Chapter Seventy-Four

The psalm was written by Asaph, or rather by one of his descendants who lived in a time later than David. The content of the psalm corresponds to the time of King Hezekiah, when the attack of Sennacherib the Assyrian on Jerusalem was already near, but when the king had not lost hope in God’s protection. This time period is indicated precisely by the anxious disturbance that, according to the psalm, Judea was experiencing (Ps 74:4), the complete defenselessness of the Hebrews, the enemy attack was directed at Judea from the north (Ps 74:7), and they were distinguished by arrogance and contempt toward the Lord (Ps 74:5). Such characteristics coincide with the condition of Judea at the time of Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem.

Your help is near, O Lord (2). You yourself promise to appoint a time for judgment over the enemies (3–4). Therefore I speak to the wicked, so that they do not dishonor God, since He will give them drink from the cup of wrath, and the righteous will then praise the Lord (5–11).

Psalm 74:2. We praise you, God, we praise; for your name is near; they declare your wonders. The approach of the enemies and the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem were met by the Hebrews with solemn hymns in honor of God, where they “declared” His wonders in the past history of their people. They expected the same help from God in the present near danger, which is why they said that “the name of the Lord is near,” that the day was near when He would marvelously display His help over the people.

Psalm 74:3. “When I choose the time, I will judge with righteousness. Psalm 74:4. The earth and all who dwell in it tremble: I will establish its pillars. In verses 3–4 God is presented as the speaker. He will pronounce His judgment at the time He appoints, and it will be righteous judgment, when each will receive what he deserves. On whom God’s wrath should be poured out is evident from the following words, “the earth trembles,” that is, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem came into terror at the appearance of the terrible and numerous forces of Sennacherib. The Lord “establishes its pillars,” does not allow the enemies to shake the power and strength of Judea. Since the “pillars” of Judea, upon which her greatness and significance rested, were the name of the Lord, to establish the pillars means not to allow this great name and those who hold to it to be mocked. It is known that Rabshakeh, the commander of Sennacherib, mocked the faith of the Hebrews in the Lord.

Psalm 74:5. I say to the foolish: “Do not be foolish,” and to the wicked: “Do not raise the horn, The “foolish” are the Assyrians, who blasphemously reviled the Lord. “Do not raise the horn” means do not think much about your strength and invincibility. The horn is a symbol of strength.

Psalm 74:7. For exaltation comes not from the east and not from the west and not from the desert, Psalm 74:8. But God is the judge: He humbles one and exalts another; The faith of the Hebrews in receiving protection (“exaltation”) rested not on expecting human help from nations living to the east, west, or desert of Judea (more precisely it could be translated as “not from the rocks of the desert,” that is, from Edom), but on faith in the Lord alone, from whom alone depends “humiliation” or “exaltation.” In the listing of the directions of the world north is not mentioned because from there the Assyrians came. It was impossible for the Hebrews to expect protection from any neighboring peoples, because these always had hostile relations toward them, and these feelings, of course, did not change with the attack of the Assyrians.

Psalm 74:9. For the cup is in the Lord’s hand, and the wine is hot in it, full of mixture, and He pours from it. Even its sediment all the wicked of the earth will wring out and drink. By “the cup of mixture” — the cup of wine with admixtures of various spices, which in the East were customarily added to wine to strengthen its intoxicating property — is meant the cup of the Lord’s wrath, with which He will make the enemies of Jerusalem drink, that is, the Assyrians. The enemies will drink even the “sediment,” the residue in the cup, the strongest and most stupefying.

Psalm 74:10. And I will declare forever, I will sing of the God of Jacob, Psalm 74:11. All the horns of the wicked I will break, and the horns of the righteous will be exalted. From this cup their strength will be broken (“the horns of the wicked”), and the righteous will be exalted. Indeed, the destruction of the enemies at Jerusalem made the name of the Lord and the Hebrew people fearful, and many pagan nations then brought gifts to Hezekiah (2 Chr 32:23).