotation. The invaders were "famous" not for any noble achievement, but for their brutal efficiency and the extent of the sacrilege they committed against God's sanctuary. Their "fame" is a perverse notoriety, highlighting the shocking nature of their destructive acts, which were so blatant and thorough that they became widely acknowledged as acts of profound disrespect and violence against the divine.
What do the "thick trees" symbolize in this verse?
Answer: The "thick trees" (Hebrew: çᵉbâk for "thick" and ʻêts for "trees") are a powerful metaphor for the elaborate, precious, and sacred wooden elements of the Temple. The First Temple, built by Solomon, was renowned for its extensive use of precious cedar and cypress wood, often intricately carved and overlaid with gold. These "thick trees" symbolize the beauty, sanctity, and structural integrity of God's dwelling place. Their felling by axes signifies the complete and brutal dismantling of the Temple, treating its sacred components as common lumber, thereby emphasizing the profound desecration and the utter destruction of what was most holy to Israel.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalms 74:5, with its poignant lament over the destruction of the physical Temple, finds its ultimate Christ-centered fulfillment in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The earthly Temple, though sacred and divinely ordained, was always a shadow and a type of the ultimate reality: God's perfect presence among His people. Jesus Himself declared, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19), speaking of His own body. His crucifixion was an act of ultimate desecration by human hands, a brutal "lifting up of axes" against the very Son of God. Yet, through this ultimate act of violence, God brought about the ultimate act of salvation. Christ's death and glorious resurrection inaugurated a new spiritual temple, His body, the Church, where believers become living stones (1 Peter 2:5), collectively indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). The lament over the destroyed sanctuary is thus transformed into a song of hope and triumph, as Christ, our great High Priest, now ministers in a temple "not made with hands" (Hebrews 9:11). Ultimately, the vision of the New Jerusalem reveals a city where "I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" (Revelation 21:22), signifying the permanent, unmediated, and perfect presence of God with His redeemed people forever, a fulfillment far surpassing the earthly sanctuary.