Psalm 74:5

Verse 5 of 23. The 74th of 150 chapters in Psalms, in Poetry and Wisdom.

1O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

2Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

3Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

4Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.

5A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.

6But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.

7They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.

8They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

9We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

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Psalm 74:5 in the World English Bible

They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees.
Read Psalm 74:5 in the WEB

Matthew Henry on Psalm 74:5

As much as formerly men thought it an honour to lend a hand to the building of the temple, and he was thought famous that helped to fell timber for that work, so much now they valued themselves upon their agency in destroying it, v. 5, 6. Thus, as formerly those were celebrated for wise men that did service to religion, so now those are applauded as wits that help to run it down.

Read Matthew Henry on Psalm 74:1–11: Mournful Complaints.

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King James Version. Public domain. Set as prose throughout, including the poetry, because the text is published to us without its lines.