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74. Psalm 74

¹ O God, why have you rejected us forever?
   Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
² Remember the nation you purchased long ago,
   the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed—
   Mount Zion, where you dwelt.
³ Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,
   all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

    ⁴ Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;
   they set up their standards as signs.
⁵ They behaved like men wielding axes
   to cut through a thicket of trees.
⁶ They smashed all the carved paneling
   with their axes and hatchets.
⁷ They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
   they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.
⁸ They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!”
   They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.

    ⁹ We are given no signs from God;
   no prophets are left,
   and none of us knows how long this will be.
¹⁰ How long will the enemy mock you, God?
   Will the foe revile your name forever?
¹¹ Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
   Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!

¹² But God is my King from long ago;
he brings salvation on the earth.

    ¹³ It was you who split open the sea by your power;
   you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
¹⁴ It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
   and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
¹⁵ It was you who opened up springs and streams;
   you dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
¹⁶ The day is yours, and yours also the night;
   you established the sun and moon.
¹⁷ It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
   you made both summer and winter.

    ¹⁸ Remember how the enemy has mocked you, LORD,
   how foolish people have reviled your name.
¹⁹ Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;
   do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.
²⁰ Have regard for your covenant,
   because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
²¹ Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;
   may the poor and needy praise your name.
²² Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
   remember how fools mock you all day long.
²³ Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,
   the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.

19. Give not to the beast the soul of thy turtle dove. The Hebrew word חית, chayath, which we translate beast, signifies sometimes the soul or life, and so some explain it in the second clause of this verse, where it again occurs. But it is here unquestionably to be taken either for a wild beast or for a multitude. Understood in either of these ways, this form of expression will contain a very apposite comparison between the life of a weak and timorous bird, and a powerful army of men, or a cruel beast. The Church is compared to a turtle dove ²⁴³²⁴³ As none of the ancient versions have “turtle dove,” and as the reading of the LXX. is, ἐξομολογουμένην σοι, confessing thee, it has been thought by some in a high degree probable that the word תורך, torecha, thy turtle dove in our present Hebrew copies, should be תודך, todecha, confessing thee; an error which transcribers might easily have committed, by writing ר, resh, instead of ד, daleth Houbigant, who approves of this opinion, boldly pronounces the other, which represents the people of God under the figure of a turtle dove, to be “putidum et aliunde conquisitum.” But, says Archbishop Secker, “Turtle dove, which Houbigant calls putidum, should not be called so, considering that, יונתי, Cant. 2, 14, is the same thing.” The passage, as it now stands, agrees with other texts of Scripture which represent the people of God under the image of a bird, Numbers 24:21; Jeremiah 22:23; 48:28. The turtle dove is a defenceless, solitary, timid, and mournful creature, equally destitute of skill and courage to defend itself from the rapacious birds of prey which thirst for its blood. And this gives a very apt and affecting representation of the state of the Church when this psalm was written. She was in a weak, helpless, and sorrowful condition, in danger of being speedily devoured by the inveterate and implacable enemies, who, like birds of prey, were besetting her on all sides, eagerly intent upon her destruction. “With the most plaintive earnestness she pleads her cause with the Almighty, through this and the following verses; continually growing more importunate in her petitions as the danger increases. While speaking, she seems in the last verse to hear the tumultuous clamours of the approaching enemy growing every minute louder as they advance; and we leave the ‘turtle dove’ without the Divine assistance, ready to sink under the talons of the rapacious eagle.” — Mant
“The Psalmist’s expression, thy turtle dove, may perhaps be farther illustrated from the custom, ancient and modern, of keeping doves as favourite birds, (see Theocritus, 5. 96; and Virgil, Eclog. 3, 5, 68, 69,) and from the care taken to secure them from such animals as are dangerous to them.” — Merrick’s Annotations. for, although the faithful consisted of a considerable number, yet so far were they from matching their enemies, that, on the contrary, they were exposed to them as a prey. It is next added, Forget not the soul or congregation of thy poor ones The Hebrew word חית, chayath, is again employed, and there is an elegance when, on account of its ambiguity, it is used twice in the same verse, but in different senses. I have preferred translating it congregation, rather than soul, because the passage seems to be a prayer that it would please God to watch over and defend his own small flock from the mighty hosts of their enemies.