Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs.
The Church lies waste, Israel's very name nearly erased, and the people rightly confess their own sins as the cause. Yet they appeal to God's covenant with Abraham, remembering His ancient power displayed in deliverance, and so they plead with Him to end this desperate ruin. This maskil teaches us that affliction compels us to examine ourselves and humble our hearts before God.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 74:1-23
Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations. Where thy people sang like angels, these barbarians roar like beasts. When thy saints come together for worship, these cruel men attack them with all the fury of lions. They have no respect for the most solemn gatherings, but intrude themselves and their blasphemies into our most hallowed meetings.
Affliction teaches us to pray. God's people here taste desertion but do not mistake it for rejection; they expostulate boldly, as Christ Himself cried out on the cross. Cast down is not cast off. Their complaint turns our eyes upward: they dread God's abandonment more than any enemy's blow, and desire above all to be known and owned by Him.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 74:1-11