A Daily Devotional And Reading From The Psalms
Psalm 74:7–13
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 knoweth how long.
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach?
Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11 Why withdrawest 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 brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
Psalm 74 was written shortly after the destruction of the temple in 586 B.C. (vs.7). The psalmist comes to the Lord in prayer to find help in the midst of this crisis. Many false teachers had claimed that the temple was the reason the Lord would never allow the nation to fall saying, “the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these” (Jer. 7:4) as an answer against the warnings of pending judgement. To many in the psalmist’s day, the temple was the lucky charm that would guarantee God’s protection and yet somehow the nation is defeated, the people are captive and the that temple destroyed. To the author of this Psalm, this was more than a personal problem, it was a crisis of faith. The Psalmist does the right thing, he takes his concerns to the Lord in prayer. One of his concerns was that there was no sign from God that he could see (vs.9), no prophet with a word from the Lord to tell him how long they temple would sit in ruins and the enemy prevail (vs. 10). Why would God allow problem of this magnitude and stay silent? But hold on, God had sent a prophet. Living and prophesying at the very same time was both Jeremiah and Ezekiel. These Godly prophets were being inspired to provide a word from the Lord and one had even given the answer as to how long (70 years - Jer. 29:10). The psalmist asks the Lord to in essence, take his hands out of his pockets and get involved (vs.11). The psalmist didn’t know the Lord was already actively working and speaking to his people. There are things about which he is unaware but Asaph does one thing right, he focuses on the things he knows about the past workings of God (vs. 12). His faith will strengthen in the rest of the psalm because he brought his concerns before his creator in prayer.
How can we apply this Psalm to our life?
Of course, we must learn the secret of prayer. Prayer can change your situation or sometimes like this divinely inspired writer shows us, prayer can change you and give you strength in your situation.
Perhaps there is another lesson. Could it be that we want a word from the Lord, an answer to our question, a comfort for our suffering souls? Is there one wondering why God will not speak to your need? Could it be that the answer has been given, already there within in the Scriptures and that you have just not gone deep enough into the Bible’s pages to find it? I know this, we have a Word from the Lord. God’s Word has been given and is powerful and sufficient for our need!
2 Timothy 3:16–17
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.