Psa 74:5 | KingComments | STEP | In Psalm 73, Asaph desperately asked God questions about the prosperity of the wicked. In Psalm 74, he cries out for help in great distress and asks God desperate questions about His rejection of His people, which to him is evident because of the destruction of the temple. This psalm is a touching prayer to God to intervene after a great national disaster. That disaster concerns the destruction of God’s sanctuary, the temple, His dwelling place in Jerusalem. The disaster that Asaph describes is in the future, because the temple was built by Solomon in Asaph’s time. Asaph is called a “prophet” by the Lord Jesus when He quotes a word of his from Psalm 78 ( ; ). It is a prophetic psalm, expressing feelings that are present among the believing remnant at later events. The Holy Spirit worked in Asaph feelings which the God-fearing has who experience the actual destruction of the temple. We can think of the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. We can also think of the destruction by the Romans in the year 70. Prophetically it is about the destruction by the Assyrians of the temple which – now soon – will be built by the Jews ( ). Of this, the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar is a foreshadowing. All these destructions were a painful experience for the God-fearing Jews. They wondered how God could allow His sanctuary to be so profaned and destroyed. The disciples of the Lord Jesus – they are a picture of the remnant – are also quite impressed by the temple. It did not occur to them that this magnificent temple could be destroyed again. In response to their admiration for the building, the Lord foretells its destruction ( ). We can divide the psalm as follows: In we hear the complaint about the destruction of the temple. mention Who God is and what He has done in the past. are a prayer to God to remember His people. This is the ninth of a total of thirteen psalms that are “a maskil” or “a teaching” or “an instruction” ( ; Psalms 32; 42; 44; 45; 52; 53; 54; 55; 74; 78; 88; 89; 142). For “a maskil”, see further at Psalm 32:1. For “of Asaph” see at Psalm 50:1. The God-fearing believer cries out to God “why” He has “rejected” His people “forever” ( ). We ask the question of the “why” of disasters that befall us when we do not understand God’s ways and works. That question can come from a tormented, humble mind, but also from a rebellious mind. Asaph asks this question from a humble mind. His question is not why God has rejected him, because that he understands. His question is why God has “rejected forever ” (cf. ). The occasion for his question, as the psalm further makes clear, is the destruction of the temple. To the awareness of the God-fearing Israelite, the presence of the temple in the midst of the people is the same as God’s presence in their midst. The presence of the temple is necessary to him if God is to dwell in their midst. This thought is justified when the people serve Him, but unjustified when the people depart from Him. Because the people departed from Him, He had to depart from them ( ). They see in the destruction of the temple that God’s anger has been kindled against them, “the sheep of Your pasture” (cf. ). That the righteous present themselves to God as the sheep of His pasture increases the tenderness of their appeal to Him. How can the Shepherd of Israel be inflamed in anger against His own sheep whom He provides with pasture, that is, with food? But God’s anger has come upon His people as a whole, and they are part of it. They are part of an ungodly people. At the same time, in contrast to the ungodly people, the apostate mass, they turn to God with their need. They ask Him to think of them because they are His congregation ( ). This is not about the New Testament church, but about the congregation of Israel. He has purchased that people “of old” ( ; cf. ). Asaph points out to God that He acquired His people many centuries ago to be His own people ( ; ). It means that this people is a very precious treasure to Him (cf. ). Precious means not only precious in value, but there is an emotional attachment to this treasure which makes its value to the owner a multiple of its real value. The value of the children of God to the Lord Jesus lies in the fact that they are a gift of love from the Father to the Son. Thus, the New Testament believers are mentioned seven times in John 17 as those who were given by the Father to the Lord Jesus ( ). He has redeemed His people from the bondage under which they were burdened. This redemption happened for a purpose: God wanted a people to live in the midst of. He therefore brought His people into the land and chose Mount Zion as His dwelling place. There He has dwelled. And does God not see what has happened to His dwelling place? Let God turn His footsteps to go and see ( ). By presenting it this way, Asaph indicates that God has left His sanctuary. He has to return to it. Then He can observe that His dwelling place is changed in “perpetual ruins”. This, Asaph says, was done by “the enemy”. The enemy was – as a foreshadowing of what will happen in the end time – Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. Then it was the Roman armies led by Titus in 70 AD. And in the near future, toward the