Our Strength Is In Him

Psalm 74

English Standard Version (ESV)

A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)Asaph.

74 O God, why do you ^(B)cast us off forever?
    Why does your anger ^(C)smoke against ^(D)the sheep of your pasture?
^2 (E)Remember your congregation, which you have ^(F)purchased of old,
    which you have ^(G)redeemed to be ^(H)the tribe of your heritage!
    Remember Mount Zion, ^(I)where you have dwelt.
³ Direct your steps to ^(J)the perpetual ruins;
    the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

⁴ Your foes have ^(K)roared in the midst of your meeting place;
    ^(L)they set up their ^(M)own signs for ^(N)signs.
⁵ They were like those who swing ^(O)axes
    in a forest of trees.^[b]
6 And all its ^(P)carved wood
    they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
⁷ They ^(Q)set your sanctuary on fire;
    they ^(R)profaned ^(S)the dwelling place of your name,
    bringing it down to the ground.
⁸ They ^(T)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 ^(U)signs;
    ^(V)there is no longer any prophet,
    and there is none among us who knows how long.
¹⁰ How long, O God, ^(W)is the foe to scoff?
    Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
¹¹ Why ^(X)do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
    Take it from the fold of your garment^[c] and destroy them!

¹² Yet ^(Y)God my King is from of old,
    working salvation in the midst of the earth.
¹³ You ^(Z)divided the sea by your might;
    you ^(AA)broke the heads of ^(AB)the sea monsters^[d] on the waters.
¹⁴ You crushed the heads of ^(AC)Leviathan;
    you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
¹⁵ You ^(AD)split open springs and brooks;
    you ^(AE)dried up ever-flowing streams.
¹⁶ Yours is the day, yours also the night;
    you have established ^(AF)the heavenly lights and the sun.
¹⁷ You have ^(AG)fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
    you have made ^(AH)summer and winter.

^18 (AI)Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
    and ^(AJ)a foolish people reviles your name.
¹⁹ Do not deliver the soul of your ^(AK)dove to the wild beasts;
    ^(AL)do not forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰ Have regard for ^(AM)the covenant,
    for ^(AN)the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
²¹ Let not ^(AO)the downtrodden ^(AP)turn back in shame;
    let ^(AQ)the poor and needy praise your name.

²² Arise, O God, ^(AR)defend your cause;
    ^(AS)remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
²³ Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
    ^(AT)the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+74&version=ESV)

Do you really think God needs to be told when to defend His cause?  I hardly think so but how often do we tell God what we think that He should do?  When we do this are we fully trusting in God?  I would imagine, that even in the time of this Psalm it was not God who abandoned His sanctuary but the people themselves.  How often do we make the sanctuary of God about us and not about God?  How often do we carry our idols into the doors of the church or into our inner most being and brush God to the side?  I tend to think it happens more than we want to admit.  At those times God has to take drastic actions to get us to see what we are doing.  He will go so far as to allow the temple to be destroyed, our lives turned upside down at a moments’ notice just so we will recognize Him and give Him glory.  Just so we can once again be in full communion with Him.  I’m telling you, He has our backs, we just have to trust!!!! 

I found it amazing that the Psalmist mentions the greatness of God in ways that we take for granted.  In verse 13 where he says, “you divided the sea by your might”.  If you look at a world map you can see how the land was broken away and the sea divided it.  God’s greatness had been revealed to him in many ways.  Just as His greatness has been revealed to us, but are we recognizing it or are we blaming it all on the course of nature, global warming . . .  Let us stop and recognize that our God is the One who is in control.  He is the One that holds this earth in orbit and He is the One that holds us in the palm of His hand.

Let no one mistake, God’s sanctuary can be destroyed but God will never be destroyed.  His majesty and glory will forever be.  We need to remember to seek Him and know that He is God and find our strength in Him.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila