Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 74:11

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 74:11. Why withdrawest thou thy hand — It has been remarked, that as the outward habit of the easterns had no sleeves, the hands and arms were frequently covered with the folds of the robe; and in order to do any thing, the hand must be disentangled and drawn out. The literal version of the Hebrew is: "To what time wilt thou draw back thy hand; yea, thy right hand, from within thy bosom?" Consume; that is, manifest thy power, and destroy thy adversaries. I have, in the introduction to the book of Psalms, spoken of the old metrical version by Sternhold and Hopkins, and have stated that it was formed from the original text. A proof of this may be seen by the learned reader in this and the preceding verse; where, though their version is harsh, and some of their expressions quaint almost to ridicule, yet they have hit the true meaning which our prose translators have missed: -

Ver. Psalms 74:10. When wilt thou once, Lord, end this shame,

And cease thine en'mies strong?

Shall they always blaspheme thy name,

And rail on thee so long?

Ver. Psalms 74:11. Why dost thou draw thy hand aback,

And hide it in thy lap?

O pluck it out, and be not slack

To give thy foes a rap!

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 74:0 Israel in captivity

This psalm belongs to the time that followed the destruction of the nation Israel. Assyria conquered the northern kingdom in 722 BC, and Babylon the southern kingdom during the years 605-587 BC. The people were taken captive into foreign lands and the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed (2 Kings 25:8-12). Now, with the centre of their religious life gone, the people feel cut off from God. Worse than that, the bitter years in captivity lead them to doubt God’s faithfulness.

Has God forgotten his covenant with Israel? The people invite him to go and inspect the ruins of the city and the temple. Perhaps it will rouse him to remember his covenant and bring them back to their homeland (1-3). They describe the scene of defilement and destruction in the temple: heathen victory symbols set up in the Holy Place (4); the beautiful woodwork broken, smashed and burnt (5-8); not a messenger of God to be found anywhere in the land (9).
Surely such a sight will rouse God from his inaction and cause him to act for them (10-11). Certainly, he is not lacking in power, for he has worked for them in the past. He directed the world of nature in such a way as to save Israel (12-17). Will he not therefore silence those who dishonour him? Will he not save his helpless people according to the covenant he made with them (18-20)? By acting against the oppressors, God can defend his cause and rescue his people (21-23).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Why drawest back thy hand, even thy right hand? Pluck it out of thy bosom and consume them."

The anthropomorphic metaphor here depicts God as having withdrawn his right hand from its usual task of defending Israel, concealing it in his bosom instead. The psalmist appeals to God to use that right hand, and use it at once, in the defense of Israel. Alas, the Israel still remaining in Judaea was not destined to enjoy any such benefit. The whole nation had become so corrupt that pagan gods were being worshipped in the temple itself, as revealed by Ezekiel. Nevertheless, we may be sure that for faithful believers such as the psalmist, God no doubt kept them in the Book of Life. It was a sorrowful time for such as he.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? - Why dost thou not stretch forth thy hand for our deliverance? The hand, especially the right hand, is the instrument by which we wield a sword, or strike a blow; and the expression here is equivalent to asking why God did not interfere and save them.

Pluck it out of thy bosom - As if God had hidden his hand beneath the folds of his garment, or had wrapped his robe tightly around him. It “seemed” as if he had done this, as if he looked calmly on, and saw the temple fired, the synagogues burned up, the land laid waste, and the people slaughtered, without an attempt to interpose. How often are we constrained to use similar language - to ask a similar question - when iniquity abounds, when crime prevails, when sinners are perishing, when the church mourns - for God seems to have withdrawn his hand, and to be looking on with unconcern! No one can tell why this is so; and, without irreverence, or a spirit of complaining, but deeply affected with the mystery of the fact, we may ask “Why” this is so.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

11.How long wilt thou withdraw thy hand? It is easy to see what the prophet here intends, and yet interpreters are not agreed as to the words. Some by the word hand, in the first part of the verse, understand the left hand, to distinguish it from the right hand, mentioned in the last clause of the verse. But this is mere trifling; for when he uses the term right hand, he simply repeats the same thing according to his usual manner. Some translate the verb כלה, kalah, the last word of the verse, by hinder or restrain, as if the prophet had said, Do thou at length stretch forth thy hand, which has been kept too long in thy bosom. But this is a forced sense, to which they have recourse without any color of reason. Those who translate it consume understand the midst of God’s bosom, as denoting allegorically his temple, ⁽²²⁸⁾ an interpretation of which I cannot approve. It will be better to continue the interrogation to the last word in this way: “How long wilt thou withdraw thy hand? Yea, wilt thou withdraw it from the midst of thy bosom? Consume, therefore, these ungodly men who so proudly despise thee.” We may also not improperly view the words as a prayer that as God’s enemies persuaded themselves that he was slothful and idle, because he did not bestir himself, nor openly lift up his hand; he would cause them to feel that he was perfectly able to destroy them with his nod alone, although he should not move so much as a finger.

