Psalms 74:1

“O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? etc.]. This the church supposed because of the prevalence, oppression, and triumph of the enemy, because of the hardships and afflictions she laboured under, and because of the hidings of the face of God from her, which unbelief interpreted of a casting off; (see <197707>Psalm 77:7) when in reality it was not so, only in appearance, and according to a wrong judgment made of things; for God never did nor never will cast off, nor cast away, his people whom he foreknew, ( <451101>Romans 11:1,2), why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? the people of God are called “sheep”, because subject to go astray, not only before conversion,…”

“Al-taschith--(See on Psa 57:1, title). In impending danger, the Psalmist, anticipating relief in view of God's righteous government, takes courage and renders praise. (Psa 75:1-10) God's name or perfections are set forth by His wondrous works.”

“O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? - Thou seemest to have cast us off forever, or finally. Compare Psalms 44:9, note; Psalms 13:1, note. “Why doth thine anger smoke.” See Deuteronomy 29:20. The presence of smoke indicates fire, and the language here is such as often occurs in the Scriptures, when anger or wrath is compared with fire. See Deuteronomy 32:22; Jeremiah 15:14. Against the sheep of thy pasture - Thy people, represented as a flock. See Psalms 79:13; Psalms 95:7. This increases the tenderness of the appeal. The wrath of God seemed to be enkindled against his own people, helpless and defenseless, who needed his care, and who might naturally look for it - as a flock needs the…”

“Ps 74 The psalmist laments the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (586 BC) with vivid imagery, questions, fresh memories, and a direct appeal for the Lord to act (74:19-23). 74:1-2 In the aftermath of Jerusalem’s fall, it seemed that God had forgotten his special covenant relationship with his people. 74:1 God rejected his people because their sin aroused his anger (106:34-46). • Like a tender shepherd, God cares for his people, the sheep of his pasture (Pss 23; 100:3).”

“O God: Psa 10:1, Psa 42:9, Psa 42:11, Psa 44:9, Psa 60:1, Psa 60:10, Psa 77:7; Jer 31:37, Jer 33:24-26; Rom 11:1, Rom 11:2 smoke: Psa 79:5; Deu 29:20 the sheep: Psa 79:13, Psa 95:7, Psa 100:3; Jer 23:1; Eze 34:8, Eze 34:31; Luk 12:32; Joh 10:26-30 Psalms 74:2”

“The poet begins with the earnest prayer that God would again have compassion upon His church, upon which His judgment of anger has fallen, and would again set up the ruins of Zion. Why for ever ( Psa 74:10, Psa 79:5; Psa 89:47, cf. Psa 13:2)? is equivalent to, why so continually and, as it seems, without end? The preterite denotes the act of casting off, the future, Psa 74:1, that lasting condition of this casting off. למה, when the initial of the following word is a guttural, and particularly if it has a merely half-vowel (although in other instances also, Gen 12:19; Gen 27:45; Sol 1:7), is deprived of its Dagesh and accented on the ultima, in order (as Mose ha-Nakdan expressly observes) to…”