A Daily Devotional And Reading From The Psalms (Reading All the Psalms in 2019)
Psalm 75
To the chief Musician, Al-taschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.
1Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: For that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare. 2When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.3The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah. 4I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: 5Lift not up your horn on high: Speak not with a stiff neck. 6For promotion cometh neither from the east, Nor from the west, nor from the south. 7But God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another. 8For in the hand of the Lordthere is a cup, and the wine is red; It is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: But the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. 9But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; But the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
Asaph sure has grown in his understanding.
In Psalm 73 his concern was that the wicked prosper and seem blessed in spite of their disobedience. In that Psalm questioned the benefit of living a faithful life almost causing his faith to slip away.
Psalm 73:2–3
2But as for me, my feet were almost gone; My steps had well nigh slipped. 3For I was envious at the foolish, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
In today’s Psalm, Asaph has learned his lesson. He understands that God is a righteous judge.
Psalm 75:2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.
He sees the Lord as a strong man standing between the pillars of the world. Unlike Samson, who pushed against the pillars bringing everything crashing down, our Lord is keeping the structure in place until the proper time.
Psalm 75:3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
Back in Psalm 73 Asaph saw faithless folk break the rules to get ahead and seemingly get away with it. Now he understands that true promotion comes only from the Lord. God has a bitter cup of judgement and every drop must be eventually consumed the disobedient.
Psalm 75:8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; It is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: But the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
Asaph ends the Psalm showing a commitment to praise because he can trust that God is judge and he is good at his job.
God is judge and he is good at his job.
I have been taught that after finding the proper interpretation of a passage I must eventually find an application.
What am I to do with what Asaph wrote?
God is good at his job, so what?
I can take a sigh of relief because I am not in charge. This bald believer is not holding the world together. Someone much stronger and more capable is up to the task.
I do not have to judge anyone since one much more qualified is seated behind the heavenly bench.
Injustice is not ignored; God is a good judge.
He will certainly promote the faithful one day. Oh, and that bitter cup of judgement does indeed have to be drunk by the unredeemed, down to the last bitter drop.
That was the cup that human side of Jesus wanted to avoid when he prayed in the garden, “Let this cup pass”. For the righteous judge cannot overlook sin but still offer mercy to those worthy of wrath, Jesus took the cup. He swallowed every sip of suffering on my behalf.
God is good at his job so…
If you have been wronged, let him oversee retaliation.
Don’t look down on another individual, God has that judge job covered.
Don’t think that we will get away with wrong or that you will go unrewarded for right.
If you haven’t accepted the sacrifice Jesus gave on your behalf, please do it while there is time!
Like Asaph, sing his praise for ever because God is a just judge and he is good at his job.
Scripture Readings for 6/20/20
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