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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms LXXIV].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<HR>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM LXXIV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This psalm does so particularly describe the destruction of Jerusalem
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and the temple, by Nebuchadnezzar and the army of the Chaldeans, and
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can so ill be applied to any other event we meet with in the Jewish
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history, that interpreters incline to think that either it was penned
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by David, or Asaph in David's time, with a prophetical reference to
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that sad event (which yet is not so probable), or that it was penned by
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another Asaph, who lived at the time of the captivity, or by Jeremiah
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(for it is of a piece with his Lamentations,) or some other prophet,
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and, after the return out of captivity, was delivered to the sons of
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Asaph, who were called by his name, for the public service of the
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church. That was the most eminent family of the singers in Ezra's time.
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See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+2:41,3:10,Ne+11:17,22,12:35,46">Ezra ii. 41; iii. 10;
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Neh. xi. 17, 22; xii. 35, 46</A>.
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The deplorable case of the people of God at that time is here spread
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before the Lord, and left with him. The prophet, in the name of the
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church
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I. Puts in complaining pleas of the miseries they suffered, for the
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quickening of their desires in prayer,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:1-11">ver. 1-11</A>.
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II. He puts in comfortable pleas for the encouraging of their faith in
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prayer,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:12-17">ver. 12-17</A>.
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III. He concludes with divers petitions to God for deliverances,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:18-23">ver. 18-23</A>.
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In singing it we must be affected with the former desolations of the
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church, for we are members of the same body, and may apply it to any
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present distresses or desolations of any part of the Christian
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church.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps74_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Mournful Complaints.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P> Maschil of Asaph.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 O God, why hast thou cast <I>us</I> off for
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ever? <I>why</I> doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy
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pasture?
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2 Remember thy congregation, <I>which</I> thou hast purchased of
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old; the rod of thine inheritance, <I>which</I> thou hast redeemed;
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this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
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3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; <I>even</I> all
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<I>that</I> the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
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4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they
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set up their ensigns <I>for</I> signs.
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5 <I>A man</I> was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon
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the thick trees.
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6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with
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axes and hammers.
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7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled <I>by
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casting down</I> the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.
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8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they
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have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
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9 We see not our signs: <I>there is</I> no more any prophet: neither
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<I>is there</I> among us any that knoweth how long.
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10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the
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enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
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11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck
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<I>it</I> out of thy bosom.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This psalm is entitled <I>Maschil--a psalm to give instruction,</I> for
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it was penned in a day of affliction, which is intended for
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instruction; and this instruction in general it gives us, That when we
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are, upon any account, in distress, it is our wisdom and duty to apply
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to God by faithful and fervent prayer, and we shall not find it in vain
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to do so. Three things the people of God here complain of:--</P>
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<P>
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I. The displeasure of God against them, as that which was the cause and
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bitterness of all their calamities. They look above the instruments of
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their trouble, who, they knew, could have no power against them unless
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it were given them from above, and keep their eye upon God, by whose
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determined counsel they were delivered up into the hands of wicked and
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unreasonable men. Observe the liberty they take to expostulate with God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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we hope not too great a liberty, for Christ himself, upon the cross,
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cried out, <I>My God my God, why hast thou forsaken me?</I> So the
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church here, <I>O God! why hast thou forsaken us for ever?</I> Here
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they speak according to their present dark and melancholy
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apprehensions; for otherwise, <I>Has God cast away his people? God
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forbid,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:1">Rom. xi. 1</A>.
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The people of God must not think that because they are cast down they
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are therefore cast off, that because men cast them off therefore God
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does, and that because he seems to cast them off for a time therefore
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they are really cast off for ever: yet this expostulation intimates
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that they dreaded God's casting them off more than any thing, that they
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desired to be owned of him, whatever they suffered from men, and were
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desirous to know wherefore he thus contended with them: <I>Why does thy
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anger smoke?</I> that is, why does it rise up to such a degree that all
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about us take notice of it, and ask, <I>What means the heat of this
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great anger?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+29:24">Deut. xxix. 24</A>.
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Compare
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+29:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>,
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where the anger of the Lord and his jealousy are said to smoke against
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sinners. Observe what they plead with God, now that they lay under the
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tokens and apprehensions of his wrath.
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1. They plead their relation to him: "We are <I>the sheep of thy
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pasture,</I> the sheep wherewith thou hast been pleased to stock the
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pasture, thy peculiar people whom thou art pleased to set apart for
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thyself and design for thy own glory. That the wolves worry the sheep
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is not strange; but was ever any shepherd thus displeased at his own
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sheep? <I>Remember,</I> we are <I>thy congregation</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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incorporated by thee and for thee, and devoted to thy praise; we are
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<I>the rod,</I> or tribe, <I>of thy inheritance,</I> whom thou hast
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been pleased to claim a special property in above other people
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:9">
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Deut. xxxii. 9</A>),
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and from whom thou hast received the rents and issues of praise and
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worship more than from the neighbouring nations. Nay, a man's
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inheritance may lie at a great distance, but we are pleading for
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<I>Mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt,</I> which has been the place of
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thy peculiar delight and residence, thy demesne and mansion."
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2. They plead the great things God had done for them and the vast
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expense he had been at upon them: "It is <I>thy congregation,</I> which
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thou hast not only made with a word's speaking, but <I>purchased of
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old</I> by many miracles of mercy when they were first formed into a
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people; it is <I>thy inheritance, which thou hast redeemed</I> when
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they were sold into servitude." God <I>gave Egypt</I> to ruin <I>for
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their ransom, gave men for them,</I> and <I>people for their life,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:3,4">Isa. xliii. 3, 4</A>.
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"Now, Lord, wilt thou now abandon a people that cost thee so dear, and
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has been so dear to thee?" And, if the redemption of Israel out of
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Egypt was an encouragement to hope that he would not cast them off,
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much more reason have we to hope that God will not cast off any whom
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Christ has redeemed with his own blood; but the people of his purchase
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shall be for ever the people of his praise.
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3. They plead the calamitous state that they were in
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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"<I>Lift up thy feet;</I> that is, come with speed to repair the
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desolations that are made in thy sanctuary, which otherwise will be
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perpetual an irreparable." It has been sometimes said that the divine
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vengeance strikes with iron hands, yet it comes with leaden feet; and
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then those who wait for the day of the Lord, cry, <I>Lord, lift up thy
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feet; exalt thy steps;</I> magnify thyself in the outgoing of thy
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providence. When the desolations of the sanctuary have continued long
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we are tempted to think they will be perpetual; but it isa temptation;
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for God will avenge his own elect, will avenge them speedily, though he
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bear long with their oppressors and persecutors.</P>
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<P>
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II. They complain of the outrage and cruelty of their enemies, not so
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much, no, not at all, of what they had done to the prejudice of their
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secular interests; here are no complaints of the burning of their
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cities and ravaging of their country, but only what they had done
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against the sanctuary and the synagogue. The concerns of religion
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should lie nearer our hearts and affect us more than any worldly
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concern whatsoever. The desolation of God's house should grieve us more
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than the desolation of our own houses; for the matter is not great what
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becomes of us and our families in this world provided God's name may be
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sanctified, his kingdom may come, and his will be done.</P>
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<P>
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1. The psalmist complains of the desolations of the sanctuary, as
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Daniel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+9:17"><I>ch.</I> ix. 17</A>.
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The temple at Jerusalem was the <I>dwelling-place of God's name,</I>
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and therefore the <I>sanctuary,</I> or <I>holy place,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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In this the enemies did wickedly
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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for they destroyed it in downright contempt of God and affront to him.
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(1.) They <I>roared in the midst of God's congregations,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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There where God's faithful people attended on him with a humble
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reverent silence, or softly speaking, they roared in a riotous
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revelling manner, being elated with having made themselves masters of
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that sanctuary of which they had sometimes heard formidable things.
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(2.) <I>They set up their ensigns for signs.</I> The banners of their
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army they set up in the temple (Israel's strongest castle, as long as
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they kept closely to God) as trophies of their victory. There, where
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the signs of God's presence used to be, now the enemy had set up their
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ensigns. This daring defiance of God and his power touched his people
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in a tender part.
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(3.) They took a pride in destroying <I>the carved work</I> of the
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temple. As much as formerly men thought it an honour to lend a hand to
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the building of the temple, and he was thought famous that helped to
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fell timber for that work, so much now they valued themselves upon
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their agency in destroying it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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Thus, as formerly those were celebrated for wise men that did service
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to religion, so now those are applauded as wits that help to run it
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down. Some read it thus: <I>They show themselves, as one that lifts up
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axes on high in a thicket of trees,</I> for so do they break down the
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carved work of the temple they make no more scruple of breaking down
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the rich wainscot of the temple than woodcutters do of hewing trees in
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the forest; such indignation have they at the sanctuary that the most
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curious carving that ever was seen is beaten down by the common
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soldiers without any regard had to it, either as a dedicated thing or
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as a piece of exquisite art.
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(4.) They set fire to it, and so violated or <I>destroyed it to the
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ground,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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The Chaldeans burnt the house of God, that stately costly fabric,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+36:19">2 Chron. xxxvi. 19</A>.
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And the Romans <I>left not there one stone upon another</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+24:2">Matt. xxiv. 2</A>),
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rasing it, rasing it, even to the foundations, till Zion, the holy
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mountain, was, by Titus Vespasian, ploughed as a field.</P>
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<P>
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2. He complains of the desolations of the synagogues, or schools of the
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prophets, which, before the captivity, were in use, though much more
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afterwards. There God's word was read and expounded, and his name
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praised and called upon, without altars or sacrifices. These also they
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had a spite to
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>Let us destroy them together;</I> not only the temple, but all the
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places of religious worship and the worshippers with them. <I>Let us
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destroy them together;</I> let them be consumed in the same flame.
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Pursuant to this impious resolve they <I>burnt up all the synagogues of
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God in the land</I> and laid them all waste. So great was their rage
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against religion that the religious houses, because religious, were all
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levelled with the ground, that God's worshippers might not glorify God,
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and edify one another, by meeting in solemn assemblies.</P>
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<P>
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III. The great aggravation of all these calamities was that they had no
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prospect at all of relief, nor could they foresee an end of them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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"We see our enemy's sign set up in the sanctuary, but <I>we see not our
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signs,</I> none of the tokens of God's presence, no hopeful indications
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of approaching deliverance. <I>There is no more any prophet</I> to tell
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us how long the trouble will last and when things concerning us shall
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have an end, that the hope of an issue at last may support us under our
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troubles." In the captivity in Babylon they had prophets, and had been
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told how long the captivity should continue, but the day was cloudy and
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dark
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+34:12">Ezek. xxxiv. 12</A>),
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and they had not as yet the comfort of these gracious discoveries. God
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spoke once, yea, twice, good words and comfortable words, but they
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perceived them not. Observe, They do not complain, "We see not our
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armies; there are no men of war to command our forces, nor any to go
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forth with our hosts;" but, "no prophets, none to tell us how long."
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This puts them upon expostulating with God, as delaying,
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1. To assert his honour
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>How long shall the adversary reproach and blaspheme thy name?</I> In
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the desolations of the sanctuary our chief concern should be for the
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glory of God, that it may not be injured by the blasphemies of those
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who persecute his people for his sake, because they are his; and
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therefore our enquiry should be, not "How long shall we be troubled?"
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but "How long shall God be blasphemed?"
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2. To exert his power
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
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"<I>Why withdrawest thou thy hand,</I> and dost not stretch it out, to
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deliver thy people and destroy thy enemies? <I>Pluck it out of thy
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bosom,</I> and be not <I>as a man astonished, as a mighty man that
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cannot save,</I> or will not,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:9">Jer. xiv. 9</A>.
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When the power of enemies is most threatening it is comfortable to fly
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to the power of God.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps74_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps74_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Acknowledgments of Divine Power.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>12 For God <I>is</I> my King of old, working salvation in the midst
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of the earth.
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13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the
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heads of the dragons in the waters.
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14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, <I>and</I> gavest
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him <I>to be</I> meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
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15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst
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up mighty rivers.
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16 The day <I>is</I> thine, the night also <I>is</I> thine: thou hast
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prepared the light and the sun.
