For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.
Passage: Psalm 74:1-11
1 O God, why have you rejected us for ever?
Why does your anger smoulder against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember the nation you purchased long ago,
the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed –
Mount Zion, where you dwelt.
3 Turn your steps towards these everlasting ruins,
all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.
4 Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;
they set up their standards as signs.
5 They behaved like men wielding axes
to cut through a thicket of trees.
6 They smashed all the carved panelling
with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
they defiled the dwelling-place of your Name.
8 They said in their hearts, ‘We will crush them completely!’
They burned every place where God was worshipped in the land.
9 We are given no signs from God;
no prophets are left,
and none of us knows how long this will be.
10 How long will the enemy mock you, God?
Will the foe revile your name for ever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!
A. Find Out:
- What does the psalmist ask the Lord? v.1
- What does he ask about his people? v.2
- What does he ask the Lord to do? v.3
- What had their enemies done? v.4-8
- How are they bereft? v.9
- So what does he ask of the Lord? v.10,11
B. Think:
- What does the psalmist feel has happened?
- Why?
- What is his remedy?
C. Comment:
The Temple has been utterly destroyed and the Exile has happened. There appears no future whatsoever for Israel (v.1a). It is in one sense a cry of ignorance for Jeremiah had been warning Jerusalem again and again to repent to avoid the coming destruction, but that had not heeded the warning, and the destruction had come (v.4-8) as their enemies had plundered the city and the Temple and burnt it to the ground (v.7). Because the Temple had been the meeting place between God and people, now that is gone, there seems no future possibility of relationship with the Lord.
Yet still the psalmist cries out. His first plea is to remember the past, to remember what He had created, this people of old (v.2a) who he had redeemed from Egypt (v.2b) and remember Jerusalem where He had met with His people (v.2c). Look at these ruins (v.3), look at what is left, see the awfulness of your inheritance (implied).
Yes, the enemy had come in terrible destruction (v.4-8) and all places where the Lord was worshipped have been removed (v.8b) and even worse, there seems not a prophet left to bring them any word from the Lord (v.9a) so this is a time of uncertainty (v.9b). Yet there is a hint here that the psalmist knows that this will not be for ever, but still he cries, “How long will you tolerate the enemy’s apparent triumph?”
D. Application:
- When God judges, the future is in His hands.
- With judgment we must pray for mercy.
Passage: Psalm 74:12-23
12 But God is my King from long ago;
he brings salvation on the earth.
13 It was you who split open the sea by your power;
you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
15 It was you who opened up springs and streams;
you dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and moon.
17 It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.
18 Remember how the enemy has mocked you, Lord,
how foolish people have reviled your name.
19 Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;
do not forget the lives of your afflicted people for ever.
20 Have regard for your covenant,
because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
21 Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;
may the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
remember how fools mock you all day long.
23 Do not ignore the clamour of your adversaries,
the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.
A. Find Out:
- Yet how does the psalmist see the Lord? v.12
- How does he remember Him? v.13-17
- What does he ask the Lord to remember? v.18,20,22b
- What does he ask the Lord to do negatively? v.19,21,23
- What does he ask the Lord to do positively? v.22
B. Think:
- What are the purposes of verses 12-19
- How many things does he ask the Lord in verses 18-23
- What is his ultimate desire?
C. Comment:
In the first 11 verses of the psalm we saw the psalmist anguishing over what has happened to Jerusalem and the temple. He ended those verses questioning the Lord who long He would let His enemies get away with it.
Now he affirms the Lord’s greatness. He first declares that the Lord is his king who brings salvation (v.12). He then extols the Lord as the all-powerful Creator of all things (v.13-17). The implication must surely be that nothing or no one is too difficult for the Lord to deal with.
He then moves on to make 8 requests (8, the number of resurrection?) He asks the Lord to remember how His enemies have been behaving, to take note of what they have been saying and doing (v.18,22). He asks the Lord to preserve His people (v.19a) and then not to appear to forget or abandon them (v.19b). He asks the Lord, and this seems pivotal, to remember His covenant with Israel and with the Land, because the land is now being abused (v.20) with violence. it is not as it was designed to be! He asks the Lord to act on behalf of the oppressed, the weak and the needy (v.21) who are always on the Lord’s heart. He asks the Lord to take note of the noise of the enemy (v.23) who, presumably, are rejoicing over their plunder, and his ultimate plea is for the Lord to come and defend Israel and the land (v.22), that which the Lord has worked for, for so long.
D. Application:
- The Lord judges but does not abandon His people.
- Appeal to the Lord on the basis of His covenant.