end of the great tribulation, it will be the king of the North, or the Assyrian. The enemy “has damaged everything within the sanctuary”. To Asaph, as a singer in the temple, this is unpalatable. He is deeply affected by this in his inner self. His heart is completely attached to that place. How can it be that God did not notice this? Why didn’t He intervene? And why is He still not doing anything? The adversaries are not Asaph’s adversaries, but “Your adversaries”, that is, those of God ( ). How they have roared and ranted like drunks in “Your meeting places”. The temple has some places of encounter between God and His people. In the court He meets His people and in the sanctuary the priests. These are holy places where the requirements of holiness are appropriate to Him Who is the Holy One. “Your meeting places” in Hebrew is mo’ed-eka . The word mo’ed , which means meeting place, also appears in Leviticus 23 and is translated there as “appointed time” ( ). It means that God invites people to be with Him to have a time of celebration. He determines the place and time, just as we do when we make an appointment and agree on a time and place. The place is the place He has chosen to have His Name dwell ( ). That is first the tabernacle and later the temple. The time is the time of the feasts of the LORD. But there is no longer a place to meet God. In the place where it was possible, the nations have set up their idolatrous badges of honor. This is repugnant to the God-fearing Jew (cf. ). It is as if the idols of the nations had won the victory over the living God. Surely God cannot allow this to continue without punishment. Asaph suggests to God – as if to convince God of the ruthlessness of the nations – how the enemies have acted with a heart full of hatred and have held nothing, absolutely nothing, sacred. As lumberjacks lifted their “axes in a forest of trees”, so they raided the temple ( ). They have beaten on it ferociously. The ornate carvings were smashed to pieces “with hatchet and hammers” by brute force ( ). After the destruction, they “have burned Your sanctuary” ( ). The dwelling place of God’s Name they profaned “to the ground”. No profaning act was spared God’s dwelling. Whatever the heathen could think of to cover the dwelling place of God’s Name with defilement, they did. Today it happens in movies and events that ridicule and slander the Lord Jesus in the most disfiguring way. This takes place under the cloak of freedom of speech, in which nothing is sacred and nothing is spared. In particular, God and Christ are slandered. This goes to the heart and soul of the believer. Spurgeon (1834-1892) applies Psalm 74 to the way Bible critics try to destroy the church with their false teachings. This has not turned to the better since his time. For example, the existence of hell as the place of eternal pain for those who will not submit to God’s command to repent is questioned regularly. The opponents of the biblical doctrine of eternal punishment get a stage in church or via Christian media and are allowed to smash with hatchet and hammers. When we look at marriage, we see that here too the enemy destroys God’s intention with regular hammer blows. Marriage between one man and one woman is the only form of cohabitation God has ordained and recognizes in which sexuality may be experienced. However, what do we see happening in and through the church? The church has raised the rainbow flag as evidence of the victory that gay relationships can also be consecrated. The Lord’s Supper, instituted by the Lord Jesus, is a meal of remembrance for the members of His spiritual body, the church. It is celebrated in His house, also a picture of the church. It is open to all of God’s children, provided that someone is not living in sin and does not have a false doctrine about Christ and God’s Word. However, what happens in God’s house? Anyone who wants to may partake of the sacrament. It is said: ‘You are welcome as you are, as you feel, and however you live.’ The sign of the unity and solidarity of those who belong to God’s church has become a sign to which everyone is free to give their own liberal meaning. All of this, and much more, all the destructive teachings and practices that have been introduced into the church, chills the believer to the bone who has a living relationship with the Lord Jesus. He shares in God’s pain over it. Instead of crying out to God to put an end to this through judgment, he will beg God for perseverance to remain faithful to His Word himself. Then we are true followers of the Lord Jesus. He has borne witness to the truth in meekness and has not threatened retribution ( ; ). In doing so, He has felt the reproach that was done to His God as His own ( ). Asaph, by the Spirit’s enlightenment, even knows the deliberations of the heart of God’s enemies ( ). They proceed according to a pre-made plan. What they do not say out loud, they carry out in malice. They plunder and burn God’s dwelling place, which is the temple. In the end time they will also burn God’s meeting places in the land, the synagogues. If God allows this, it is because He wants to eradicate all orthodox, lifeless form worship. To Him, orthodox Judaism has no value. For this purpose God uses a terrible disciplinary rod: Assyria ( ).

