Bible Reading Reflection from Psalms 73-77

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (MPG) as a reading update (reflection) from one chapter of the Bible a day]

ℙ𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕄 𝟟𝟛:𝟙𝟠

"Surely You set them in ᏕᏝᎨᏢᏢᎬᏒᎽ ᏢᏝᎯᏨᎬᏕ;

You cause them to fall to destruction."

Asaph the Psalmist was like me. He wasn't able to swallow the prosperity and ease of the wicked; because of that he nearly slipped. However, when he sought to know God, he realized that actually it was [is] them who will slip at the end.

Notice the play of words — slipped and slippery.

Envy will let us slip, will let us fall into sin, will let us live a miserable life. When actually, it's the design of God to let the wicked slip; no, no, not those who cleanse their hearts and wash their hands in innocence (v13).

In the first and last verse, he affirms that God is surely good. Therefore, why not look at Him in trust than to look at the wicked in envy!?

Yesterday I was watching good food on YouTube and I was saying to a friend, "Even if I live a thousand years, I don't think I can be that luxurious to eat those foods!"

Let's continue to enjoy Ngari and Akhuni, anyway, BTW! 😎

 

ℙ𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕄 𝟟𝟜:𝟙                   

"Why, O God? Have You rejected us forever?

Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?"

Ps 74 complements Ps 73 very well.

There's no mention of personal or national sin in this Psalm. Rather the atrocities and wickedness of the enemies, the godless people. However, the psalmist and his people had felt the abandonment of God. Notice the word "forever", it's not a temporary depression, it had been like forever. God's anger was felt as not relenting, but gathering more smoke to be a mighty furnace. Yet all these were not against those godless people but against His Own people.

I am no more righteous than anyone else, but there were times I feel like the Psalmist. Like God has cast me off forever though I couldn't figure out any particular sins in my life that I should repent of.

Well, the Psalmist pled with God to remember them 3 times (v2, 18, 22). And as He pled with God, he also recalled the faithfulness of God and the power of God. And we remember Apostle Paul pleading with Christ 3 times, and Jesus's answer was "the sufficiency of His Grace."

And the psalmist didn’t waver in his faith, nor did Apostle Paul. Neither should we. Hold on!

 

ℙ𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕄 𝟟𝟝:𝟞-𝟟

"For one’s rising up does not come from the east, nor from the west,

And not from the south;

But God is the Judge;

He puts down one and raises up another."

Wow! Simple. If you want success, popularity, fame, and promotion, live in the North! For it says, those didn't come from East, West, or South! Even North America is doing better than South America. 😬😂 Just kidding! That's a bad exegesis! Now to the meat part.

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝙶𝚘𝚍'𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 as if 𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜 𝚒𝚝. 𝙷𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝!

𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎. 𝚈𝚎𝚜, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 o𝚗 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚖, 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚃𝚞𝚋𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚒𝚔𝚃𝚘𝚔. 𝚈𝚎𝚜, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚄𝙿𝚂𝙲 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙿𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙷𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙷𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕!

𝚂𝚘, 𝚟4-5, “𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚎𝚕.”

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚃𝚒𝚔𝚃𝚘𝚔 𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚘 𝚘𝚏 𝙰𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚑𝚊𝚖 𝙿𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚍, 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝙿𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗— 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝙱𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜.

𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜.

𝙱𝚞𝚝, 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝙿𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚎, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚘𝚍. 𝙷𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝙿𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑. 𝙷𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝙰𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚑𝚊𝚖 𝙿𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝙿𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 [difficult] 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚍!

 

ℙ𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕄 𝟟𝟞:𝟟,𝟙𝟙

"But You, You are 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎;

And who can stand in Your presence when once You are 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚢?"

Last night, I was watching a football match between Portugal and Hungary in a room of one of my friends. All of them were supporting Portugal. It happened that Portugal didn't score a goal until the 84th minute. Those in the room were upset, angry, and banging the table and anything around them when every opportunity was missed. I was a little bit scared that they might hit me by mistake or take up a shoe and throw it at the screen! Hmm! It's scary to be in the presence of an angry person. 🥶

Hmm! The psalmist Asaph captured for us the majesty of God in His judgment. Who can stand before the God of this Universe when He is angry?

Anger can be appeased mostly by a gift or a sacrifice. Even me, last night I offered the angriest one to come and sit nearby me because they have reserved the best place for me.

That's why v11.

"Make vows to Yahweh your God and pay them;

Let all who are around Him bring gifts to the Fearsome One."

Indeed, Jesus (His gift of sacrifice on the cross) has appeased the wrath of God, and even now in heaven is interceding for us!

 

ℙ𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕄 𝟟𝟟

MacArthur Study Bible Note is interesting, it has this: "This psalm illustrates one cure for depression. The psalmist does not explain the cause of his despair, but he was definitely locked into gloom. When he thought about God, it only caused him to complain bitterly."

I love Asaph, not only David.

In v3, Asaph remembered God. And that, for David and Jeremiah was enough, the solution for any anxiety; but for Asaph, it was more troublesome.

7 years ago, I remember having a theological discussion with my senior in seminary. I was telling him to stop mentioning "God" and be more practical to solve a particular problem. Defaulting to God looked bitter and not comforting. Sometimes, God doesn't seem to work at all. And to say "God" seems so indifferent.

However, this Psalm is wonderful, and I agree with MSB Note. This is a cure for depression. How? Look at the tenses. Asaph moved from Past tense (1-3) to Present tense (4-9) to Future tense (10-12) as he wrote about his beliefs and confessions. And clung to the lovingkindness (7-9) and omnipotence (16-20) of God.

If one finds himself like Asaph in the past tense, his life will be miserable v3: he complained and was overwhelmed.

Not by Complaining but by Contemplation. One needs to move to the future tense of Asaph!