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17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made
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summer and winter.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The lamenting church fastens upon something here which she calls to
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mind, and <I>therefore hath she hope</I> (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+3:21">Lam. iii. 21</A>),
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with which she encourages herself and silences her own complaints. Two
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things quiet the minds of those that are here sorrowing for the solemn
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assembly:--</P>
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<P>
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I. That God is the God of Israel, a God in covenant with his people
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
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<I>God is my King of old.</I> This comes in both as a plea in prayer to
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God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:4">Ps. xliv. 4</A>,
|
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<I>thou art my King, O God!</I>) and as a prop to their own faith and
|
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hope, to encourage themselves to expect deliverance, considering the
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<I>days of old,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:5">Ps. lxxvii. 5</A>.
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The church speaks as a complex body, the same in every age, and
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therefore calls God, "My King, my King of old," or, "from antiquity;"
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he of old put himself into that relation to them and appeared and acted
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|
for them in that relation. As Israel's King, he wrought salvation in
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|
the midst of the nations of the earth; for what he did, in the
|
|
government of the world, tended towards the salvation of his church.
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Several things are here mentioned which God had done for his people as
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|
their King of old, which encouraged them to commit themselves to him
|
|
and depend upon him.</P>
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<P>
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1. He had divided the sea before them when they came out of Egypt, not
|
|
by the strength of Moses or his rod, but by his own strength; and he
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|
that could do that could do any thing.</P>
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<P>
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2. He had destroyed Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Pharaoh was the
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<I>leviathan;</I> the Egyptians were <I>the dragons,</I> fierce and
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cruel. Observe,
|
|
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(1.) The victory obtained over these enemies. God broke their heads,
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|
baffled their politics, as when Israel, the more they were afflicted by
|
|
them, multiplied the more. God crushed their powers, though
|
|
complicated, ruined their country by ten plagues, and at last drowned
|
|
them all in the Red Sea. <I>This is Pharaoh and all his multitude,</I>
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:18">Ezek. xxxi. 18</A>.
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It was the Lord's doing; none besides could do it, and he did it with a
|
|
strong hand and an outstretched arm. This was typical of Christ's
|
|
victory over Satan and his kingdom, pursuant to the first promise, that
|
|
the seed of the woman should break the serpent's head.
|
|
|
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(2.) The improvement of this victory for the encouragement of the
|
|
church: <I>Thou gavest him to be meat to the people</I> of Israel, now
|
|
going to <I>inhabit the wilderness.</I> The spoil of the Egyptians
|
|
enriched them; they stripped their slain, and so got the Egyptians'
|
|
arms and weapons, as before they had got their jewels. Or, rather, this
|
|
providence was meat to their faith and hope, to support and encourage
|
|
them in reference to the other difficulties they were likely to meet
|
|
with in the wilderness. It was part of the spiritual meat which they
|
|
were all made to eat of. Note, The breaking of the heads of the
|
|
church's enemies is the joy and strength of the hearts of the church's
|
|
friends. Thus the companions make a banquet even of leviathan,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+41:6">Job xli. 6</A>.</P>
|
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<P>
|
|
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3. God had both ways altered the course of nature, both in fetching
|
|
streams out of the rock and turning streams into rock,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
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(1.) He had dissolved the rock into waters: <I>Thou didst bring out the
|
|
fountain and the flood</I> (so some read it); and every one knows
|
|
whence it was brought, out of the rock, out of the flinty rock. Let
|
|
this never be forgotten, but let it especially be remembered that the
|
|
rock was Christ, and the waters out of it were spiritual drink.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He had congealed the waters into rock: <I>Thou driedst up
|
|
mighty</I> rapid <I>rivers,</I> Jordan particularly at the time when it
|
|
overflowed all its banks. He that did these things could now deliver
|
|
his oppressed people, and break the yoke of the oppressors, as he had
|
|
done formerly; nay, he would do it, for his justice and goodness, his
|
|
wisdom and truth, are still the same, as well as his power.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. That the God of Israel is the God of nature,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is he that orders the regular successions and revolutions,
|
|
|
|
1. Of day and night. He is the Lord of all time. The evening and the
|
|
morning are of his ordaining. It is he that opens the eyelids of the
|
|
morning light, and draws the curtains of the evening shadow. <I>He has
|
|
prepared the moon and the sun</I> (so some read it), the two great
|
|
lights, to rule by day and by night alternately. The preparing of them
|
|
denotes their constant readiness and exact observance of their time,
|
|
which they never miss a moment.
