The Book of Psalms Paraphrased, Book 3 · Psalm 74
PSALM LXXIV.
Maſchil of Aſaph.
ARGUMENT.
The deſolation of Jeruſalem and of the Temple, as well as the reſt of the Country, made by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, was the ſad occaſion of this Pſalm. For it is altogether improbable, that it hath reſpect to the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, as ſome fancy; becauſe, as Theodoret perrinently notes (to omit all other reaſons) we reade nothing in any Hiſtory of his burning the Temple, or ſo much as of his laying the City waſte; which are both here moſt ſorrowfully bewailed by Aſaph. Who was not therefore that Aſaph in David's time (unleſs we ſhould grant him to have written by the ſpirit of Prophecy, and predicted what ſhould be in after-times, as a great many think) becauſe there was no ſuch Temple in thoſe days, nor had been, as is here deſcribed: Nor was it Aſaph the Seer in Hezekiah's days (of whom ſee Argument of the foregoing Pſalm) who ſaw no ſuch deſolation made by Senacherib (for he did not take Jeruſalem, nor ſhoot ſo much as an arrow into it) nor, in all likelihood, propheſied of the deſtruction here ſpoken of; becauſe the deſcription of it in this Pſalm is ſo plain, that we may moſt reaſonably think the Authour of it had it before his eyes, and did not merely ſee it by the ſpirit of Prophecy; which is not wont to foretell things in ſo clear a manner, but more obſcurely and darkly.
I conclude therefore it was ſome other Aſaph who compoſed this Pſalm, in the time of the Captivity, and in the middle, or rather toward the concluſion of it; becauſe he complains, Ver. 9. that they had no Prophet (as there was in the beginning of the Captivity, particularly Jeremiah) to tell them how long it ſhould laſt. And conſidering that in the ſecond Verſe he ſpeaks of himſelf as one that dwelt ſtill in the Land of Iſrael, pointing to Mount Sion as a place near to him; I take him to have been ſome pious man of the poſterity of Aſaph, who was ſuffered to remain there with the Chaldaeans.
And if it were fit to ſuppoſe him to have written this Pſalm very young, and to have lived to a great age, when I have no proof of either; I ſhould gueſs him to be Aſaph the Keeper of the King's Forreſt, in the days of Nehemiah: who deſired Artaxerxes to write to him, to furniſh him with Timber out of Lebanon, for the rebuilding ſome of thoſe places, which the Pſalmiſt here complains were deſtroyed. Among which, the Porch of the Court of the Sanctuary remained unbuilt even unto thoſe times.
Howſoever from the mention of Mount Sion in the ſecond Verſe, it is manifeſt Grotius forgot himſelf, when, in his Notes upon Ver. 6. he applies this Pſalm to the deſtruction of Shiloh; which he ſuppoſes Aſaph to have here bewailed. For Mount Sion had then never been in their poſſeſſion, as it was afterward, and had lain ſo long waſte (Ver. 3.) when Aſaph wrote this Pſalm, that it look'd like a perpetual deſolation. Beſides the Tabernacle was not burnt when Shiloh was deſtroyed, but remained, though without the Ark, till the days of Solomon, 2 Chron. I. 3. ſee Pſalm LXVIII. And of the meaning of Maſchil, ſee Pſalm XXXII.
1. O God, why haſt thou caſt us off for ever? why doth thine anger ſmoke againſt the ſheep of thy paſture?
1. O God, the Sovereign Judge of the world, who haſt juſtly expelled us out of our Land, and continued our baniſhment ſo long, that little hope appears of our being reſtored to it again; behold the anguiſh of our Souls, wherein we cry unto Thee for mercy: For we are confounded to ſee Thee ſo highly incenſed againſt thoſe, who were once under thy moſt indulgent care; as if Thou wert reſolved never to be reconciled to us any more.
2. Remember thy congregation which thou haſt purchaſed of old: the rod of thine inheritance which thou haſt redeemed, this mount Sion, wherein thou haſt dwelt.
