Psalm 74

A maskil of Asaph.

This is the third of twelve Psalms bear the name of Asaph

1 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolation; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.

5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.

6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.

7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.

8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knows how long.

10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

11 Why withdraw thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.

12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakes the heads of the dragons in the waters.

14 Thou brakes the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gave him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.

16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

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

21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.

22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproaches thee daily.

23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increases continually. (KJV)

In this psalm Asaph tackles the question of why a sovereign God permits evil and why this evil behavior seems to prosper. This is a struggle that many have try to grasp and have even wrote books about this struggle. One of my favorite books is the Lord of the Rings written by J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien books which were published between 1954 and 1955 and reflected the world in which he lived. He had fought in World War I and witness the trench warfare of this war. He also witness the effects that World War II left on this world. These events probably shaped the battle scenes in his books. The battles in his writing seem to reflect the same details as Asaph writes in this psalm. Amazing the natural of mankind has not improved since Cain killed Abel. If fact the further away we remove God away from our everyday life the more wickedness grows in our society, And yet man finds ways and uses their imaginations to made the wickedness of their heart to seem justified to the world around them.

However, Asaph ask of the Lord to remember the people you had purchased and not to handle them over to these wild beasts. Asaph starts this psalm out by asking God why he has rejected them. He ends this psalm with the plea “Rise up, O God, and defend your cause”. As I read this psalm, I realize that the battle is not centered around me or anyone else, it is God’s battle. The battle we see in this world today is not only man against man, but man rebelling against God. It is our place in the battle to stand up for God’s way. We are the light that God has placed in this world as a witness against their wackiness. And yet we must be careful, as his chosen vessels, not to forget the way of God. We must avoid letting sin become our master. This is why we must stay in God’s word. To give us the light to live our daily life.