|
|
|
|
2. Of summer and winter: "Thou hast <I>appointed all the bounds of the
|
|
earth,</I> and the different climates of its several regions, for
|
|
<I>thou hast made summer and winter,</I> the frigid and the torrid
|
|
zones; or, rather, the constant revolutions of the year and its several
|
|
seasons." Herein we are to acknowledge God, from whom all the laws and
|
|
powers of nature are derived; but how does this come in here?
|
|
|
|
(1.) He that had power at first to settle, and still to preserve, this
|
|
course of nature by the diurnal and annual motions of the heavenly
|
|
bodies, has certainly all power both to save and to destroy, and with
|
|
him nothing is impossible, nor are any difficulties or oppositions
|
|
insuperable.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He that is faithful to his covenant with the day and with the
|
|
night, and preserves the ordinances of heaven inviolable will certainly
|
|
make good his promise to his people and never cast off those whom he
|
|
has chosen,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+31:36,33:20,21">Jer. xxxi. 35, 36; xxxiii. 20, 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
His covenant with Abraham and his seed is as firm as that with Noah and
|
|
his sons,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:21">Gen. viii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Day and night, summer and winter, being counterchanged in the
|
|
course of nature, throughout all the borders of the earth, we can
|
|
expect no other than that trouble and peace, prosperity and adversity,
|
|
should be, in like manner, counterchanged in all the borders of the
|
|
church. We have as much reason to expect affliction as to expect night
|
|
and winter. But we have then no more reason to despair of the return of
|
|
comfort than we have to despair of day and summer.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ps74_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps74_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps74_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps74_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps74_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps74_23"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Earnest Supplications; Pleading with God.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 Remember this, <I>that</I> the enemy hath reproached, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and
|
|
<I>that</I> the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
|
|
19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude
|
|
<I>of the wicked:</I> forget not the congregation of thy poor for
|
|
ever.
|
|
20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the
|
|
earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
|
|
21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and
|
|
needy praise thy name.
|
|
22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the
|
|
foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
|
|
23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those
|
|
that rise up against thee increaseth continually.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The psalmist here, in the name of the church, most earnestly begs that
|
|
God would appear fro them against their enemies, and put an end to
|
|
their present troubles. To encourage his own faith, he interests God in
|
|
this matter
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Arise, O God! plead thy own cause.</I> This we may be sure he will
|
|
do, for he is jealous for his own honour; whatever is his own cause he
|
|
will plead it with a strong hand, will appear against those that oppose
|
|
it and with and for those that cordially espouse it. He will arise and
|
|
plead it, though for a time he seems to neglect it; he will stir up
|
|
himself, will manifest himself, will do his own work in his own time.
|
|
Note, The cause of religion is God's own cause and he will certainly
|
|
plead it. Now, to make it out that the cause is God's, he pleads,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. That the persecutors are God's sworn enemies: "Lord, they have not
|
|
only abused us, but they have been, and are, abusive to thee; what is
|
|
done against us, for thy sake, does, by consequence, reflect upon thee.
|
|
But that is not all; they have directly and immediately reproached
|
|
thee, and <I>blasphemed thy name,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was that which they roared in the sanctuary; they triumphed as if
|
|
they had now got the mastery of the God is Israel, of whom they had
|
|
heard such great things. As nothing grieves the saints more than to
|
|
hear God's name blasphemed, so nothing encourages them more to hope
|
|
that God will appear against their enemies than when they have arrived
|
|
at such a pitch of wickedness as to reproach God himself; this fills
|
|
the measure of their sins apace and hastens their ruin. The psalmist
|
|
insists much upon this: "We dare not answer their reproaches; Lord, do
|
|
thou answer them. Remember that the <I>foolish people have blasphemed
|
|
thy name</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>)
|
|
|
|
and that still <I>the foolish man reproaches thee daily.</I>" Observe
|
|
the character of those that reproach God; they are foolish. As atheism
|
|
is folly
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:1">Ps. xiv. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
profaneness and blasphemy are no less so. Perhaps those are cried up as
|
|
the wits of the age that ridicule religion and sacred things; but
|
|
really they are the greatest fools, and will shortly be made to appear
|
|
so before all the world. And yet see their malice--They reproach God
|
|
daily, as constantly as his faithful worshippers pray to him and praise
|
|
him; see their impudence--They do not hide their blasphemous thoughts
|
|
in their own bosoms, but proclaim them with a loud voice (<I>forget not
|
|
the voice of thy enemies,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
and this with a daring defiance of divine justice; they <I>rise up
|
|
against thee,</I> and by their blasphemies even wage war with heaven
|
|
and take up arms against the Almighty. Their noise and <I>tumult ascend
|
|
continually</I> (so some), as the cry of Sodom came up before God,
|
|
calling for vengeance,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:21">Gen. xviii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>It increases continually</I> (so we read it); they grow worse and
|
|
worse, and are hardened in their impieties by their successes. Now,
|
|
Lord, <I>remember this; do not forget it.</I> God needs not to be put
|
|
in remembrance by us of what he has to do, but thus we must show our
|
|
concern for his honour and believe that he will vindicate us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. That the persecuted are his covenant-people.
|
|
|
|
1. See what distress they are in. They have fallen into the hands of
|
|
<I>the multitude of the wicked,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>How are those increased that trouble them!</I> There is no standing
|
|
before an enraged multitude, especially like these, armed with power;
|
|
and, as they are numerous, so they are barbarous: <I>The dark places of
|
|
the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.</I> The land of the
|
|
Chaldeans, where there was none of the light of the knowledge of the
|
|
true God (though otherwise it was famed for learning and arts), was
|
|
indeed a dark place; the inhabitants of it were <I>alienated from the
|
|
life of God through the ignorance that was in them,</I> and therefore
|
|
they were cruel: where there was no true divinity there was scarcely to
|
|
be found common humanity. They were especially cruel to the people of
|
|
God; certainly those have no knowledge who <I>eat them up,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:4">Ps. xiv. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
They are oppressed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>)
|
|
|
|
because they are poor and unable to help themselves; they are
|
|
oppressed, and so impoverished and made poor.
|
|
|
|
2. See what reason they had to hope that God would appear for their
|
|
relief and not suffer them to be always thus trampled upon. Observe how
|
|
the psalmist pleads with God for them.
|
|
|
|
(1.) "It is <I>thy turtle-dove</I> that is ready to be swallowed up by
|
|
the multitude of the wicked,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
The church is a dove for harmlessness and mildness, innocency and
|
|
inoffensiveness, purity and fruitfulness, a dove for mournfulness in a
|
|
day of distress, a turtle-dove for fidelity and the constancy of love:
|
|
turtle-doves and pigeons were the only fowls that were offered in
|
|
sacrifice to God. "Shall thy turtle-dove, that is true to thee and
|
|
devoted to thy honour, be delivered, its life and soul and all, into
|
|
the <I>hand of the multitude of the wicked,</I> to whom it will soon
|
|
become an easy and acceptable prey? Lord, it will be thy honour to help
|
|
the weak, especially to help thy own."
|
|
|
|
(2.) "It is <I>the congregation of thy poor,</I> and they are not the
|
|
less thine for their being poor (for God has <I>chosen the poor of this
|
|
world,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+2:5">Jam. ii. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
but they have the more reason to expect thou wilt appear for them
|
|
because they are many: it is <I>the congregation of thy poor;</I> let
|
|
them not be abandoned and forgotten for ever."
|
|
|
|
(3.) "They are in covenant with thee; and wilt thou not <I>have respect
|
|
unto the covenant?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Wilt thou not perform the promises thou hast, in thy covenant, made to
|
|
them? Wilt thou not own those whom thou hast brought into the bond of
|
|
the covenant?" When God delivers his people it is <I>in remembrance of
|
|
his covenant,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:42">Lev. xxvi. 42</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Lord, though we are unworthy to be respected, yet have respect to the
|
|
covenant."
|
|
|
|
(4.) "They trust in thee, and boast of their relation to thee and
|
|
expectations from thee. O let not them return ashamed of their hope
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
as they will be if they be disappointed."
|
|
|
|
(5.) "If thou deliver them, they will praise thy name and give thee the
|
|
glory of their deliverance. Appear, Lord, for those that will praise
|
|
thy name, against those that blaspheme it."</P>
|
|
|
|
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