2. Thou haſt not forgotten, we know, though it be very long ago, with the expence of how many Miracles Thou didſt make our Anceſtours thy peculiar people: For which reaſon, though we be exceedingly underſerving, we beſeech Thee to let all the world ſee, Thou wilt not utterly abandon the poor remainders of that Nation, which Thou didſt acquire at ſo great a price; that Kingdom which Thou didſt reſcue out of the moſt miſerable ſlavery, to be thy own poſſeſſion; and this Mount Sion, wherein (after Thou hadſt by many wonders brought us into Canaan, and routed out the old Inhabitants) Thou waſt pleaſed at laſt, to ſettle thy abode among us.
3. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual deſolations: even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the ſanctuary.
3. Make haſte, good Lord, to come and viſit the ruins of our Countrey and City, which have laſted exceeding long, and will never be repaired without thy powerfull help: which we implore againſt the Authours of them; who, to all the other miſchiefs they have done, have with a peculiar ſpite, not onelyonly defaced but, utterly deſtroyed thy dwelling-place.
4. Thine enemies roar in the midſt of thy congregations: they ſet up their enſigns for ſigns.
4. They are thy Enemies therefore as well as ours, whoſe fury and rage ſo tranſports them that they roar rather then ſhout; whilſt they triumph in thoſe places where thy people were wont to meet to praiſe thy Name: There they have ſet up their Banners in token of their Victory; and bragg, as if their Gods were ſuperiour unto Thee.
5. A man was famous, according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
5. Every one of them laid about him, and beſtirred himſelf with all his might; as if he hoped to get renown by the miſchief he did: which was committed with no more remorſe, then if they had been lopping off boughs in the thickets of a Forreſt, where they may be ſpared.
6. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.
6. Juſt ſo methinks I ſee (as if it were now a doing) how they hacked and hewed with Axes, and knocked down with Hammers, the curious carved Work of the Temple: whoſe elegance would have moved any but Barbarians, to have preſerved it with as great a zeal, as they imployed to beat it in pieces.
7. They have caſt fire into thy ſanctuary, they have defiled by caſting down the dwelling-place of thy name to the ground.
7. But, ſo mad was their rage, it was not ſatisfied with this; but ſet fire unto thy holy place: And what that did not conſume, they pull'd down; till they had utterly profaned the habitation conſecrated to thy Majeſty, by laying it level with the ground.
8. They ſaid in their hearts, Let us deſtroy them together: they have burnt up all the ſynagogues of God in the land.
8. Nor did all this give a ſtop unto their fury; but they rather grew the more outragious: For deſigning quite to deſtroy our Religion, both in this and in future Generations, they left not ſo much as one place, wherein we might meet to ſay our Prayers, or hear the Law, throughout the Land.
9. We ſee not our ſigns, there is no more any prophet, neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
9. And, which is the ſaddeſt thing of all, Thou ſeemeſt to have left us too; and we ſee no token of thy Divine preſence with us: So far we are from beholding any miraculous works, as our Fathers did, for our deliverance; that there is not ſo much as a Prophet to be found, to give us any advice, or ſpeak a word of comfort to us: not a man among us, that can tell when theſe calamities will have an end.
10. O God, how long ſhall the adverſary reproach? ſhall the enemy blaſpheme thy name for ever?
10. What a reproach is this, O God? which hath quite tired our patience; and makes us cry unto Thee to make haſte, to avenge thy ſelf of theſe inſulting Enemies: Stop their blaſphemous mouths, O God; and let them not ſay any more, as they have done too long, that Thou art not able to deliver us.
11. Why withdraweſt thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy boſom.
11. For we are confounded and know not what to ſay, while Thou thus withdraweſt thy powerfull preſence from us; that mighty power which was wont to do ſuch wonders for us: exert it again we beſeech Thee, and ſtretch it out for the deſtruction of thoſe, who have ſpoken of it ſo contemptuouſly.
12. For God is my King of old, working ſalvation in the midſt of the earth.
12. Why ſhould I deſpair of it? ſince the great God, whom they deride, hath many Ages ago undertaken the Government and Protection of us: working for us ſuch deliverances in this Land which now lyes waſte, as aſtoniſhed all the world.
13. Thou didſt divide the Sea by thy ſtrength: thou brakeſt the heads of the dragons in the waters.
13. Thou art that God, to whoſe power the raging Sea is ſubject; which at thy command retired, and opened a way for us to paſs thorough; but came back again, with its wonted violence, and overwhelmed the Egyptians; who, like ſo many Sea-monſters, thought to have devoured us.
14. Thou brakeſt the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gaveſt him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderneſs.
