John Calvin Commentary Psalms 74:11

"Why drawest thou back thy hand, even thy right hand? [Pluck it] out of thy bosom [and] consume [them]." — Psalms 74:11 (ASV)

How long will you withdraw your hand? It is easy to see what the prophet intends here, yet interpreters do not agree on the words. Some, by the word hand, in the first part of the verse, understand it as the left hand, to distinguish it from the right hand, mentioned in the last clause of the verse.

But this is mere trifling; for when he uses the term right hand, he simply repeats the same thing according to his usual manner. Some translate the verb כלה, kalah, the last word of the verse, as hinder or restrain, as if the prophet had said, "At last, stretch out your hand, which has been kept too long in your bosom."

But this is a forced interpretation, to which they resort without any valid reason. Those who translate it as consume understand the midst of God’s bosom as allegorically denoting his temple, an interpretation I cannot approve. It will be better to continue the interrogation to the last word in this way: “How long will you withdraw your hand? Yes, will you withdraw it from the midst of your bosom? Therefore, consume these ungodly men who so proudly despise you.”

We may also, not improperly, view the words as a prayer that, since God’s enemies persuaded themselves that he was lazy and inactive because he did not rouse himself nor openly lift his hand, he would make them feel that he was perfectly able to destroy them with his nod alone, even if he did not move so much as a finger.