Psalms 74:1

O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

Psalms 74:1. Complaint that God casts off His people; prayer that He will remember Zion, His inheritance purchased of old (Psalms 74:1); His people's misery: the for has destroyed God's sanctuary and synagogues, and no signs of His presence in the land remain (Psalms 74:3); how long shall the foe blaspheme thy name? pluck thy hand from thy bosom (Psalms 74:10); Gods past interpostions, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness, and His rule over day and night, are ground for hope (Psalms 74:12); remember the enemy's reproach and thy covenant: plead thine own cause (Psalms 74:18). The Chaldean destruction of the sanctuary is the one referred to (cf. with ; ). Compare the analogous 'reproach' of the Assyrian against the Lord ( with ). Compare Psalms 79:1 and Lamentations. The Psalmist was perhaps one of the few Israelites left by the Chaldeans in the land.

Title. - Asaph - a seer and chief musician of David's time, author of Psalms 73:1; Psalms 78:1 (; ). But the circumstances,of this psalm require a late date, therefore one of 'the sons of Asaph' (i:e., the family of singers bearing Asaph's name as their founder) is meant (cf. ; ; ; ; ; ). All the sacred songs of the family were called 'songs of Asaph.' The often-recurring "forever" is a "Maschil," or instruction; to believers not to give up hope though the foes' desolations seem "forever."

O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? - (; ; ; .) Our weak faith is apt to think, us severe visitations of God, that He has "cast us off forever." The object is to show us how, by prayer, we may overcome these thoughts.

Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pastures? Smoke is the accompaniment of fire; and God's anger is a consuming fire, (; , margin) The fundamental passage is . Israel is 'the sheep of the Lord's pasture' (cf. ), as having received from Him Canaan (; ; ). Israel now, during the captivity, was driven away from her rich pasture there.