Matthew Poole and continuators on Psalms 74:20

20 Have respect unto the covenant , for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty .

Made with Abraham, whereby thou didst give the Land of Canaan to him, and to his seed for ever, and thou didst further promise, that if thy People were carried Captive into strange Lands, and did there humble themselves, and Pray and turn unto thee, thou wouldst mercifully restore them, 1 Kings 8. 46, 47, 48, 49. 50. Do thou therefore now restore us to that pleasant and lightsome Land, which thou hast given to us.

(i. e.) This dark and dismal Land in which we Live, wherein there is nothing but Ignorance and Confusion, and all the Works of darkness. Of which the Psalmist speaks in general Terms, out of a Principle of Prudence; because the particular designation of the place was unnecessary, and might have been of ill Consequence.

Here is nothing but Injustice and Oppression, and Tyranny, under which we groan in all the parts of this great Empire, where we have our abode.