The Psalms Challenge

[Jayne]

DAY 91 - PSALM 74 [Book 3]

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil of Asaph.

O God, why do 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,
    which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!
    Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
    the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

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

Edited November 2, 2019 by Jayne

[Jayne]

The first half of this psalm by Asaph is the bad news.  The sanctuary has been destroyed.  Which sanctuary?  The tabernacle at Shiloh - the first place.  Or Solomon's Temple after the Babylonians?

Anyhoo......today is the frustrated cry of God's man.

Tomorrow - the good news.

[Jayne]

DAY 92 - PSALM 74:12 -   [Book 3]

 

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

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

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

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

 

[Jayne]

DAY 93 - PSALM 75

God Will Judge with Equity

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

We give thanks to you, O God;
    we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.

2 “At the set time that I appoint
    I will judge with equity.
3 When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,
    it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah
4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
    and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;
5 do not lift up your horn on high,
    or speak with haughty neck.’”

6 For not from the east or from the west
    and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
7 but it is God who executes judgment,
    putting down one and lifting up another.
8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup
    with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
    and all the wicked of the earth
    shall drain it down to the dregs.

9 But I will declare it forever;
    I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
    but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

[Jayne]

Quote

8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup
    with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
    and all the wicked of the earth
    shall drain it down to the dregs.

I've always found this verse very interesting.  This is God's cup of wrath and it's mentioned several times in the Bible.  To me - this is the cup that Jesus asked to be taken away from him.  Jesus Christ bore the wrath of God on that cross.  When Jesus asked for that "cup" to pass from him - he wasn't speaking of a vessel.  He was speaking of a metaphorical vessel filled with the wrath of God.

Where is God's love?  Look to the cross.

Where is God's wrath?  Look to the cross.

Consider these other verses about "the cup".

•  Revelation 14:10 = "he [who worships the beast] too will drink the wine of God's anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and the LAMB"
•  Job 21:19-20 = "It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so that he may know it. Let his own eyes see his destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty."
•  Jeremiah 25:15 - "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it."
   

[Jayne]

DAY 94 - PSALM 76 [Book 3]

Who Can Stand Before You?

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

 In Judah God is known;
    his name is great in Israel.
2 His abode has been established in Salem,
    his dwelling place in Zion.
3 There he broke the flashing arrows,
    the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah

4 Glorious are you, more majestic
    than the mountains full of prey.
5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
    they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
    were unable to use their hands.
6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
    both rider and horse lay stunned.

7 But you, you are to be feared!
    Who can stand before you
    when once your anger is roused?
8 From the heavens you uttered judgment;
    the earth feared and was still,
9 when God arose to establish judgment,
    to save all the humble of the earth. Selah

10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;
    the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.
11 Make your vows to the Lord your God and perform them;
    let all around him bring gifts
    to him who is to be feared,
12 who cuts off the spirit of princes,
    who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

[Jayne]

DAY 95 - PSALM 77 [Book 3]

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

I cry aloud to God,
    aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
    in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
    my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I moan;
    when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

4 You hold my eyelids open;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old,
    the years long ago.
6 I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
    let me meditate in my heart.”
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
    to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
    you have made known your might among the peoples.
15 You with your arm redeemed your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16 When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    indeed, the deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
    the skies gave forth thunder;
    your arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lighted up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea,
    your path through the great waters;
    yet your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

[Jayne]

This is a powerful psalm.  AND looong.  I'm dividing it up.  Don't miss this whole psalm.

DAY 96 - PSALM 78 [Book 3]

Tell the Coming Generation

A Maskil of Asaph.

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
    I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
    that our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
    but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.

5 He established a testimony in Jacob
    and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
    to teach to their children,
6 that the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7     so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
    but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their fathers,
    a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God.

 

[Jayne]

Quote

4 We will not hide them from their children,
    but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.

Asaph says here that he will not keep the glorious deeds of God away from the children of the ancient Hebrews nor the coming generation.

We CANNOT keep the glorious story of God, salvation, Christ Jesus, and grace away from OUR children and the next generations.  We CANNOT.

Probably all of us here have seen the ruin of nations that do NOT continue the Bible down through generations.

Quote

5 He established a testimony in Jacob
    and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
    to teach to their children,
6 that the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7     so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
    but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their fathers,
    a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God.

These four verses give the warning of what will happen when God's word is not taught to successive generations.

•  Verse 5 - it's been commanded to teach the children the laws and words of God
•  Verse 6 - those children who learn will teach the children not yet born
•  Verse 7 - WHY?  So they will NOT FORGET the works of God and set their hope in him and keep his commandments
•  Verse 8 -  WHY? So that they will not be like their father: stubborn, rebellious, disloyal, unfaithful

[Jayne]

DAY 97 - PSALM 78:9-20 [Book 3]

The Ephraimites, armed with the bow,
    turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God's covenant,
    but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot his works
    and the wonders that he had shown them.
12 In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
    and made the waters stand like a heap.
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
    and all the night with a fiery light.
15 He split rocks in the wilderness
    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock
    and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

17 Yet they sinned still more against him,
    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tested God in their heart
    by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God, saying,
    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20 He struck the rock so that water gushed out
    and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
    or provide meat for his people?”