Psalm 77 - Longing for God’s power

Asaph is in a state of great distress. He prays earnestly and continually, but finds no relief. Even his thoughts of God trouble him, and instead of strengthening him, he feels weaker. He cannot sleep, and he traces that response to the action of God. There is no one with whom he can share his burden (vv. 1-4).

Verses 5 to 9 describe his burden. He was apprehensive that the Lord had cast off his people. Therefore he searched in his mind the history of God’s dealings with his people. He had lots of questions but he asked them because he knew that the answer would be found there. Did the past contain times when God came to restore his people? If he had, then Asaph could hope that he would did so again.

His mind went to the great event in Israel’s history so far - the Exodus. That deliverance was an amazing display of God’s covenant commitment to his people in which he revealed his holiness. Holiness points to God’s elevation, how he is superior to all else. He displays his abilities in an extraordinary manner, and we can see that was the case when we look at the ten judgements he sent on Egypt and the way he opened the Red Sea for them to escape (vv. 11-19). God provided a great deliverance, says Asaph, and he then guided his people safely through the wilderness to Canaan (v. 20). Yet, in an astonishing way, no one saw him or could point to his footsteps. His involvement in his providences are seen by faith.

The lesson of this psalm is obvious. When current circumstances are dark, we should turn to God in prayer and consider his actions recorded in his Word and also what he has done in church history. It is appropriate to think of the great things he has done. Yet we must know the details in order to know what to expect.

Another lesson is that it is not a sign of unbelief to be in the dark or to be puzzled by the affairs of life. It is important to have concern about the state of God’s cause, but the evidence of our concern is seen in the intensity of our response.

Psalm 76 - God gives victory

Asaph has written a song to praise God for having given victory to his people. It was  wonderful now to have his presence with them, including in the temple in Jerusalem where he revealed his presence in a special way. In order for this to happen, he had given great victories throughout the land against powerful enemies. Maybe Asaph was thinking about what had happened through Joshua or through David (vv. 1-3).

During the campaign to capture the promised land, God had ensured that the enemies of Israel became powerless and weak, even although they would have seemed powerful in a normal war. His rebuke was sufficient to stop them in their tracks (vv. 4-6).

Why did God do this? One reason was that he was angry with the inhabitants of Canaan and a second reason was that he wanted to deliver his people. Centuries before, he had told Abraham that the iniquity of the inhabitants would eventually bring divine judgement on them. He had also promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land. Now he had fulfilled both divine announcements. 

Since that had been the case, it meant that the wrath of man against God’s ways is ineffective. Their expressions of wrath were met by divine power and become signs of his strength (worn as trophies on his belt). The appropriate response is to worship him by keeping promises of dedication and offering suitable expressions of adoration and appreciation. After all, he can remove the powerful of the earth in a moment, or if he chooses, take a few centuries to do it.

      

  

Psalm 75 - God in charge

Psalm 75 celebrates the fact that the sovereign God judges the world. Those singing the psalm recognise that amazing fact as they approach him in worship. Saying his name is ‘near’ is the same as acknowledging his presence. Such a location is very suitable for mentioning his amazing actions (v.1). Having said that, we should also realise that in the presence of God we should be careful.

God speaks in response to their worship. Maybe he spoke through a prophet as they worshipped. The Lord reminded them that he has fixed the time for judgement. In order to stress his control of things, he reminds his worshippers that he holds the earth steady. Since that is the case, no one should boast in his presence (vv. 2-5). Times of worship are not the occasion to focus on the achievements of men. 

Asaph then mentions an obvious deduction that comes from recognising the sovereignty of God. Any and all promotions in providence come from the Lord, as do demotions. Often, they are acts of judgement by him, with promotion indicating his approval and demotion his disapproval. When they express his disapproval, they can be accompanied by awesome features (vv. 6-8).

His awareness of this reality leads the psalmist to praise God for his interventions. He also knows that the day is coming when the Lord will promote the righteous and remove the wicked permanently. Indeed, whenever we see promotions and demotions happening, we should recognise that they point ahead to judgement day (vv. 9-10).

Sometime we wonder why wicked people seem to prosper. We forget that God has fixed a day for dealing with them. One such day is the day of judgement at the end of history, but other days of smaller divine interventions happen before that day comes. Similarly, we wonder why the righteous suffer. The answer is that God has fixed the time of their promotion, which will be partial in this life, but full on the great day.

  

       

   

Psalm 74 - Praying to a silent God

The time described in this psalm is the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Babylonians. We may wonder why it is linked to Asaph who lived in the time of David, a long time before that captivity occurred. The likely answer is that the word Asaph covers his descendants who also served in the temple after he had died. So this psalm was written by one or more of them.

