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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 74

Psalm 74: the sanctuary burned, no prophet, and a plea that God plead his own cause

General context

The speakers ask God why he has cast them off for ever and why his anger smokes against the sheep of his pasture. They ask him to remember the congregation he purchased of old, the rod of his inheritance, and mount Zion where he dwelt, and to lift up his feet to the perpetual desolations, all that the enemy has done wickedly in the sanctuary. Enemies roar in the midst of his congregations and set up their ensigns for signs; a man was once famous for lifting axes on thick trees, but now they break the carved work with axes and hammers, cast fire into the sanctuary, cast the dwelling place of God's name to the ground, and, saying in their hearts, Let us destroy them together, have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. The speakers see no signs, there is no more any prophet, and no one knows how long. They ask how long the adversary will reproach and blaspheme, and why God withdraws his right hand. God is their King of old; he divided the sea, broke the heads of the dragons and of leviathan and gave him as meat to the wilderness people, cleaved fountain and flood, dried up rivers; day and night, light and sun, the borders of the earth, summer and winter are his. They ask him to remember the enemy's reproach and the foolish people's blasphemy, not to deliver his turtledove to the wicked or forget his poor, to respect the covenant because the dark places of the earth are full of cruelty, not to let the oppressed return ashamed, to arise and plead his own cause, and not to forget the voice of his enemies, whose tumult increases continually.

Cited passages: Psalms 74:1, Psalms 74:2, Psalms 74:3, Psalms 74:4, Psalms 74:5, Psalms 74:6, Psalms 74:7, Psalms 74:8, Psalms 74:9, Psalms 74:10, Psalms 74:11, Psalms 74:12, Psalms 74:13, Psalms 74:14, Psalms 74:15, Psalms 74:16, Psalms 74:17, Psalms 74:18, Psalms 74:19, Psalms 74:20, Psalms 74:21, Psalms 74:22, Psalms 74:23

Psalms 74 (KJV)

1O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

2Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

3Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

4Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.

5A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.

6But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.

7They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.

8They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

9We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

10O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

11Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.

12For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

14Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

15Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.

16The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

17Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

18Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

19O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

20Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.

21O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.

22Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.

23Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.

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Historical context

The text as printed here carries no heading; verse 1 opens with "O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?", so this source names no author, occasion or musical direction. The voice is a plural "us" and "we", with a single "my" in verse 12, "God is my King of old". The psalm describes a destroyed sanctuary in detail: carved work broken "with axes and hammers", fire cast into the sanctuary, "the dwelling place of thy name" cast to the ground, and "all the synagogues of God in the land" burned. "Mount Zion" is named as the place where God dwelt. The enemy is never named; they are "the adversary", "the enemy", "the foolish people" and "the multitude of the wicked", and no king, army or date is given, so the text does not say which destruction this is. Verse 9 states three absences: no signs, "no more any prophet", and no one who knows "how long". Verses 13 to 17 recall God dividing the sea, breaking the heads of "the dragons" and "leviathan", and cleaving fountains, without naming an exodus or any other event. "Thy turtledove" is the psalm's name for the people. There is no Selah, and the psalm ends in petition with no answer reported.

Cited passages: Psalms 74:1, Psalms 74:12, Psalms 74:6, Psalms 74:7, Psalms 74:8, Psalms 74:2, Psalms 74:18, Psalms 74:9, Psalms 74:14, Psalms 74:19

Literary context

The psalm is built on "why", "how long" and "remember". It opens with two whys, asks "how long" twice, at verses 9 and 10, and says "remember" or "forget not" five times across verses 2, 18, 19, 22 and 23. The scene of destruction is told through tools and sounds: roaring enemies, ensigns, axes on trees and then axes and hammers on carved work, fire. The enemies are given one line of speech, "Let us destroy them together". At the centre, verses 12 to 17 change tense and tone, listing what God did and owns in a run of "Thou didst" and "thine": sea, dragons, leviathan, fountains, rivers, day, night, sun, borders, summer, winter. That catalogue of power stands between the complaint that God withdraws his right hand and the closing petitions, so the poem sets the God who broke leviathan beside the God whose sanctuary now burns. The people are "the sheep of thy pasture" at the start and "thy turtledove" near the end. The last request turns the cause over: "plead thine own cause", as if the reproach were God's problem more than theirs, and the final word is that the enemies' tumult "increaseth continually".

Cited passages: Psalms 74:1, Psalms 74:10, Psalms 74:18, Psalms 74:6, Psalms 74:8, Psalms 74:13, Psalms 74:17, Psalms 74:11, Psalms 74:22, Psalms 74:23

Key moments

  1. Why hast thou cast us off? (Psalms 74:1). The speakers ask why God has cast them off and why his anger smokes against his sheep.
  2. Axes and hammers (Psalms 74:6). The enemies break down the carved work of the sanctuary.
  3. Fire in the sanctuary (Psalms 74:7). They burn the sanctuary and cast God's dwelling place to the ground.
  4. No more any prophet (Psalms 74:9). The speakers see no signs and have no prophet and no one who knows how long.
  5. My King of old (Psalms 74:12). The speaker calls God his King of old who works salvation in the earth.
  6. The heads of leviathan (Psalms 74:14). God broke leviathan's heads and gave him as meat to the wilderness people.
  7. Plead thine own cause (Psalms 74:22). God is asked to arise and plead his own cause against daily reproach.

For reflection

The speakers say there is no prophet and no one who knows how long, and then recite what God did to the sea and to leviathan; what does the poem do with memory when there is no word from God to go on?

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