Psalms 74

derness. Pharaoh, that fierce tyrant, as, terrible as the vastest whales, thon didst utterly destroy there; with all his stern captains and commanders: whom the sea spewed up, (Exod. xix. 30.) to find their tombs in the bellies of the wild beasts and birds, which people the neighbouring wilderness.

Psalms 74:15

TIiou didst cleave (he fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers. Where, when our fathers wanted drink, thou madest water to gush out of a rock; (Exod. xvii. G. Numb. xx. 9.) which followed them in a full stream, till they came to the borders of Canaan: and then thou driedst up the waters of Jordan, at a time when they ran violently, a«d (as if many rivers had been joined in one) it overflowed all its banks, (Josh. iii. 15.17.)

Psalms 74:16

The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou Jiast prepared the light and the sun. And still there are such instances of thy power, which the whole world, if they would but mind, have always before their eyes. For as thou didst sometimes change the dry land into a river, and a river into dry land; so thou dost continually change the day into night, and the night into day: having settled the moon to govern the one, and the sun to govern the other, in their turns.

Psalms 74:17

TJwu hast set all t he borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and tvinter. By thy almighty wisdom also it is, that the motion of the sun not only makes the days and nights, but the different climates of the earth, and the seasons of the year: which are sometimes hot, and sometimes cold; sometimes flourishing, as we see in the summer, with all manner of fruit; and sometimes stripped, as we see in the winter, of all its ornaments, that afterward it may be the more fruitful.

Psalms 74:18

Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. And we sure have endured a very tedious winter; wherein all things have looked most ruefully. May it please thee now to return, like the sun, unto us, and let thy enemies know thou hast not forgotten how they have reproached thee, O Lord! (whom they ought to have honoured as the mighty Creator of all things) but wilt vindicate thy glory, by punishing these insolent people, who, foolishly puffed up with their victories, have despised and derided thy omnipotent majesty.

Psalms 74:19

O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. Deliver, we beseech thee, thy church, which, like a turtle-dove,, can do nothing but meekly mourn, and make her silent complaints unto thee, from those violent men, who, like birds of prey, seek utterly to destroy her: let them not take away its life and being; but, though wc be at present deserted by thee, yet hear our cries, and at last relieve a poor helpless company, who flee unto thee, and depend upon thee alone for safety.

Psalms 74:20

Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. Though we are unworthy to be regarded by thee, yet have regard unto thy own promises; wherein thou hast engaged thyself unto our fathers, to give to them and their posterity the land of Canaan: which is so far from being now inhabited by thy people, that every blind corner of it is a den of thieves and murderers; who have filled it with rapine and cruelty. vol. in.

Psalms 74:21

O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. O let not thy poor afflicted servant, who implores thy aid against these barbarous oppressors, be denied his suit; and go away ashamed, to see himself disappointed of his hope: but let him, and all the rest of thy miserable people, who were never in greater need of thy help, be restored to praise thy goodness intheir ancient possessions; from whence they have been thus long banished.

Psalms 74:22

Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember hoiu the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. Appear, O God, in our behalf; and thereby vindicate thyself from reproach: let me again beseech thee, to shew that thou art not unmindful of all the scoffs, which prosperous fools belch out against thee every day. Ver! 23. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.] It is time to punish all the insulting language of thy enemies: for the insolent brags and furious threats of those that oppose thee increase still more and more, and rise up to a greater height of audacious impiety.