(228) “The Jewish Arab reads, ‘Turn not from them thy hand, even thy right hand, but consume them out of the midst of thy house,’ giving a note, that the house of God is called חיק.” —Hammond

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 74:1-23

Psalms 74:1-23 is one of those psalms where the psalmist again is speaking of the desolation that is come, and the apparent quietness of God in the face of the desolation. God didn't do anything to stop it. God has allowed this desolation, and God's hand is not yet seen, as far as the delivering of the people.

O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, where you have dwelt. Lift up your feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. For thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs. A man was famous according to as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. But now they are breaking down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers ( Psalms 74:1-6 ).

And so he speaks of the desolation that had come to the house of God. How they had taken the axe and the hammers and had destroyed the beautiful carved works that were there in the sanctuary of God. And how,

They then set it on fire, and they defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground ( Psalms 74:7 ).

And so the holy of holies was cast down.

They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all of the synagogues of God in the land. We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knows how long ( Psalms 74:8-9 ).

We don't know how long this desolation is gonna go on.

O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? Why do you withdraw your hand, even your right hand? pluck it out of your bosom, Lord ( Psalms 74:10-11 ).

Get busy God, help us.

For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. You did divide the sea by your strength: you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters. You broke the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gave him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. You did cleave the fountain and the flood: and you dried up the mighty rivers. The day is thine, the night is also yours: and you have prepared the light and the sun. You have set all the borders of the earth: you have made summer and winter. Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Jehovah, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. O deliver not the soul of your turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of the poor for ever. Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproaches thee daily. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increases continually ( Psalms 74:12-23 ).

And so the psalmist crying out unto God because of the desolations of the temples, the synagogues, by the enemies, the oppression of God's people. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 74

The writer appears to have written this communal lament psalm after one of Israel’s enemies destroyed the sanctuary. [Note: See Ralph W. Klein, Israel in Exile: A Theological Interpretation, pp. 19-20.] The Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 586 B.C. may therefore be the background. The writer asked the Lord to remember His people and defeat her enemies, as He had in the past, for His own glory (cf. Psalms 79; Psalms 137; Lam.).

"The temple has been violated. The key symbol of life has been lost. Things in all parts of life fall apart-precisely because the center has not held. This psalm of protest and grief does not concern simply a historical invasion and the loss of a building. It speaks about the violation of the sacral key to all reality, the glue that holds the world together." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 68.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. An appeal for divine help 74:10-17

The psalmist pleaded for God to help His people and to subdue their enemy. The Lord’s reputation fell with the sanctuary in the eyes of Israel’s neighbors. Ancient Near Easterners regarded a god’s temple as the reflection of his glory. Now that the temple on Mt. Zion had suffered damage, the nations would have concluded that Yahweh was unable to defend His people.

Asaph recalled God’s mighty acts in the past in order to motivate Him to act for His people by defeating their enemy in the present (Psalms 74:12-17). Psalms 74:13-14 describe the crossing of the Red Sea during the Exodus.

". . . the language of Psalms 74:12-14, while tailored to reflect the redemptive character of the Exodus event, also alludes to God’s victory over chaos at creation." [Note: Chisholm, "A Theology . . .," p. 260.]

The sea monsters refer to Pharaoh’s soldiers, and Leviathan was a mythical monster that the writer used to describe Egypt here. The creatures of the wilderness are the Israelites. Psalms 74:15 recalls events in the wilderness wanderings and the crossing of the Jordan. Psalms 74:16-17 go back to God’s creation of the cosmos.

"The point here is that what Baal had claimed in the realm of myth, God had done in the realm of history-and done for His people, working salvation." [Note: Kidner, Psalms 73-150, p. 268.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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 may be said to be withdrawn when he denies his people the help and succour they have had from him; when he seems to have forsaken the work of his hands; when there is not that success in the ministry of the word there formerly was, his arm being not revealed and made bare; and when the enemies of religion prosper and get ground; and when the Lord seems to be altogether inactive and unconcerned, like a man that folds up his arms under his arm holes, or hides his hands in his bosom, see Psalms 44:23 wherefore it follows:

pluck it out of thy bosom; as he will one day, and strike with a home blow, antichrist and his followers, and destroy them with his rod of iron, with which he will break them in shivers as a potter's vessel; and all his enemies shall feel the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of his anger; and then this request will be fulfilled: the word used signifies to "consume" a; and Kimchi interprets it, consume the enemy out of thy bosom, which is the house of the sanctuary; his secret place, as the bosom is to man; but both senses of the word maybe retained, and the meaning be, pluck it out of thy bosom to consume them b: also it signifies to restrain c; and the sense may be, as the above writer observes, restrain it, that it may not return to thy bosom, till thou hast executed judgment on the wicked.

a כלה "consume", Montanus, Gejerus. b So some in Vatablus. c "Cohibe", Junius & Tremellius.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

Maschil of Asaph.

