Psalm 74 was written by one of Asaph’s descendants after the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and records the emotional distress at seeing God’s enemies triumph and calling on God to respond.
1 – 11
The writer asks God why has He rejected the people He purchased, ie: brought out of Egypt and placed in the Promised land. He describes how they destroyed the temple and destroyed the people. He desperately wants God to strike back.
But as we know, God allowed this to happen. In fact, He promised it would happen if Israel was disobedient.
Deut. 28:36 “The LORD will bring you and your king that you have appointed to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone. 37 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the peoples where the LORD will drive you.”
When Israel served other gods and did not obey Yahweh in giving the land its Sabbath rest, the Lord promised He would boot them out of the Israel. And He followed through.
But the promise was also that they would be disciplined and restored. And so the psalmist reminds God of His ultimate control of everything because frankly, they felt totally out of control.
12 – 17
He relates the account of the creation, of God’s mastery over the large sea creatures, over Leviathan, thought to be the Nile crocodile. He is also sovereign over nature, the seasons, and even the moon and stars. So too, He must have sovereignty over their dire situation.
18 – 23
Here the psalmist reminds God that the Babylonian enemy is not just hurting His people, but speaking against His name. And so he calls on God to defend Himself.
There are a couple of things we can glean from this. One is a theme we see through the next four psalms—that is, God as judge. Though Israel was under judgment, God was in ultimate control. Though they felt out of control, God was never out of control of the situation, and would judge those who came against His people, even though He allowed it.
In our lives, God will allow trials, even discipline, at the hands of those who don’t know Him. But He will always maintain control of your life.
John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
Secondly, it is always a good thing to recognize when the real battle isn’t against you, it is against the name of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Defending Him is always the right way to go. It isn’t that God needs us, but it focuses us on the right battle.
Eph. 6:12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
Psalm 75
Psalm 75 is a short psalm that could be thought of as God’s verbal answer to the psalmist’s prayer of Psalm 74.
1
This reminds me of Hebrews 13:5 “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (also echoed in Deut 31:8, Joshua 1:5, and 1 Chronicles 28:20).
James 4:8 says “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
We can draw near to God and know He is near us because of what Jesus has done.
Heb. 4:16 “Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.”
2 – 3
God is speaking now and says the time when He judges evil is a time of His choosing, and that the judgments will be fair. No one will get away with anything. He describes earthquakes, which happened frequently in Israel, and were thought of as God’s judgments. But Yahweh is saying that even then it is God who steadies the earth, just as He is the one who will bring judgment and there is nothing anyone can do to avoid it.
In response to that, God has some words to those who think they are not accountable.
4 – 5
It is useless to think you are powerful against the Lord of Hosts. People think they are free to say anything about God or His Son Jesus they want. But…
Luke 12:2 “There is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered, nothing hidden that won’t be made known. 3 Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.”
6 – 8
Even as it is useless to lift up your power before God, so too you cannot look to God to exalt you because you are such an incredible person.
We must submit our power to God; we must become less so He becomes more.
Matt. 23:12 “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
When the psalmist speaks of the cup in the Lord’s hands, this is made real in Revelation 14:9:
“If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name.”
These are pretty harsh words, but essentially, anyone who rejects God will himself by rejected by God judged. The question we have to face is, whom do you want to be judged for your sins, Jesus on the cross, or you before God when it is time for judgment?
So the psalmist ends on a hopeful note:
9 – 10
The psalmist is rejoicing in his relationship with God and knows that in the end, he will prevail against the enemies of God because God will judge fairly!
So for us, don’t worry about those who seem to “get away with murder.” Just rejoice in your relationship with God and let Him worry about that. Pray for them, though, and love them, and show them kindness even though they don’t deserve it.
Psalm 76
Psalm 76 declares God’s unassailable power and His ability to judge and prevail against His enemies. The greatest enemy of all that any of us face, of course, is death—which God defeated by dying Himself!
1 – 3
Both Judah and Israel are mentioned here to show that all 12 tribes experience God’s presence. Salem and Zion are both names for Jerusalem. God here is pictured as a powerful warrior who defeats every foe.
5 – 9
I love the contrast here. All who opposed God became still, but the Lord went about to “save the lowly of the earth.”
It reminds me of what Paul said to the Corinthians:
1Cor. 1:26 “Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. 27 Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28 God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29 so that no one can boast in His presence.”
10
Verse 10 could mean that human wrath is powerless against God’s wrath and power.
11 – 12
Here the people of God bring sacrifices and thank offerings to Yahweh for what He has done for them. Ought we not also to bring praise and worship into God’s house for bringing us salvation from sin and death?
Psalm 77
Psalm 77 is for those times when you are at the end of your rope. You’ve been struggling for so long and cried out to God for so long—and yet nothing happens. You really begin to wonder what is wrong with you or what is wrong with God.
The words of this psalm ought to inspire us to remember, when we forget.
1 – 3
This is probably the worst state we’ve seen for a follower of Yahweh. Asaph has cried to God, knowing God hears him—but no answer. He sought the Lord and lifted his hands to God in surrender and submission—even way into the night, but no comfort came. He lets thoughts of God fill his mind, but all that results is groaning. Finally, he meditates but only finds himself even weaker then before.
There certainly are times when, though we have given our lives to God, nothing seems to be going right and even God does not seem to be a source of comfort.
The Apostle Paul experienced something like this: 2Cor. 1:8 “For we don’t want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction that took place in Asia: we were completely overwhelmed—beyond our strength—so that we even despaired of life.”
The psalmist goes on:
4 – 10
He’s so depressed and troubled that he can’t sleep, and has no more words to speak. He remembers past times when things were better—when his worship music was a help—but he finds his thoughts going towards this question: has God changed His mind about being gracious and compassionate toward me?
When no answer has come we think: what did I do wrong or, does God just not love me enough to answer anymore? I think it’s great that Asaph voiced these thoughts to God. Instead of skulking away, he is open and honest.
So how does he find an answer? Let’s read on:
11 – 15
Asaph first determines to focus not on his plight, but on the character and actions of the Lord. What comes to his mind is this:
God’s way is the right way, even if I don’t understand it
There isn’t an answer with any other god
God is able to move
God will reveal Himself to those that belong to Him
God has worked to redeem His people from trouble
The event that comes to his mind is that of the deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea
16 – 20
The story is found in Exodus 13. The Israelites were cornered, with the Egyptians on one side and the Red Sea on the other. There was no way out and destruction waited. Then God performed a miracle by separating the waters and allowing the Israelites to walk through on dry land, then bringing back the waters to cover the Egyptian soldiers.
This is picturesque language, but here’s how I see it speaking into Asaph’s life:
No trial is too difficult for God (vs 16 – 18)
The path was not around but right through the middle of the trial
God performed it but was not visible to them (vs 19)
For us who are feeling at our wits end and like none of things we used to do to comfort ourselves works and that God seems to be out to lunch or actively avoiding us—go back, not to when you were okay, but when God really came through for you. Remember that though trials may be too big for you, no trial is too big for God. He will move, you just may not see his footprints.
And His answer will often be 1) changing you into His image and 2) making you more dependent on Him. You may bear the scars of the trial, just as Jesus will always bear the marks of the cross, but they are battle scars to remind you of who is really in charge!
