Chapter Overview
Summary
Psalm 74 (MT) / Psalm 73 (LXX) is an Asaphite lament over the destruction of the sanctuary — almost certainly the Babylonian destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE, though some scholars prefer a Maccabean-era setting for the Antiochene desecration of 167 BCE. The psalm protests the shocking defilement (vv. 3–8) and appeals to God's creation-power (vv. 12–17) as grounds for new-deliverance. Verse 13–14's 'you crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food to the people of the wilderness' reworks ancient-Near-Eastern chaos-monster mythology into YHWH's creation-victory over primordial-disorder.
Notable Variants
74:3 'the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary' as destruction-of-temple lament; 74:13–14 Leviathan-and-sea-monsters creation-combat theology; 74:9 'we do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet' as exilic-silence.
Structural Notes
MT Ps 74 = LXX Ps 73. 23 verses.
A maskil of Asaph. Why, O God, have You rejected us forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
'O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?' tracks MT. SHEEP-OF-YOUR-PASTURE self-designation — the people-as-flock image recurring at Ps 23:1, 79:13, 95:7, 100:3, 110.
Remember Your congregation that You acquired long ago, the tribe of Your inheritance that You redeemed — Mount Zion where You have dwelt.
'Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!' tracks MT. REDEEMED-PURCHASED-CONGREGATION. The 'purchased of old' language anticipates Acts 20:28 ('the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood,' tēn ekklēsian tou theou, hēn periepoiēsato dia tou haimatos tou idiou).
Lift Your steps toward the perpetual ruins — all the destruction the enemy has wrought in the sanctuary.
'Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary' tracks MT.
Your enemies have roared in the midst of Your meeting place; they set up their own signs as signs.
'Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs' tracks MT.
It was like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees.
'They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees' tracks MT. Axes-in-forest imagery — the temple's ornate wood-carvings hacked.
And now — its carved work, all of it, they smash with hatchet and hammer.
'And all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers' tracks MT.
They set Your sanctuary on fire; to the ground they profaned the dwelling place of Your name.
'They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground' tracks MT. Sanctuary-burned-to-ground — the 586 BCE (2 Kgs 25:9) or 167 BCE (Josephus, Ant. 12.253) referent.
They said in their hearts, 'Let us crush them altogether.' They burned every meeting place of God in the land.
'They said to themselves: We will utterly subdue them; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land' tracks MT.
We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and no one among us knows how long.
'We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long' tracks MT. PROPHETIC-SILENCE. The 'no prophet' diagnostic — 1 Maccabees 4:46, 9:27, 14:41 specifically narrate the prophetic-void of the inter-testamental period.
How long, O God, will the foe mock? Will the enemy scorn Your name forever?
'How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever?' tracks MT.
Why do You hold back Your hand? Your right hand — pull it from Your chest and destroy!
'Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!' tracks MT. Divine-hand-held-back — divine-restraint-prayer.
Yet God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
'Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth' tracks MT. Theological-pivot — from lament to creation-remembrance.
You split the sea by Your strength; You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
'You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters' tracks MT. CHAOS-MONSTER IMAGERY. The 'sea monsters' (tanninim / drakontes) — the primordial chaos-creatures — whose heads YHWH-broke at creation. Genesis 1:21 ('God created the great sea creatures' — tanninim) reframes this mythology as divine-creation. Revelation 12:9 ('the great dragon was thrown down,' drakōn) Christologizes.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.
'You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the people of the wilderness' tracks MT. LEVIATHAN. The sea-monster of Job 41 / Isaiah 27:1 — the apocalyptic-chaos-creature. His crushed-heads (kephalas — plural) echo the multi-headed dragon-cosmology. Revelation 13:1's 'beast rising out of the sea with seven heads' continues the symbolic-tradition.
You split open spring and torrent; You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
'You split open springs and brooks; you dried up ever-flowing streams' tracks MT. Massah-Meribah memory (Ex 17, Num 20) and Red-Sea / Jordan crossings.
Yours is the day, Yours also the night; You established the light and the sun.
'Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun' tracks MT. Day-and-night sovereignty — creation-theology.
You fixed all the boundaries of the earth; summer and winter — You formed them.
'You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter' tracks MT.
Remember this: the enemy has mocked, O LORD, and a foolish people has scorned Your name.
'Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, and a foolish people reviles your name' tracks MT.
Do not give the life of Your dove to the wild beast; do not forget the life of Your afflicted ones forever.
'Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of your poor forever' tracks MT. DOVE-FOR-ISRAEL metaphor — beloved-vulnerable. The dove-imagery for Israel recurs at Ps 68:13, Hosea 7:11, 11:11.
Look to the covenant, for the dark places of the land are filled with dens of violence.
'Have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence' tracks MT. COVENANT-REMEMBRANCE petition — the appeal to divine-covenant-fidelity.
Do not let the crushed turn back in shame; let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.
'Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame; let the poor and needy praise your name' tracks MT.
Rise up, O God, defend Your own cause! Remember the mockery against You from the foolish all day long.
'Arise, O God, defend your cause; remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!' tracks MT.
Do not forget the clamor of Your foes — the uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually.
'Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!' tracks MT. Closing with urgent do-not-forget petition.