Psalm 74
Psalm 74 is a lament for the way the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed
and defiled by the Chaldeans who had sworn to utterly subdue God’s people and
had burned all the meeting places of God in the land. The psalmist is desperate
for God to act. He cries out to God asking when will he come and remember and
deliver his people who he “purchased of old”. He sees no sign of God acting or
of prophets to lead the way and say when their suffering might come to an end.
But then he remembers who God is – a “king from of old working salvation in the
earth.” he acknowledges that God has established the heavens and the seasons
and therefore can be victorious over his enemies. He begs God to come and
defeat his enemies.
This God is the same yesterday today and forever
. We can remember what he has done – he has rescued us through Jesus; he is
faithful and will not let us go. Even during those times when it seems as
though those who oppose God are doing well and making the church seem weak and
insignificant we can be sure that our God, the Creator God who controls and
sustains all things, is still walking with us and hears and understands our
prayers. When we are faced with difficulties we cannot overcome by ourselves he
is there to hear us and to intervene. It is for us to ask him for help and
trust in his goodness and his timing and to continue to praise him for all he
is and all he has done.
(member of a homegroup)