My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 74:20 Have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
Psalm 74:21 Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame; let the poor and needy praise your name.
Asaph is continuing in his lament over the destruction of the tent of meeting/sanctuary, and in this verse, he comes to a plea for God to remember His covenant with Abraham. God has made promises to the nation that seem to be failing under the watchful eye of Asaph, and he now pull the contract out, and lays it before the Lord.
Is this a move that could be interpreted as insulting, as if the Lord, the all knowing has forgotten something, even forgetting something as important as His word for His people? Is Asaph making a move that is too pushy, too “in your face” before the Lord?
I think not. It seems God relishes the faithful to remind Him of His Word, to recount of His promises to those who seek to know His will.
Isaiah 62:6-7
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.
An amazing passage, as Isaiah is speaking of those in Jerusalem who are constantly pleading with and reminding God of His word, or His promises to the nation.
Jesus spoke also of the characteristic of the believer, describing the saint as one who never stops “bothering” God.
Luke 18:2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.
Luke 18:3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
Luke 18:4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man,
Luke 18:5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”
This widow was seeking justice, seeking for righteousness to be performed before a judge who cares little about the problem. How are we to interpret this story of Jesus when our Judge is ONLY concerned about justice, when our Judge is Righteousness Himself?
We could sit back, and knowing that our God is Righteous, that He is a Judge who will make things right, and rest in this fact. But the Lord speaks of His people “bothering” the Lord, pestering Him, and bringing His Word before Him, reminding Him of the relationship we have, of the promises He has graciously given, and that we trust in.
Asaph was doing what God wanted, facing an incredibly difficult time, yet finding refuge and hope in the promise of God.
May we take instruction from this saint of old, and continue to be before the Lord, reminding Him of His great promises, and thanking Him for the greatest fulfillment of His promises, Jesus our Savior!
2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
Yes – Jesus is all of it, and as we grow to know Him, we find He is the promise we can rely on, even in dark days when all is falling apart, when the very sanctuary of God seems to be in tatters. He is still the complete fulfillment of all of God’s promises for His people.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.
Considering the Bible 