‏ Psalms 74:5

Introduction

In Psalm 73, Asaph desperately asked God questions about the prosperity of the wicked. In Psalm 74, he cries out for help in great distress and asks God desperate questions about His rejection of His people, which to him is evident because of the destruction of the temple.

This psalm is a touching prayer to God to intervene after a great national disaster. That disaster concerns the destruction of God’s sanctuary, the temple, His dwelling place in Jerusalem. The disaster that Asaph describes is in the future, because the temple was built by Solomon in Asaph’s time. Asaph is called a “prophet” by the Lord Jesus when He quotes a word of his from Psalm 78 (Mt 13:35; Psa 78:2). It is a prophetic psalm, expressing feelings that are present among the believing remnant at later events.

The Holy Spirit worked in Asaph feelings which the God-fearing has who experience the actual destruction of the temple. We can think of the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. We can also think of the destruction by the Romans in the year 70. Prophetically it is about the destruction by the Assyrians of the temple which – now soon – will be built by the Jews (Dan 9:27). Of this, the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar is a foreshadowing. All these destructions were a painful experience for the God-fearing Jews. They wondered how God could allow His sanctuary to be so profaned and destroyed.

The disciples of the Lord Jesus – they are a picture of the remnant – are also quite impressed by the temple. It did not occur to them that this magnificent temple could be destroyed again. In response to their admiration for the building, the Lord foretells its destruction (Mt 24:1-2).

We can divide the psalm as follows:

In Psa 74:1-11 we hear the complaint about the destruction of the temple.

Psa 74:12-17 mention Who God is and what He has done in the past.

Psa 74:18-23 are a prayer to God to remember His people.

The Destroyed Sanctuary

This is the ninth of a total of thirteen psalms that are “a maskil” or “a teaching” or “an instruction” (Psa 74:1a; Psalms 32; 42; 44; 45; 52; 53; 54; 55; 74; 78; 88; 89; 142). For “a maskil”, see further at Psalm 32:1.

For “of Asaph” see at Psalm 50:1.

The God-fearing believer cries out to God “why” He has “rejected” His people “forever” (Psa 74:1b). We ask the question of the “why” of disasters that befall us when we do not understand God’s ways and works. That question can come from a tormented, humble mind, but also from a rebellious mind. Asaph asks this question from a humble mind. His question is not why God has rejected him, because that he understands. His question is why God has “rejected forever” (cf. Psa 74:10).

The occasion for his question, as the psalm further makes clear, is the destruction of the temple. To the awareness of the God-fearing Israelite, the presence of the temple in the midst of the people is the same as God’s presence in their midst. The presence of the temple is necessary to him if God is to dwell in their midst. This thought is justified when the people serve Him, but unjustified when the people depart from Him. Because the people departed from Him, He had to depart from them (Eze 8:3-4 ; Eze 9:3 ; Eze 10:3-4 ; 18-19 ; Eze 11:22-23).

They see in the destruction of the temple that God’s anger has been kindled against them, “the sheep of Your pasture” (cf. Psa 79:13 ; Psa 95:7). That the righteous present themselves to God as the sheep of His pasture increases the tenderness of their appeal to Him. How can the Shepherd of Israel be inflamed in anger against His own sheep whom He provides with pasture, that is, with food? But God’s anger has come upon His people as a whole, and they are part of it. They are part of an ungodly people.

At the same time, in contrast to the ungodly people, the apostate mass, they turn to God with their need. They ask Him to think of them because they are His congregation (Psa 74:2). This is not about the New Testament church, but about the congregation of Israel. He has purchased that people “of old” (Deu 32:6; cf. Acts 20:28). Asaph points out to God that He acquired His people many centuries ago to be His own people (Deu 32:9; Exo 19:5). It means that this people is a very precious treasure to Him (cf. Mt 13:44).

Precious means not only precious in value, but there is an emotional attachment to this treasure which makes its value to the owner a multiple of its real value. The value of the children of God to the Lord Jesus lies in the fact that they are a gift of love from the Father to the Son. Thus, the New Testament believers are mentioned seven times in John 17 as those who were given by the Father to the Lord Jesus (Jn 17:2b ; 6a ; 6b ; 9 ; 11 ; 12 ; 24).

He has redeemed His people from the bondage under which they were burdened. This redemption happened for a purpose: God wanted a people to live in the midst of. He therefore brought His people into the land and chose Mount Zion as His dwelling place. There He has dwelled.

And does God not see what has happened to His dwelling place? Let God turn His footsteps to go and see (Psa 74:3). By presenting it this way, Asaph indicates that God has left His sanctuary. He has to return to it. Then He can observe that His dwelling place is changed in “perpetual ruins”.

This, Asaph says, was done by “the enemy”. The enemy was – as a foreshadowing of what will happen in the end time – Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. Then it was the Roman armies led by Titus in 70 AD. And in the near future, toward the end of the great tribulation, it will be the king of the North, or the Assyrian. The enemy “has damaged everything within the sanctuary”. To Asaph, as a singer in the temple, this is unpalatable. He is deeply affected by this in his inner self. His heart is completely attached to that place. How can it be that God did not notice this? Why didn’t He intervene? And why is He still not doing anything?

The adversaries are not Asaph’s adversaries, but “Your adversaries”, that is, those of God (Psa 74:4). How they have roared and ranted like drunks in “Your meeting places”. The temple has some places of encounter between God and His people. In the court He meets His people and in the sanctuary the priests. These are holy places where the requirements of holiness are appropriate to Him Who is the Holy One.

“Your meeting places” in Hebrew is mo’ed-eka. The word mo’ed, which means meeting place, also appears in Leviticus 23 and is translated there as “appointed time” (Lev 23:2). It means that God invites people to be with Him to have a time of celebration. He determines the place and time, just as we do when we make an appointment and agree on a time and place. The place is the place He has chosen to have His Name dwell (Psa 74:7). That is first the tabernacle and later the temple. The time is the time of the feasts of the LORD.

But there is no longer a place to meet God. In the place where it was possible, the nations have set up their idolatrous badges of honor. This is repugnant to the God-fearing Jew (cf. Mt 24:15). It is as if the idols of the nations had won the victory over the living God. Surely God cannot allow this to continue without punishment.

Asaph suggests to God – as if to convince God of the ruthlessness of the nations – how the enemies have acted with a heart full of hatred and have held nothing, absolutely nothing, sacred. As lumberjacks lifted their “axes in a forest of trees”, so they raided the temple (Psa 74:5). They have beaten on it ferociously. The ornate carvings were smashed to pieces “with hatchet and hammers” by brute force (Psa 74:6).

After the destruction, they “have burned Your sanctuary” (Psa 74:7). The dwelling place of God’s Name they profaned “to the ground”. No profaning act was spared God’s dwelling. Whatever the heathen could think of to cover the dwelling place of God’s Name with defilement, they did.

Today it happens in movies and events that ridicule and slander the Lord Jesus in the most disfiguring way. This takes place under the cloak of freedom of speech, in which nothing is sacred and nothing is spared. In particular, God and Christ are slandered. This goes to the heart and soul of the believer.

Spurgeon (1834-1892) applies Psalm 74 to the way Bible critics try to destroy the church with their false teachings. This has not turned to the better since his time. For example, the existence of hell as the place of eternal pain for those who will not submit to God’s command to repent is questioned regularly. The opponents of the biblical doctrine of eternal punishment get a stage in church or via Christian media and are allowed to smash with hatchet and hammers.

When we look at marriage, we see that here too the enemy destroys God’s intention with regular hammer blows. Marriage between one man and one woman is the only form of cohabitation God has ordained and recognizes in which sexuality may be experienced. However, what do we see happening in and through the church? The church has raised the rainbow flag as evidence of the victory that gay relationships can also be consecrated.

The Lord’s Supper, instituted by the Lord Jesus, is a meal of remembrance for the members of His spiritual body, the church. It is celebrated in His house, also a picture of the church. It is open to all of God’s children, provided that someone is not living in sin and does not have a false doctrine about Christ and God’s Word. However, what happens in God’s house? Anyone who wants to may partake of the sacrament. It is said: ‘You are welcome as you are, as you feel, and however you live.’ The sign of the unity and solidarity of those who belong to God’s church has become a sign to which everyone is free to give their own liberal meaning.

All of this, and much more, all the destructive teachings and practices that have been introduced into the church, chills the believer to the bone who has a living relationship with the Lord Jesus. He shares in God’s pain over it. Instead of crying out to God to put an end to this through judgment, he will beg God for perseverance to remain faithful to His Word himself.

Then we are true followers of the Lord Jesus. He has borne witness to the truth in meekness and has not threatened retribution (Jn 18:22-23 ; Jn 19:9-11; 1Pet 2:23). In doing so, He has felt the reproach that was done to His God as His own (Rom 15:3).

Asaph, by the Spirit’s enlightenment, even knows the deliberations of the heart of God’s enemies (Psa 74:8). They proceed according to a pre-made plan. What they do not say out loud, they carry out in malice. They plunder and burn God’s dwelling place, which is the temple. In the end time they will also burn God’s meeting places in the land, the synagogues. If God allows this, it is because He wants to eradicate all orthodox, lifeless form worship. To Him, orthodox Judaism has no value. For this purpose God uses a terrible disciplinary rod: Assyria (Isa 7:17 ; Isa 10:5).