      1 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?   2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.   3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.   4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.   5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.   6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.   7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.   8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.   9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.   10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?   11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.

      This psalm is entitled Maschil--a psalm to give instruction, for it was penned in a day of affliction, which is intended for instruction; and this instruction in general it gives us, That when we are, upon any account, in distress, it is our wisdom and duty to apply to God by faithful and fervent prayer, and we shall not find it in vain to do so. Three things the people of God here complain of:--

      I. The displeasure of God against them, as that which was the cause and bitterness of all their calamities. They look above the instruments of their trouble, who, they knew, could have no power against them unless it were given them from above, and keep their eye upon God, by whose determined counsel they were delivered up into the hands of wicked and unreasonable men. Observe the liberty they take to expostulate with God (Psalms 74:1; Psalms 74:1), we hope not too great a liberty, for Christ himself, upon the cross, cried out, My God my God, why hast thou forsaken me? So the church here, O God! why hast thou forsaken us for ever? Here they speak according to their present dark and melancholy apprehensions; for otherwise, Has God cast away his people? God forbid,Romans 11:1. The people of God must not think that because they are cast down they are therefore cast off, that because men cast them off therefore God does, and that because he seems to cast them off for a time therefore they are really cast off for ever: yet this expostulation intimates that they dreaded God's casting them off more than any thing, that they desired to be owned of him, whatever they suffered from men, and were desirous to know wherefore he thus contended with them: Why does thy anger smoke? that is, why does it rise up to such a degree that all about us take notice of it, and ask, What means the heat of this great anger?Deuteronomy 29:24. Compare Deuteronomy 29:20; Deuteronomy 29:20, where the anger of the Lord and his jealousy are said to smoke against sinners. Observe what they plead with God, now that they lay under the tokens and apprehensions of his wrath. 1. They plead their relation to him: "We are the sheep of thy pasture, the sheep wherewith thou hast been pleased to stock the pasture, thy peculiar people whom thou art pleased to set apart for thyself and design for thy own glory. That the wolves worry the sheep is not strange; but was ever any shepherd thus displeased at his own sheep? Remember, we are thy congregation (Psalms 74:2; Psalms 74:2), incorporated by thee and for thee, and devoted to thy praise; we are the rod, or tribe, of thy inheritance, whom thou hast been pleased to claim a special property in above other people ( Deuteronomy 32:9), and from whom thou hast received the rents and issues of praise and worship more than from the neighbouring nations. Nay, a man's inheritance may lie at a great distance, but we are pleading for Mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt, which has been the place of thy peculiar delight and residence, thy demesne and mansion." 2. They plead the great things God had done for them and the vast expense he had been at upon them: "It is thy congregation, which thou hast not only made with a word's speaking, but purchased of old by many miracles of mercy when they were first formed into a people; it is thy inheritance, which thou hast redeemed when they were sold into servitude." God gave Egypt to ruin for their ransom, gave men for them, and people for their life,Isaiah 43:3; Isaiah 43:4. "Now, Lord, wilt thou now abandon a people that cost thee so dear, and has been so dear to thee?" And, if the redemption of Israel out of Egypt was an encouragement to hope that he would not cast them off, much more reason have we to hope that God will not cast off any whom Christ has redeemed with his own blood; but the people of his purchase shall be for ever the people of his praise. 3. They plead the calamitous state that they were in (Psalms 74:3; Psalms 74:3): "Lift up thy feet; that is, come with speed to repair the desolations that are made in thy sanctuary, which otherwise will be perpetual an irreparable." It has been sometimes said that the divine vengeance strikes with iron hands, yet it comes with leaden feet; and then those who wait for the day of the Lord, cry, Lord, lift up thy feet; exalt thy steps; magnify thyself in the outgoing of thy providence. When the desolations of the sanctuary have continued long we are tempted to think they will be perpetual; but it isa temptation; for God will avenge his own elect, will avenge them speedily, though he bear long with their oppressors and persecutors.

      II. They complain of the outrage and cruelty of their enemies, not so much, no, not at all, of what they had done to the prejudice of their secular interests; here are no complaints of the burning of their cities and ravaging of their country, but only what they had done against the sanctuary and the synagogue. The concerns of religion should lie nearer our hearts and affect us more than any worldly concern whatsoever. The desolation of God's house should grieve us more than the desolation of our own houses; for the matter is not great what becomes of us and our families in this world provided God's name may be sanctified, his kingdom may come, and his will be done.

      1. The psalmist complains of the desolations of the sanctuary, as Daniel, Daniel 9:17; Daniel 9:17. The temple at Jerusalem was the dwelling-place of God's name, and therefore the sanctuary, or holy place,Psalms 74:7; Psalms 74:7. In this the enemies did wickedly (Psalms 74:3; Psalms 74:3), for they destroyed it in downright contempt of God and affront to him. (1.) They roared in the midst of God's congregations,Psalms 74:4; Psalms 74:4. There where God's faithful people attended on him with a humble reverent silence, or softly speaking, they roared in a riotous revelling manner, being elated with having made themselves masters of that sanctuary of which they had sometimes heard formidable things. (2.) They set up their ensigns for signs. The banners of their army they set up in the temple (Israel's strongest castle, as long as they kept closely to God) as trophies of their victory. There, where the signs of God's presence used to be, now the enemy had set up their ensigns. This daring defiance of God and his power touched his people in a tender part. (3.) They took a pride in destroying the carved work of the temple. As much as formerly men thought it an honour to lend a hand to the building of the temple, and he was thought famous that helped to fell timber for that work, so much now they valued themselves upon their agency in destroying it, Psalms 74:5; Psalms 74:6. Thus, as formerly those were celebrated for wise men that did service to religion, so now those are applauded as wits that help to run it down. Some read it thus: They show themselves, as one that lifts up axes on high in a thicket of trees, for so do they break down the carved work of the temple they make no more scruple of breaking down the rich wainscot of the temple than woodcutters do of hewing trees in the forest; such indignation have they at the sanctuary that the most curious carving that ever was seen is beaten down by the common soldiers without any regard had to it, either as a dedicated thing or as a piece of exquisite art. (4.) They set fire to it, and so violated or destroyed it to the ground,Psalms 74:7; Psalms 74:7. The Chaldeans burnt the house of God, that stately costly fabric, 2 Chronicles 36:19. And the Romans left not there one stone upon another (Matthew 24:2), rasing it, rasing it, even to the foundations, till Zion, the holy mountain, was, by Titus Vespasian, ploughed as a field.

      2. He complains of the desolations of the synagogues, or schools of the prophets, which, before the captivity, were in use, though much more afterwards. There God's word was read and expounded, and his name praised and called upon, without altars or sacrifices. These also they had a spite to (Psalms 74:8; Psalms 74:8): Let us destroy them together; not only the temple, but all the places of religious worship and the worshippers with them. Let us destroy them together; let them be consumed in the same flame. Pursuant to this impious resolve they burnt up all the synagogues of God in the land and laid them all waste. So great was their rage against religion that the religious houses, because religious, were all levelled with the ground, that God's worshippers might not glorify God, and edify one another, by meeting in solemn assemblies.

      III. The great aggravation of all these calamities was that they had no prospect at all of relief, nor could they foresee an end of them (Psalms 74:9; Psalms 74:9): "We see our enemy's sign set up in the sanctuary, but we see not our signs, none of the tokens of God's presence, no hopeful indications of approaching deliverance. There is no more any prophet to tell us how long the trouble will last and when things concerning us shall have an end, that the hope of an issue at last may support us under our troubles." In the captivity in Babylon they had prophets, and had been told how long the captivity should continue, but the day was cloudy and dark (Ezekiel 34:12), and they had not as yet the comfort of these gracious discoveries. God spoke once, yea, twice, good words and comfortable words, but they perceived them not. Observe, They do not complain, "We see not our armies; there are no men of war to command our forces, nor any to go forth with our hosts;" but, "no prophets, none to tell us how long." This puts them upon expostulating with God, as delaying, 1. To assert his honour (Psalms 74:10; Psalms 74:10): How long shall the adversary reproach and blaspheme thy name? In the desolations of the sanctuary our chief concern should be for the glory of God, that it may not be injured by the blasphemies of those who persecute his people for his sake, because they are his; and therefore our enquiry should be, not "How long shall we be troubled?" but "How long shall God be blasphemed?" 2. To exert his power (Psalms 74:11; Psalms 74:11): "Why withdrawest thou thy hand, and dost not stretch it out, to deliver thy people and destroy thy enemies? Pluck it out of thy bosom, and be not as a man astonished, as a mighty man that cannot save, or will not," Jeremiah 14:9. When the power of enemies is most threatening it is comfortable to fly to the power of God.