Geneva Bible Study Notes :: Footnotes for Psalms 74

Psa 74:1 <> O God, (a) why hast thou cast [us] off for ever? [why] doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

(a) The Church of God is oppressed by the tyranny, either of the Babylonians or of Antiochus, and prays to God by whose hand the yoke was laid on them for their sins.

Psa 74:2 Remember thy congregation, [which] thou hast purchased of old; the (b) rod of thine inheritance, [which] thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

(b) Which inheritance you have measured out for yourself as with a line or rod.

Psa 74:4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they (c) set up their ensigns [for] signs.

(c) They have destroyed your true religion, and spread their banners in sign of defiance.

Psa 74:5 [A man] was famous according as he had (d) lifted up axes upon the thick trees.

(d) He commends the temple for the costly matter, the excellent workmanship and beauty of it, which nonetheless the enemies destroyed.

Psa 74:8 They said in their (e) hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

(e) They encouraged one another to cruelty, that not only God's people might be destroyed, but also his religion utterly in all places suppressed.

Psa 74:9 We see not our signs: [there is] no more any prophet: neither [is there] among us any that knoweth (f) how long.

(f) They lamented that they had no prophet among them to show them how long their misery would last.

Psa 74:11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? (g) pluck [it] out of thy bosom.

(g) They join their deliverance with God's glory and power, knowing that the punishment of the enemy would be their deliverance.

Psa 74:12 For God [is] my King of old, working salvation (h) in the midst of the earth.

(h) Meaning in the sight of all the world.

Psa 74:13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the (i) dragons in the waters.

(i) That is, Pharaoh's army.

Psa 74:14 Thou brakest the heads of (k) leviathan in pieces, [and] gavest him [to be] (l) meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

(k) Which was a great monster of the sea, or whale, meaning Pharaoh.

(l) His destruction rejoiced them as meat refreshes the body.

Psa 74:16 The (m) day [is] thine, the night also [is] thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

(m) Seeing that God by his providence governs and disposes all things, he gathers that he will take care chiefly for his children.

Psa 74:19 O deliver not the soul of thy (n) turtledove unto the multitude [of the wicked]: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

(n) He means the Church of God, which is exposed as a prey to the wicked.

Psa 74:20 Have respect unto the covenant: for (o) the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.

(o) That is, all places where your word does not shine, there reigns tyranny and ambition.

Psa 74:22 Arise, O God, plead thine (p) own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.

(p) He shows that God cannot permit his Church to be oppressed unless he looses his own right.