The psalmist describes the destruction wrought by the invading enemy. For the heathen see comments on 2.1, where the same Hebrew word is rendered “the nations.” In this verse heathen refers to foreigners, invaders, and in some languages a term such as “foreign enemies,” “other tribes,” or “strangers” may be used. “Invaded your land” may sometimes have to be recast to say “have attacked us to take away your land” or “have come to take away the land you gave us.” For inheritance see 16.6; however, here it is the property of God, not of the people, and so Good News Translation has “your land.”
Line b of verse 1 has the same meaning as 74.7b; defiled translates a different verb, but the meaning is the same. We can only speculate about the specific things the enemy did to make the Temple unfit for worship to Yahweh. But if the whole city was in ruins, the Temple could hardly have escaped destruction. Defiled in the sense of making taboo or unfit for worship may be rendered “they have made your holy Temple unclean so that people cannot worship you.” If the sense of such a translation refers to physical uncleanliness, then it is better to say “they have destroyed your holy Temple.” For translation suggestions on “holy” related to the Temple, see comments on “holy sanctuary” in 28.2.
The corpses of the dead Israelites had been left unburied, which was a final indignity and disgrace (see Eccl 6.3; Jer 14.16; Tobit 1.17-18). In verse 2 thy servants and thy saints are synonymous; they refer to the people of Israel in general, not to any specific group. For thy saints see comments on the same term translated “the godly” in 4.3. Good News Translation has “your people” first, in order to help the reader understand that “your servants” in the next line means the same thing. If the translator finds it difficult to avoid servants and saints being understood as two different groups, it may be necessary to reduce them to one and say, for example, “They left the bodies of your people for the vultures and the wild animals to eat” (see Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).
The birds of the air in verse 2a are birds of carrion, such as “vultures.” Of the air and of the earth are set expressions used many times in the Old Testament. These qualifiers do not specify the kinds of birds or animals, but the context makes clear that they refer to “vultures” and “wild animals.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .