John Calvin Commentary Psalms 74:3

"Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual ruins, All the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary." — Psalms 74:3 (ASV)

Lift up your strokes. Here the people of God, on the other hand, implore him to inflict a deadly wound upon their enemies, corresponding to the cruelty with which they had raged against his sanctuary. They would suggest that a moderate degree of punishment was not sufficient for such impious and sacrilegious fury. Therefore, those who had shown themselves such violent enemies of the temple and of the worshippers of God should be completely destroyed, their impiety being utterly beyond remedy.

As the Holy Spirit has dictated this form of prayer, we may infer two things from it:

1. The infinite love God has for us, when he is pleased to punish so severely the wrongs inflicted upon us.
2. The high regard he has for the worship offered to his Divine majesty, when he pursues with such severity those who have violated it.

Regarding the words, some translate פעמים, pheamim, which we have translated as strokes, as feet or steps, and understand the Church as praying that the Lord would lift up his feet and run swiftly to strike her enemies. Others translate it as hammers, which suits very well. However, I do not hesitate to follow the opinion of those who consider the reference to be to the act of striking, and that the strokes themselves are indicated.

The last clause of the verse is explained by some as meaning that the enemy had corrupted all things in the sanctuary. But as this interpretation is not found elsewhere, I will not depart from the commonly accepted and approved reading.