This Psalm deals with the agony the people felt over some circumstance. Some believe it is describing the destruction of the temple in 586B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar. This seems to fit the Psalm but Asaph would have been long since dead when the temple was destroyed. So Asaph may have been a future Psalmists by the same name.
A Contemplation of Asaph.
1 O God, why have You cast us off forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed-
This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.
The destruction shook these people to the core. This was the place where they met God. It was His dwelling and now it was gone. They were asking, how can this happen? God, where are you? They thought God had abandoned them and they seemed to have known that, or assumed that God was angry.
Believers continually struggle with keeping our eyes on God and hearts inclined toward Him. We get out of focus and run away from HIm. God gives us the freedom to choose Him and how we'll serve Him. So many times we choose to venture away from the Lord and when we are chastened or there is some sign of judgment we quickly run back and act as though God overreacted.
The Psalmist reminds God of who they were. Yet, God knew. They were the people through which he chose to reveal Himself. They were also the people who were stiff-necked and stubborn and who constantly turned their back on God. The prophets had warned them for quite some time to turn back to God, to turn from their wicked ways. They trusted in the temple and not in God. They assumed since they had the temple that they were forever safe from judgment and God was on their side. The had turned the
3 Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations.
The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.
This is anthropomorphism in that it speaks of God as if He had the same attributes as a man. They were telling God to look under his feet, look where He walked and see the destruction of His sanctuary.
4 Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;
They set up their banners for signs.
This quiet place where people would come before the presence of the Lord had now been ravaged by the enemy. They roar with great pride in the meeting place. The banners of the Lord were replaced with the banners of the military or the pagan gods.
5 They seem like men who lift up
Axes among the thick trees.
6 And now they break down its carved work, all at once,
With axes and hammers.
7 They have set fire to Your sanctuary;
They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.
8 They said in their hearts,
"Let us destroy them altogether."
They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.
These enemies broke up the carved work and the furniture of the temple. Like lumberjacks hacking through a forest, these men hacked their way through the temple. They set fire to the sanctuary and the dwelling place of God - this was probably a reference to the Holy of Holies. It was their intention to remove God from the land altogether as they burned up all the meeting places. Since there was only one temple and one place to offer sacrifices, the other meeting places must have been other sites where they met to teach and worship.
9 We do not see our signs;
There is no longer any prophet;
Nor is there any among us who knows how long.
10 O God, how long will the adversary reproach?
Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?
11 Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.
We all look for signs don't we? We constantly want some confirmation that our God and faith are real. Our memories are short. We forget the awesome things we've seen Him do and we forget to look around at an amazing creation that speaks of an amazing creator. It slips our mind to look at the stars in the sky and allow them to speak to our spirit of our amazing God who set them all in place. What kind of sign do we seek?
The man of God was gone and no one was telling them how long this was going to go on. How long with the enemy blaspheme God? How long would take withdraw His hand? These are all good questions. Yet, God constantly spoke to the people about the lives they were living. He warned them of the false gods and idols. Yet, they chased after them. The gods of the land led the people astray in spite of His warning them.
12 For God is my King from of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.
14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces,
And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 You broke open the fountain and the flood;
You dried up mighty rivers.
16 The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have prepared the light and the sun.
17 You have set all the borders of the earth;
You have made summer and winter.
God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. He is immutable and righteous, full of mercy and grace. He is the king of Kings and He alone works salvation on the earth. He created the sea and the creatures in it. He provided them for food as He saw fit. He broke open the flood waters and flooded the earth when it was His will to judge the world. The rivers we consider mighty and untamable, God dries up with a thought. He owns the night and the day, all the seasons, and all the times.
From the depth of the ocean to the highest of highs, He is there. From the night to the day, from the dark to the light, He is there.
18 Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O LORD,
And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.
19 Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast!
Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
20 Have respect to the covenant;
For the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty.
21 Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed!
Let the poor and needy praise Your name.
For the sake of the poor and needy in spirit, God stays His hand, even today. Why doesn't God just wipe out all the evil and sin and awful stuff we do in the world? All men deserve the most awful form of destruction.
The Psalmist calls for God to remember who His people were and who His enemies were. Would God forget His covenant people and turn them over to destruction? This question is asked from a people who constantly forgot they were covenant people and constantly turned their back on God. God never judged His people without first warning them of what the expectation was and what the punishment was for turning away.
22 Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
Remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily.
23 Do not forget the voice of Your enemies;
The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.
Arise, O God is a call to action. It is asking God to move. The lines are drawn. On one side is the foolish man who daily accused and blames God. This foolish man stands with the rest of the enemies of God who mock and speak out against Him. The voice of God's enemies is loud and it rises up daily. It is a tumult. Imagine the surprise these folks will have when God acknowledges He heard every word spoken against Him.
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