Commonplace –
“For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth” (Psalm 74:12).
According to Matthew Henry,
“[t]his psalm is entitled Maschil – a psalm to give instruction, for it was penned in a day of affliction, which is intended for instruction; and this instruction in general it gives us, That when we are, upon any account, in distress, it is our wisdom and duty to apply to God by faithful and fervent prayer, and we shall not find it in vain to do so” (423).
In times of affliction, it is good to remember who God is.
“The lamenting church fastens upon something here which she calls to mind, and therefore hath she hope (as Lam. 3:21), with which she encourages herself and silences her own complaints. Two things quiet the minds of those that are here sorrowing for the solemn assembly; –
I. That God is the God of Israel, a God in covenant with his people (v. 12): God is my King of old. This comes in both as a plea in prayer to God (Psalm 44:4, thou art my King, O God!) and as a prop to their own faith and hope, to encourage themselves to expect deliverance, considering the days of old, Ps. 77:5….
II. That the God of Israel is the God of nature, v. 16, 17. It is He that orders the regular successions and revolutions, 1. Of day and night. He is the Lord of all time…2. Of summer and winter…
Day and night, summer and winter, being counter-changed in the course of nature, throughout all the borders of the earth, we can expect no other than that trouble and peace, prosperity and adversity, should be, in like manner, counterchanged in all the borders of the church. We have as much reason to expect affliction as we expect night and winter. But we have then no more reason to despair of the return of comfort than we have to despair of day and summer” (Henry 425-426).
Works Cited
Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 74.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.
Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.
© 2025 Angela Hormberg
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