Psalm 74

Have regard for your covenant

Asaph, the writer of this psalm, is having a pretty bad time.  He's writing during the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews, where many of their leaders were taken away from them, and their temple was smashed then burned to the ground by invading Babylonian forces.  Asaph spends about half of the psalm lamenting that God has abandoned the people and has allowed the enemy to destroy everything God holds dear.  He begs God "Take [your hand]  from the folds of your garment and destroy them!".  Why does God ignore His people when they are clearly so miserable?

I guess you have to consider how God's people got there in the first place.  The Book of Kings describes the dynasty after the death of David.  Despite many kings who try to obey God, the kingdom of Judea continually fails to worship the One God alone.  Angry for their idolatry, God punishes them by allowing Jerusalem to be destroyed, and the best and brightest of the Jewish people captured and brought to Babylon, while the remaining people lived under puppet kings and their religion and culture crumbled.  Asaph is writing from the destroyed and occupied Jerusalem, which probably explains his bad mood.

What is striking to me is that Asaph continually blames the Babylonians for his fate.  He claims they "defiled the dwelling place of your name" and "burned your sanctuary to the ground".  Why would God allow an enemy that took up his capital only to mock Him?  The obvious answer is that the Babylonians didn't defile the temple, the so-called people of God did.  Asaph continually blames the Babylonians for everything that is going wrong, while in reality, God is punishing them for refusing to obey Him in the first place.  God isn't destroying everything He holds dear, as Asaph implies, but rather everything the sinful people hold dear.  God doesn't need a temple, he needs our hearts.  If he has to destroy the temple to gain our hearts, He will.

As I have said before, God does not tolerate idolatry very well.  He sent plenty of warnings through His prophets, but His people still wouldn't obey.  Of course, this case is an extreme example.  Not all instances of disobeying God will have historical impacts on geo-politics like this example.  What can this lament teach us about our own lives?  It's pretty simple to me really; When we put ourselves before God, God gets further away.  Our own actions can exile our hearts to Babylon, and God can feel so far away, especially when we need Him.

Asaph, despite the issues he's facing here, continues to praise God.  He still yearns for His salvation.  And that is a step in the right direction.  He asks God to remember the covenant He made with the Jewish people, but it wasn't God who betrayed the covenant.  Asaph is making slow steps towards mending the covenant on his side of the equation.  Perhaps the people needed to hit rock bottom before they saw there was no comfort in their idolatry.  And God was waiting for them with open arms.  We too, have our low points.  We also ignore God, we yearn for an easy Earthly life rather than the difficult task of following God.  We put distance between ourselves and the one who loves us.  Even still, God wants us close.  We just need the strength to follow Him.

©Billy Heller

1 O God, why have you rejected us forever?
    Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember the nation you purchased long ago,
    the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed—
    Mount Zion, where you dwelt.
3 Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,
    all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

4 Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;
    they set up their standards as signs.
5 They behaved like men wielding axes
    to cut through a thicket of trees.
6 They smashed all the carved paneling
    with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
    they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.
8 They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!”
    They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.

9 We are given no signs from God;
    no prophets are left,
    and none of us knows how long this will be.
10 How long will the enemy mock you, God?
    Will the foe revile your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
    Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!

12 But God is my King from long ago;
    he brings salvation on the earth.

13 It was you who split open the sea by your power;
    you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
    and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
15 It was you who opened up springs and streams;
    you dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day is yours, and yours also the night;
    you established the sun and moon.
17 It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
    you made both summer and winter.

18 Remember how the enemy has mocked you, Lord,
    how foolish people have reviled your name.
19 Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;
    do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.
20 Have regard for your covenant,
    because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
21 Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;
    may the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
    remember how fools mock you all day long.
23 Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,
    the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.