Walk Of Life – Day 22, October 2022 – Thoughts From The Book Of Psalms

Psalm 74 – Remember Your Sanctuary, O Lord

This psalm of Asaph is a plea and a prayer made in great sorrow due to the destruction of the sanctuary. This could have been written in memory of the destruction of the tabernacle in Shiloh or from the time when King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple during the siege or when Seleucid King, Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple. Although Asaph was a great singer and musician of David and Solomon’s era, it could be that this psalm was composed prophetically regarding the future.

Worldly Powers Have Tried to Destroy His Holy Sanctuary

• Asaph suffers as he sees that the temple lies in ruins because the enemies have destroyed every sacred thing with axe and hammer. They have defiled the temple by placing their signs and by offering unholy sacrifices. Asaph cries out as all the prophets have been killed and it seems that God has abandoned his people.
• This prophetic message is applicable even today as God’s people and his dwelling place is attacked all around the world, synagogues and churches alike. The attacks come in three different ways:
  Outward: Modern critics use ridicule and debating tricks while fanatics come and attack the sanctuary damaging the place of worship leading to heavy losses.
   Inward: Lack of humble and submissive attitude among believer’s lead to quarrels among the brethren resulting in ungodliness among God’s people.
  Innermost being: Disobedience, disregard for scriptural correction and lukewarmness gradually leads to the destruction of the inner being of a man which is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit of God. Just a tiny influence from the wrong friend is enough to destroy your good habits, social, spiritual and personal life.

That’s why be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong (1 Corinthians 16:3) and work out your salvation daily with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) to keep all evil attacks away from your life.

LORD is the King of the Old

Seeing the sanctuary lying desolate for a long period made Asaph feel that God has forgotten his people, so he urged God to lift up his mighty hand and destroy the enemy.

• Above all he acknowledged that Yahweh is the ultimate power on earth who has always worked on saving mankind from the attacks of the Devil. From the time sin separated them from God, He has been working out a way to be reconciled with their children.
• When his redeemed generation were subdued, He went to great extends to deliver them, sending plagues on Egypt, dividing the Red Sea, providing manna, quail and water in the desert and giving great victories so that they could posses the promised land. To express God’s power, the psalmist mentions about a mythical sea monster Leviathan, if it were to exist, God was completely capable of crushing its heads.

Today, even though the sanctuary is attacked in various ways, Lord Jesus Christ is patient as He does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.2 Peter 3:9

LORD defends His People

Asaph urges God to act not only out of compassion for His people, but also out of concern for His glory, to rebuke the foolish men who reproaches God and his people daily.

• Jews have been persecuted many times in history, yet surprisingly they prospered. A world census taken in 1836 indicated that there were three million Jews in the world. In spite of the persecution Jews faced in Russia, in 1936, the population of the Jews increased to sixteen million in a century. The only explanation for this growth is that the hand of God has been on this people and that He has blessed them.
• Christianity also has had a fair share of persecution which was at the peak during Roman rule. Various kings like King Nero, Decius and Diocletian and other rulers in different countries hunted and killed followers of Christ in the pursuit of wiping them out from the face of the earth. Now they are all dead and have become a foot note on the pages of history but the fame and glory of Lord Jesus Christ is spread over all the earth.

Therefore, do not loose heart, we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9, 18