1.
O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
2.
Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
3.
Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4.
Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.
5.
A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
6.
But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.
7.
They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.
8.
They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
9.
We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
10.
O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11.
Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.
GOD AS SILENT AND INACTIVE
‘Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand?’
Psalms 74:11
I. This is a great complaint, but it is a complaint of faith.—Hardly a gleam of light is to be found throughout. The Psalmist sits in the midst of national desolation and pours out his soul to God, in passionate appeal for His help, and protest against His silence and inactivity. This is not the song of an atheist, but the wail of a believer. He has a past experience of God’s power and a present conviction thereof. The signs of that power are in day and night, in summer and winter. The one place from which He seems to be absent is the place of His people’s distress. The ground of the Psalmist’s plea is not the distress of these people finally. It is rather that the enemy reproaches the name of Jehovah and blasphemes it. In that central complaint the name Jehovah, which is ever suggestive of the essential Helper, emerges, and there only in the psalm. The master consciousness of the moment is that of God the Mighty One, but there is that deeper knowledge of Him as the Helper of the needy.
II. Again we are thankful that such a psalm has a place here, for it is so true to much human experience.—When the heart is hot and restless and it seems as though God had forsaken His own, he is a wise man who turns to Him in a song, even though the song be only a complaint.
Illustrations
(1) ‘ “Have respect unto the covenant.” Here is the master-key—heaven’s gate must open to this. His covenant He will not break, nor alter the thing that hath gone forth out of His lips. The Lord had promised to bless the seed of Abraham, and make them a blessing; here they plead that ancient word, even as we also may plead the covenant made with the Lord Jesus for all believers. What a grand word it is!’
(2) ‘Let us go back on the past. Has God purchased us to cast us aside? Was He our king of old, and will He not work for our salvation still? Did He divide the sea, and break Rabab in pieces, to stultify all His work by deserting us? Aye, and there is no plea so potent as to remind God of His covenant, sealed with the blood of the Cross. “Even if we are utterly undeserving and evil, have respect unto the ‘I Wills’ of Thy covenant.” ’
12.
For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13.
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14.
Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15.
Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
16.
The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
ALTERNATIONS AND CONSOLATIONS
‘The day … the night.’
Psalms 74:16
I. The alternation of day and night is part of a universal law.—(1) Everywhere in nature. (2) In our daily life. (3) In our spiritual experiences. (4) In all history.
II. All these alternations are Divinely regulated and controlled.—God rules the darkness as well as the light. Our misfortunes as well as blessings are under His control. ‘I, the Lord, create light, and I create darkness.’
III. Side by side with this law of alternation there is another—viz. the law of compensation.—Darkness and light are not opposing forces. Night has its beauties, its pleasures, and its purposes as well as day. (1) Night reveals more of the heavens than we see by day. ‘Sorrow brings out truths as night brings out the stars.’ (2) If day afford opportunity for work, night brings rest. (3) If day yields heat, night brings the cool refreshing dews. (4) Night is quite as essential as day. ‘It is good for me that I have been afflicted.’
IV. These laws of alternation and compensation have many valuable lessons for us.—(1) We must expect changes and vicissitudes. (2) We should learn lessons of contentment. (3) We should learn to trust in the Lord at all times. (4) We should remember that the night of death as well as the short day of life is in God’s hands. He will wake us in the morning where there are no more alternations.
17.
Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
18.
Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
19.
O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: 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.