Psalm 74 · a question people ask
The psalm says, "They have burned your sanctuary to the ground" (74:7). Which destruction is it about?
The psalm doesn't say. It names "Mount Zion, in which you have lived" (74:2), but it gives the enemy no name, and names no king and no date, and its title, "A contemplation by Asaph" (74:1), gives no occasion. Other books tell what became of the LORD's house. 2 Kings says, "He burned the LORD’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem" (2 Kings 25:9). Lamentations says, "The Lord has cast off his altar. He has abhorred his sanctuary. He has given the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have made a noise in the LORD’s house, as in the day of a solemn assembly" (Lamentations 2:7), and in Hebrew its cast off, sanctuary and solemn assembly are the words of the psalm's rejected (Psalm 74:1), sanctuary (Psalm 74:7) and assembly (Psalm 74:4). Neither book names this psalm, and the psalm names neither event, so these notes don't say it is about either one. What the psalm does give is its prayer: "Remember your congregation" (74:2).
The verses
“A contemplation by Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance: Mount Zion, in which you have lived.”
“Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs.”
“They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.”
“He burned the LORD’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He burned every great house with fire.”