27 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Psalms 74 Maschil of Asaph. Some think that Asaph, the penman of this psalm, was not the same that lived in the times of David, but some other of the same name, a descendant of his (k), that lived after the Babylonish captivity, since the psalm treats of things that were done at the time the Jews were carried captive into Babylon,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?..... This the church supposed because of the prevalence, oppression, and triumph of the enemy, because of the hardships and afflictions she laboured under, and because of the hidings of the face of God from her, which unbelief interpreted of a casting off; see Psalms 77:7 when in reality it was not so,...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
This psalm does so particularly describe the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, by Nebuchadnezzar and the army of the Chaldeans, and can so ill be applied to any other event we meet with in the Jewish history, that interpreters incline to think that either it was penned by David, or Asaph in David's time, with a prophetical reference to that...
Spurgeon - Treasury of David - Charles H. Spurgeon
Ver. 1. O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? To cast us off at all were hard, but when thou dost for so long a time desert they people it is an evil beyond all endurance--the very chief of woes and abyss of misery. It is our wisdom when under chastisement to enquire, "Show me wherefore thou contendest with me?" and if the affliction be a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old,.... Alluding to the redemption of the congregation of Israel out of Egypt, when they were said to be "purchased", Exodus 15:16 and as that people were typical of the people of God, they may be said to be "purchased then", even of old; though the purchase in reality was not made till the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations,.... That is, arise, hasten, move swiftly, and in the greatness of strength, and come and see the desolations made by the enemy, which look as if they would remain for ever; meaning either the desolations made in the city and temple of Jerusalem, either by Nebuchadnezzar, or by Titus; or the havocs...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations,.... Particular churches, gathered out of the world in Gospel order, and which meet together at particular times and places; in the midst of these, and against them their enemies, and who are the Lord's enemies, roar like lions, as Satan, and bloody persecutors, and particularly antichrist,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
A man was famous,.... Or, "it was", or "is known" (m); the desolations the enemy made, the wickedness they committed, the terror they spread, and the signs they set in the sanctuary of the Lord: according as he had lifted up, or "as one that lifts up" axes upon the thick trees (n); that is, the above things were as visible, and as well known,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. Formerly it was an honour to be employed in cutting down a tree for the building of the temple; but now so little regard was paid to it, that all its fine carved work, which Solomon made, 1 Kings 6:18, was demolished at once in a rude and furious manner with axes and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They have cast fire into thy sanctuary,.... Or, "thy sanctuary into the fire" (o); which denotes the utter destruction of it by fire, which was done both by the Chaldean and Roman armies; see 2 Kings 25:9, they have defiled, by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground, or "to the earth they have defiled the habitation of thy name"...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They said in their hearts, let us destroy them together,.... The Targum is, "their children, are together;'' or "their kindred", as the Septuagint Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, taking the word to be of נין, which signifies a "son"; and the sense to be, that seeing they were all together, as the Jews were at the taking of Jerusalem,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
We see not our signs,.... Either such miracles as were formerly wrought to support the faith of God's people in distress, and for their deliverance out of it, as when they were in Egypt, and brought forth from thence; see Psalms 78:43 or rather their sabbaths and sacrifices, the passover and circumcision, and other ordinances and institutions of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
O God, how long shall the adversary reproach?.... The name of God, as in the next clause, the divine Persons and perfections, the purposes and providence of God, his people, ways, worship, truths, and ordinances: shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? The "adversary" and "enemy" being in the singular number, may intend some particular one,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even that right hand?.... By which is meant the power of God; by which he made the heavens and the earth, and all things therein, and supports them in their beings; by which the work of his grace is wrought in the hearts of his people, and they are upheld; and by which he conquers their enemies, and saves them: this...
Spurgeon - Treasury of David - Charles H. Spurgeon
Ver. 11. Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? Wherefore this inaction, this indifference for thine own honour and thy people's safety? How bold is the suppliant! Does he err? Nay, verily, we who are so chill, and distant, and listless in prayer are the erring ones. The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and he who learns the art...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For God is my King of old,.... Or "but God", or "verily God", c. (d) for these words contain the church's consolation under all the above melancholy circumstances, taken from what God was, and had been to her, even Christ, who is God over all; he was her King by the constitution and designation of his Father, and so he had been of old, even from...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength,.... This and the following instances from hence to Psalms 74:18 are proofs of God's working salvation in the midst of the earth; some of them seem peculiar to the people of Israel, and others are benefits common to mankind in general; which the church makes use of to encourage her faith and hope, in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou breakest the heads of leviathan in pieces,.... A large fish, generally thought to be the whale, by some the crocodile, described in Job 41:1 to which the king of Egypt or Babylon is compared, Isaiah 27:1 and so the Romish antichrist in one of his characters is represented as a sea beast with many heads, which will all be broken in pieces in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood,.... That is, the rocks at Horeb and at Kadesh, from whence water flowed as out of a fountain, and became a flood, whereby the people of Israel were supplied with water in the wilderness, and also their beasts; and from this instance it may be concluded that God will not leave his people, nor suffer...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The day is thine, and the night also is thine,.... He made the one and the other, and divided the one from the other; and can make them longer or shorter, clear or cloudy, as he pleases: and the day of prosperity and night of adversity are at his disposal; all the times of his people and of his church are in his hands; sometimes it is a night of...