Asaph is puzzled by divine providence in which he sees God not changing the state of defeat and destruction experienced by the people of Israel. God had chosen them for his people, he had redeemed them from slavery, he had placed his abode among them, but now it had all collapsed, and all seemed in ruins. He even suggests in verse 3 that God no longer walks among his people and has allowed a powerful enemy to destroy the sanctuary (vv. 1-3).

In verses 4-8, Asaph describes the destruction that the enemy had brought. They had determined as well to remove all the meeting places throughout the country, a comment that points to the existence of meetings that would develop into synagogues. Clearly, the enemy regarded God as powerless, unable to stop them, and they were sure that they could remove all trace of God from the land.

The situation was made worse for Asaph because there seemed to be no response from God. No signs of his presence were available now that the temple had gone; even the usual response of sending prophets to preach to the people about their sins had not occurred. God, it seemed, had chosen to be silent and inactive regarding the situation (vv. 9-11).

Asaph knew a lot about God’s power. He mentions how he had delivered his people from Egypt (the sea and Leviathan), and how he had controlled the natural creation on specific occasions as well as arranging the regular daily and annual cycles. The issue now was not that God lacked power, but that he had so far not used it to help his people at the present time (vv. 12-17).

Therefore, he intercedes for God’s cause and asks the Lord to come to the aid of his gentle and needy people surviving in the land. They are like doves and like the poor without resources (vv. 18-19). He could do this by regarding the covenant arrangement he had made with Israel, and when he did, he would remove the places of wickedness and liberate his people, and this restoration would result in his people praising him again (vv. 20-21). 

Therefore he implores the Lord to rise, an illustration that indicates he is inactive so far in their predicament. He urges the Lord not to ignore what his opponents are saying and doing as they attempt to remove all pointers to God from the land (vv. 21-23). 

Unlike other psalms, Asaph here does not say if God answered his prayer, but that would not happen immediately because the captivity would last for seventy years. But Asaph still provides us with an example of how to pray in days when God’s power is not evident in the degree of blessing that it used to be. His prayer acknowledges the seriousness of the situation (divine judgement on Israel), the silence of God, and the weakness of his surviving people in the land. We need to do the same about our contemporary situation. Yet we can look back to Asaph’s time and experience and see that God answered such prayers eventually. As Asaph requested, God did remember what was happening.

     

   

   

Psalm 73 - Thinking in the sanctuary

The third volume of the Book of Psalms begins with several psalms by Asaph, one of the worship leaders in the praise of God. In Psalm 73, Asaph describes a period when he was having doubts about God’s dealings in providence and how he was delivered from that outlook.

In verse 1, he states a basic biblical truth, which is that God is good to his people, those who have a new heart. Sometimes, however, they can be disturbed by what they see taking place in daily life. Asaph, a man with a pure heart, became envious of the wicked, the arrogant who paid no heed to God’s requirements. His thoughts caused him to become unsteady in a spiritual sense (vv. 1-3).

In verses 4-9, Asaph details the observations that shook his faith. The wicked he had observed had an easy life, they looked well, they didn’t experience trouble, they boasted about their sins, and they defied God with their words. Of course, it is easy to see those who do all this in public.

Their unpunished lifestyle caused some of God’s people to conclude that he did not know what the wicked were doing, because surely he would have punished them if he did (vv. 10-12). Asaph had also decided that it was pointless for him to focus on holy living; yet, even although he was in inner turmoil, he had kept silent about his complaints because he did not want to lead God’s people astray (vv. 13-15).

Thinking about such a conundrum as the prosperity of the wicked in God’s world did not bring any answers until he went to the place of worship, and that was where he found spiritual relief (vv. 16-17). There, perhaps through what he heard from a teacher or from another believer, he realised that the path the wicked were on was actually a rapid road to divine judgement that God had prepared for them. He also realised that his attitude had not been that of someone thinking correctly; indeed, he had been acting like thoughtless animals (vv. 18-22).

In the sanctuary, he realised that God was his companion, faithfully guiding him to glory, and he received the assurance that he would get a personal welcome when he reached his heavenly destination. His experience in the sanctuary led him to realise the reality and the preciousness of the presence of God, that being with the Lord was the greatest blessing he could have. It is the case that even a believer of the stature of Asaph can fail under pressure at times, but that does not mean that God will forsake him. Instead, the Lord will give restoring grace (vv. 23-26).

The reality of life boils down to two certain truths: one is that God is working to deal with those who oppose him and the other is that he protects those who approach him for help. Asaph had found that to be the case and he had discovered that from his own experience he could speak with realism about God’s ways in the world, about his sovereign and wise activities by which he opposes the wicked and defends his people  (vv. 27-29).

The psalm tells us that even wise and godly leaders of God’s people will make errors of judgement if they look in the wrong place for answers about the questions that life throws their way. Merely contrasting the comfort of the wicked with the discomfort of the righteous does not explain why it happens. But taking time to attend the worship of God and to recover awareness of his providential control of life enables such to realise that God is dealing with every situation according to his wisdom and for his glory as well as for spiritual good of his people.

      

Psalm 72 - The King and his Kingdom

It is not clear who the author of the psalm is. The heading could indicate it was Solomon, but verse 20 may suggest that David was the author. Arguments can be made for either option. In either case, the psalm is a prayer for a king’s reign.

The prayer begins by asking God to enable the king, regarded as God’s son, to rule with righteousness. His priority should be to reign as the Lord would do by caring for his people, called the poor and needy, and by providing them with protection from all who would oppress them (vv. 1-4).

Verses 5-7 describe the kingdom from the point of view of its length. It is going to last as long as the sun and the moon. While it lasts, God’s people will flourish because of the nature of the kingdom. Heavenly refreshment will be supplied constantly and the result will be abundant peace.

In verses 8-11, the psalmist describes the geographical extent of the kingdom. The furthest that the nation of Israel had reached was to the River Euphrates, whereas the kingdom described here grows from the River to cover the whole world. Wherever people are, the kingdom will reach them, whether they are on the seashores, the deserts or in faraway lands. The Ruler of this kingdom will be acknowledged as King by all other kings, no matter how important their kingdoms had seemed, and whether they are pleased with the fact that he has such universal power.

His reign is perceived as very attractive because it is marked by compassion and care. He regards each of his people as precious, and his power provides deliverance for them (vv. 12-14). It is not surprising then that the subjects would pray for the continuance of his kingdom and that they would want to declare him as blessed by God. His kingdom will be marked by ample provision and a numerous populace. Indeed, the whole world will benefit from his reign (vv. 15-17).

So the psalmist blesses the God of Israel. The greatness of the kingdom is evidence of the greatness of God. He is so great that the psalmist expects the whole earth to be filled with the glory of God (vv. 18-19).

It is obvious that this psalm describes a King far greater than the best of Israel’s kings. Neither David or Solomon achieved what is mentioned here. The psalm celebrates the kingdom of the Messiah. After he comes, he will reign over a global kingdom, one that is gracious and which reveals the glory of God in his mercy given to those he delights to reign over and protect. 

The psalm is clearly about Jesus, but since the fulfilment of it is a gradual one we can join with others who pray about it, and ask that the Saviour’s kingdom will continue to grow.

Psalm 71 - Growing Old

This psalm is written by an old believer who has been one all his life. In it, he expresses his fears, and perhaps he has found that he now reacts differently from what he would have done when he was younger.

Since the Lord had helped him previously, he deduced that God had given the commandment to save him. Past deliverances encouraged him to pray for and expect current and future help, even from attacks by dangerous people (vv. 1-4). 

In verses 5-8, he reflects on his lifelong relationship to the Lord. His own experience is different from most because he indicates that he was regenerated from the womb. He is aware that others regard him as unique, even special, although some regard him as a threat. Yet he is very thankful for God’s faithful help and praises him on a daily basis for the safety he provides.

Nevertheless, he knows that old age has its problems (vv. 9-13). One of them is that opponents consider him weak and isolated, and that they can move against him, even using religious language to cover their evil intentions. So he brings their threats to the Lord and asks him to deal with those who are threatening him.

Although he is old, he intends to serve God wholeheartedly in the future (vv. 14-18). In addition to his personal expressions of praise, he looks forward to continuing his role as a teacher of God’s people. The focus of his teaching will be to highlight the wonderful things that God has done. He knows that the next generation needs to hear what the Lord did, and that he can show his faithfulness to God by informing them or reminding them of those extraordinary actions. But he needs fresh divine power for him to do so.

Reminding himself of those great divine acts, as well as recalling personal experiences of divine help, made him realise that God could revive him again, even although he was feeling low at that time (vv. 19-21). His God could descend to where he felt he was, even in the depths of the earth. He would be taken from there by the divine hand and not merely to where he had been before. Rather his God could give him more greatness than he previously had had, and more comfort as well.

Therefore, despite his sense of old age, he knew that he could praise and serve God (vv. 22-24). His reference to musical instruments could indicate that he was one of the temple musicians who led the public praise of God there. Not only would he worship by song and instrument, he would also declare loudly and testify to the ongoing divine help that he had received, even about the answered prayer that dealt with recent attacks on him.

Getting older has its challenges. One of them is the sense that one is over the hill or put on the shelf, that the day is over and no role of service is available. The psalmist here deals with his own concerns and circumstances and discovers that God has ways of using him. The importance thing is that he brought the matter to the Lord who then sorted things out.