14. Pharaoh, that fierce Tyrant, as terrible as the vaſteſt Whales, Thou didſt utterly deſtroy there; with all his ſtern Captains and Commanders: whom the Sea ſpewed up (XIX. Exod. 30.) to find their Tombs in the bellies of the wild Beaſts, and Birds; which people the neighbouring Wilderneſs.
15. Thou didſt cleave the fountain and the floud: thou driedſt up mighty rivers.
15. Where, when our Fathers wanted drink, Thou madeſt water to guſh out of a Rock; (XVII. Exod. 6. XX. Numb. 9.) which followed them in a full ſtream, till they came to the borders of Canaan: And then Thou driedſt up the waters of Jordan, at a time when they ran violently, and (as if many Rivers had been joined in one) it overflowed all its Banks, III. Joſh. 15, 17.
16. The day is thine, the night alſo is thine: thou haſt prepared the light and the ſun.
16. And ſtill there are ſuch inſtances of thy power, which the whole world, if they would but mind, have alway before their eyes. For as Thou didſt ſometimes change the dry Land into a River, and a River into dry Land; ſo Thou doſt continually change the Day into Night, and the Night into Day: having ſettled the Moon to govern the one, and the Sun to govern the other, in their turns.
17. Thou haſt ſet all the borders of the earth: thou haſt made ſummer and winter.
17. By thy Almighty wiſedom alſo it is, that the motion of the Sun not onelyonly makes the days and nights; but the different climates of the Earth, and the ſeaſons of the year: which are ſometimes hot, and ſometimes cold; ſometimes flouriſhing, as we ſee in the Summer, with all manner of fruit; and ſometimes ſtript, as we ſee in the Winter, of all its ornaments, that afterward it may be the more fruitfull.
18. Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the fooliſh people have blaſphemed thy name.
18. And we ſure have indured a very tedious winter; wherein all things have lookt moſt ruefully. May it pleaſe Thee now to return, like the Sun, unto us, and let thy Enemies know Thou haſt not forgotten how they have reproached Thee, O Lord; (whom they ought to have honoured as the mighty Creatour of all things) but wilt vindicate thy glory, by puniſhing theſe inſolent people, who, fooliſhly puft up with their Victories, have deſpiſed and derided thy omnipotent Majeſty.
19. O deliver not the ſoul of thy turtle-dove unto the multitude of the wicked, forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
19. Deliver, we beſeech Thee, thy Church, which like a Turtle-dove can do nothing but meekly mourn, and make her ſilent complaints unto Thee, from thoſe violent men, who, like Birds of prey, ſeek utterly to deſtroy her: Let them not take away its life and being; but, though we be at preſent deſerted by Thee yet, hear our crys, and at laſt relieve a poor helpleſs company, who flee unto Thee, and depend upon Thee alone for ſafety.
20. Have reſpect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
20. Though we are unworthy to be regarded by Thee, yet have regard unto thy own promiſes; wherein Thou haſt engaged thy ſelf unto our Fathers, to give to them and their poſterity the Land of Canaan: which is ſo far from being now inhabited by thy people, that every blind corner of it is a den of thieves and murtherers; who have filled it with rapine and cruelty.
21. O let not the oppreſſed return aſhamed: let the poor and needy praiſe thy name.
21. O let not thy poor afflicted ſervant, who implores thy aid againſt theſe barbarous oppreſſours, be denied his ſuit; and go away aſhamed to ſee himſelf diſappointed of his hope: but let him, and all the reſt of thy miſerable people, who were never in greater need of thy help, be reſtored to praiſe thy goodneſs in their ancient poſſeſſions; from whence they have been thus long baniſhed.
22. Ariſe, O God, plead thine own cauſe: remember how the fooliſh man reproacheth thee daily.
22. Appear, O God, in our behalf; and thereby vindicate thy ſelf from reproach: let me again beſeech Thee, to ſhew that Thou art not unmindfull of all the ſcoffs, which proſperous fools belch out againſt Thee, every day.
23. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of thoſe that riſe up againſt thee, increaſeth continually.
23. It is time to puniſh all the inſulting language of thy Enemies: for the inſolent braggs, and furious threats of thoſe that oppoſe Thee, increaſe ſtill more and more; and riſe up to a greater height of audacious impiety.