73:20 when thou awakest. God, of course, does not sleep (Psalm 121:4). The language is metaphorical, meaning “decide to act.”

73:20 despise their image. The word used here for “image” (Hebrew tselem) is used elsewhere in Genesis 5:3 and 9:6 (speaking of the image of God in man and the image of a father in his son) and, more often, in connection with idolatrous images constructed by man to worship. The wicked have made an “image” of themselves, in effect espousing their own god-likeness, and this will be despised by the God who is truly God.

Psalm 74 (title) Maschil. Two of the Maschil psalms (see note on Psalm 32) were written by Asaph. This is the first, the other being Psalm 78.