Psalm 74:1b-2, 3-5, 6-7, 20-21
Chapter 74
1
Why, O God, Have You Forsaken Us?
O God, have you rejected us forever? Why vent your anger on the sheep of your own fold?2
Remember the people you have formed of old, the tribe you have redeemed as your inheritance. Remember Mount Zion, where you once lived.
3
Climb, and visit these hopeless ruins, the enemy has ravaged everything in the Sanctuary.
4
Your foes have roared triumphantly in the holy place, and set up their banner of victory.
5
Like lumbermen felling trees,
6
they smashed the carved paneling with hatchets, hammers, and axes.
7
They defiled your Sanctuary and set aflame the dwelling place of your name.
20
See how they keep your Covenant, in the dark caves of the land.
21
Do not let the oppressed be put to shame; may the poor and needy praise your name.
Commentaries
74
The problem of evil is viewed from the nation’s perspective. There is no indication that the nation deserved its punishment. Therefore, God’s reputation is at stake—at least, this is how the psalmist unwittingly expresses it.
The occasion of this lament could be the first true religious persecution in history—under Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 B.C.—but overall, the arguments favor the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. However, naturally, the psalmist describes the ruin of the Temple: it should prompt God to act if his own house has been attacked. The psalm is unfortunately very relevant today: we pray for the Church of Silence.
But salvation is near. The tears of Jesus over Jerusalem (cf. Lk 19:41-44) connect this lament to his death, even though He said that not a stone would be left unturned from the Temple (cf. Mt 24:2). The destroyed Temple was rebuilt on the third day (cf. Mt 26:61; Acts 6:14). Now, it is greater and more perfect than the old Temple, since it has been raised by God (Heb 9:12). Jesus might weep for humanity today. The weapons of destruction are no longer the axe and hammer, but could be, for example, some current economic systems. All of humanity is called to enter the new Temple. Why not pray with this psalm?