Psalms 74:4

4 Your foes roared in the place where you met with us; they set up their standards as signs.

Psalms 74:4 in Other Translations

KJV
4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.
ESV
4 Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs.
NLT
4 There your enemies shouted their victorious battle cries; there they set up their battle standards.
MSG
4 While your people were at worship, your enemies barged in, brawling and scrawling graffiti.
CSB
4 Your adversaries roared in the meeting place where You met with us. They set up their emblems as signs.

Psalms 74:4 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 74:4

Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations
Particular churches, gathered out of the world in Gospel order, and which meet together at particular times and places; in the midst of these, and against them their enemies, and who are the Lord's enemies, roar like lions, as Satan, and bloody persecutors, and particularly antichrist, whose mouth is the mouth of a lion, which is opened in blasphemy against God and his people, ( Revelation 13:2 Revelation 13:5 Revelation 13:6 ) ,

they set up their ensigns for signs;
or "signs", "signs", false ones for true ones; meaning either military signs, as the Roman eagle, set as signs and trophies of victory; or idolatrous statues and images, such an one as Antiochus brought into the temple; or false miracles and antichristian marks, in the room of true miracles, and the true mark of Christ's followers; see ( 2 Thessalonians 2:9 ) ( Revelation 13:14 Revelation 13:16 ) ( 14:1 ) . The Jewish writers generally interpret it of the divinations and superstitions rites used by the king of Babylon, when he was coming up against Jerusalem, ( Ezekiel 21:21 ) .

Psalms 74:4 In-Context

2 Remember the nation you purchased long ago, the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed— Mount Zion, where you dwelt.
3 Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins, all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.
4 Your foes roared in the place where you met with us; they set up their standards as signs.
5 They behaved like men wielding axes to cut through a thicket of trees.
6 They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and hatchets.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Lamentations 2:7
  • 2. S Numbers 2:2; S Jeremiah 4:6
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