Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank God for the day and his Word, and ask the Holy Spirit to press it into believing hearts with eyes to see and ears to hear.
Read
Scripture Passage
Psalm 74
A Plea for Relief from Oppressors
A Contemplation of Asaph.
1 O God, why have You cast us off forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed—
This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.
3 Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations.
The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.
4 Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;
They set up their banners for signs.
5 They seem like men who lift up
Axes among the thick trees.
6 And now they break down its carved work, all at once,
With axes and hammers.
7 They have set fire to Your sanctuary;
They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.
8 They said in their hearts,
“Let us destroy them altogether.”
They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs;
There is no longer any prophet;
Nor is there any among us who knows how long.
10 O God, how long will the adversary reproach?
Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?
11 Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.
12 For God is my King from of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.
14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces,
And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 You broke open the fountain and the flood;
You dried up mighty rivers.
16 The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have prepared the light and the sun.
17 You have set all the borders of the earth;
You have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O Lord,
And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.
19 Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast!
Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
20 Have respect to the covenant;
For the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty.
21 Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed!
Let the poor and needy praise Your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
Remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily.
23 Do not forget the voice of Your enemies;
The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 74.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
Asaph laments enemies who have devastated God's sanctuary and meeting places, leaving his people without signs or prophets. Yet he remembers that God is the ancient King who works salvation and rules day, night, seasons, sea, and land. He therefore asks God to remember his covenant, defend his own cause, and preserve the oppressed.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Psalm 74:19-20
Bryan explicitly identifies these lines as what he would underline, centering the psalm on the plea that God remember his covenant and not abandon his vulnerable people amid cruelty.
C — Called or Christ
C — Called to Do
Pray confidently from God's promises, asking him to remember his covenant love for people in hardship and for the persecuted church throughout the world. Praise and love God, remind one another of his everlasting love, and rest in it through every trial.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Good morning and welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all of the wisdom literature. Man, you guys are good at this. All right, well, I'm sorry we're a little bit late today. We've been busy, busy here at the house while mom is away. So why don't we go ahead and have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's word. You guys ready to have some coffee or tea? All right. Let's go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your word.
We pray that your Holy Spirit might press these words into our hearts, that we would believe them. that we would have eyes to see and ears to hear, in Jesus' name, Amen. Daddy, this doesn't taste like peppermint tea. Oh, it doesn't taste like, well I think it's actually chocolate peppermint tea. Alright, you guys ready? Psalm 74, a contemplation of Asaph.
Oh God, why have you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? Remember your congregation which you have purchased of old, the tribe of your inheritance which you have redeemed, this Mount Zion where you have dwelt. Lift up your feet to the perpetual desolation.
The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary. Your enemies roar. in the midst of your meeting place. They set up their banners for signs. They seem like men who lift up axes amongst the thick trees. And now they break down in carved work, all at once with axes and hammers. They have set fire to your sanctuary. They have defiled the dwelling place of your name to the ground. They said in their hearts, let us destroy them all together. They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.
We do not see your signs. There is no longer any prophets, nor is there any among us who know how long, oh God, how long will the adversary of reproach Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever? Why do you withdraw your hand, even your right hand? Take it out of your bosom and destroy them.
For God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. You divide the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters. You broke the leviathan in pieces and gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness. You broke open the fountain and the flood. You dried up mighty rivers. The day is yours. The night also is yours. You have prepared the light and the sun. You have set the border of the earth. You have made summer and winter. Man, that was a big part. Good job. Here you go, Debra.
You can read the last bit. remember this that the enemy has reproached oh lord and that foolish people have blamed blasphemy blasphemed your name oh do not deliver the life of your turtle dove to the wild beast do not forget your poor forever forget the life of your poor forever have respect to the Covenant? Covenant.
For the dark places of the earth are full of hunts of cruelty. O do not let the oppressed return unshamed. Ashamed. Ashamed. Let the poor and the needy praise your name. Arise, O God, plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man reproaches you daily. Do not forget the voice of your enemies and the tumult of those who rise up against you increase continually. Those who rise up against you increase continually. So what do you guys think? What's this psalm about? People are destroying the temples and the meeting places like God's. Yeah, they're destroying the synagogues and the temple. They're destroying God's people, right? And what does he tell them?
I think this is what I would underline in my Bible. Ode, do not deliver the life of your turtle dove to the wild beast. Do not forget the life of your poor forever. Have respect the covenant. For the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty. God, remember your covenant. Remember you said you would love us with an everlasting love. Remember your promises, Lord.
I think that's what this is getting at. What do you guys think this should do in our lives? How do you think we should live this out? We should praise God and remind each other that God loves us. Okay, good. What about you, Bob? What do you think? Love and God! You want to love God? Love and God. Good. What do you think, Bud? How are you called to live this in your life? Pray to God? Pray to God, yeah.
I think in our lives we can pray to the Lord. We can pray to the Lord specifically calling upon God to remember his promises. We can call to the Lord and we can pray with confidence knowing that the Lord hears and remembers his covenant love. Why don't we go ahead and pray that this morning. You guys ready? Lord, we thank you that we know that no matter how bad things seem, You have not forgotten your people. You have remembered your covenant.
So Lord, we cry out to you that you remember your covenant love for your people throughout the world. We pray that you would remember your covenant love for those who are watching today who might be in trouble and hardship. We pray that you would remember your covenant love for the church who is being persecuted around the globe. We pray that you would remember your covenant love and that you would let your gospel be known to all the nations.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you today. May you rest in the covenant love of the Lord, no matter what the trials of this life might bring. And we'll see you guys tomorrow. You wanna say bye? Bye! Bye, guys! Bye, guys! Bye! Okay, okay. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye.