O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
Psalms 74:1-23. Complaint that God casts off His people; prayer that He will remember Zion, His inheritance purchased of old (Psalms 74:1-2); His people's misery: the for has destroyed God's sanctuary and synagogues, and no signs of His presence in the land remain (Psalms 74:3-9); how long shall the foe blaspheme thy name? pluck thy hand from thy bosom (Psalms 74:10-11); Gods past interpostions, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness, and His rule over day and night, are ground for hope (Psalms 74:12-17); remember the enemy's reproach and thy covenant: plead thine own cause (Psalms 74:18-23). The Chaldean destruction of the sanctuary is the one referred to (cf. Psalms 74:8 with Jeremiah 52:13; Jeremiah 52:17). Compare the analogous 'reproach' of the Assyrian against the Lord (Psalms 74:10 with 2 Kings 19:4). Compare Psalms 79:1-13 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 73:1-28; Psalms 78:1-72 (2 Chronicles 29:30; Nehemiah 12:46). 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. 2 Chronicles 35:15; 2 Chronicles 20:14; Ezra 2:41; Ezra 3:10; Nehemiah 7:44; Nehemiah 11:22). 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? - (Psalms 43:2; Psalms 44:23; Psalms 13:1; Lamentations 5:20.) 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, (Psalms 18:8; Psalms 80:4, margin) The fundamental passage is Deuteronomy 29:20. Israel is 'the sheep of the Lord's pasture' (cf. Psalms 79:13), as having received from Him Canaan (Hosea 13:6; Jeremiah 25:36; Jeremiah 25:38). Israel now, during the captivity, was driven away from her rich pasture there.