Introduction: I have printed out all of Psalm 74 today. Remember that I have dealt with the first 18 verses over the previous 2 days.
1 O God, why do you cast us off forever?
Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old,
which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!
Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
4 Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;
they set up their own signs for signs.
5 They were like those who swing axes
in a forest of trees.
6 And all its carved wood
they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they profaned the dwelling place of your name,
bringing it down to the ground.
8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs;
there is no longer any prophet,
and there is none among us who knows how long.
10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them! The above 11 verses were looked at under ‘Please God open your eyes!
12 Yet God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You divided the sea by your might;
you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 You split open springs and brooks;
you dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
17 You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs,
and a foolish people reviles your name. – verses 11 -18 were looked at under the title ‘God’s power mocked’
18 Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs,
and a foolish people reviles your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;
do not forget the life of your poor forever.
20 Have regard for the covenant,
for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, O God, defend your cause;
remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!
Comment: Memories can be scanty, fleating, or emotionally hard hitting and call for action! I’m sure that Asaph, writing this, meant it to stir God into decisive action! And he underlines why God should be very upset! ‘A foolish people reviles your name.‘ Then Asaph uses words which had and have special meanings for God’s people, both Jews and Christians. 1. ‘Dove’ was meant to stimulate thoughts of Noah’s ark and of the Dove of Peace! 2. ‘Wild beasts’ was I’m sure meant to stimulate thoughts of a mob of rogue elephants or charging black bears or hungry lions! 3. ‘The covenant’ is a word with a plethora of meanings, bringing back to what God had promised to Adam, Noah, Abraham and certainly David! 4. Verses 20-21 are so mindful of God’s call for His people to be righteous, compassionate and just! 5. Again Asaph uses that word ‘remember’. Having said his piece he leaves it in the hands of God. A good place for us to put our problems, although we may well hear God say to us ‘Put on the whole armour of God, I will be with you!’
1 Timothy 6: 11&12a – But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.
Prayer: Give me wisdom, my Lord, to discern when You are saying to me “Act now and I’ll be with You” or “Trust Me, I will sort this out!”
As I read it! 