Morgan Teruel: As we continue reading the Psalms today, join me as we read Psalm 74. Oh God, why have you rejected us so long? Why is your anger so intense against the sheep of your own pasture? Remember that we are the people you chose long ago, the tribe you redeemed as your own special possession. And remember Jerusalem, your home here on earth.
Walk through the awful ruins of the city, see how the enemy has destroyed your sanctuary. There your enemy shouted their victorious battle cries. There they set up their battle standards. They swung their axes like woodcutters in a forest with axes and picks. They smashed the carved paneling.
They burned your sanctuary to the ground. They defiled the place that bears your name. Then they thought, let's destroy everything. So they burned down all the places where God was worshiped. We no longer see your miraculous signs.
All the prophets are gone and no one can tell us when it will end. How long will God will you allow your enemies to insult you? Will you let them dishonor your name forever? Why do you hold back your strong right hand? Unleash your powerful fist and destroy them.
You oh God are my king from ages past bringing salvation to the earth. You split the sea by your strength and smash the heads of the sea monsters. You crush the heads of Leviathan and let the desert animals eat him. You cause the springs and streams to gush forth and you dried up rivers that never run dry. Both day and night belong to you.
You made the starlight and the sun. You set the boundaries of the earth and you made both summer and winter. See how these enemies insult you Lord. A foolish nation has dishonored your name. Don't let these wild beasts destroy your turtledoves.
Don't forget your suffering people forever. Remember your covenant promises for the land is full of darkness and violence. Don't let the downtrodden be humiliated again. Instead, let the poor and needy praise your name. Arise, oh God, and defend your cause.
Remember how these fools insult you all day long. Don't overlook what your enemies have said or their growing uproar. As we reflect on this Psalm today, it's so clear that there is a community in lament in this Psalm. And it really, harkens to I think what we experience a lot of the times. As a culture, we're oftentimes lamenting how we're hurt.
And I think as believers we're wondering, God, when are you going to step in? When are you gonna come through? When are you going to make right what seems so wrong and why do you let it go on and on seemingly forever? But I think the Psalmist does a great job at the end sort of pleading to God, which is something that we are capable of doing and that God is not dishonored by. We can plead to him in moments where we're wondering why bad things are happening or where questions of why are bad things happening to good people.
Questions like that we can ask God and plead with him to arise, to come, to defend his cause as the Psalmist does. So would you pray with me? Lord, if there are people hurting, whether it's individuals or families or communities, God, would you intervene? We pray and we plead with you today that just as the Psalmist wrote, we acknowledge your power, we acknowledge what you're capable of, we acknowledge your might, though you don't always exercise it in ways that we expect or that we would choose to time in the ways that you do. But God, would you come through?
We believe that you can. We believe that you really will, Lord. Would you come through? Would you arise? And we pray this now with expectant hope.
Amen.