... in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen. Through the prayers of our
holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things,
Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us
from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy
Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the
beginning, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Psalm 74:1-23[1]
Maschil of Asaph.
O God, why have You cast [us] off forever? Does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your
pasture? Remember Your congregation, You
have purchased of old; The rod of Your inheritance, You have redeemed; This
mount Zion, where You have dwelled. Lift
up Your feet to the perpetual desolations, all [that] the enemy has done wickedly in the sanctuary. Your enemies roar in the center of Your
congregations. They set up their ensigns
[for] signs.
[A
man] was famous according as he had lifted up axes on the thick trees. But now they break down the carved work of it
at once with axes and hammers. They have
cast fire in Your sanctuary. They have
defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground. They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy
them together.” They have burned up all
the synagogues of God in the land.
We see not our signs. [There
is] no more any prophet.[2] Nor [is
there] among us any that knows how long.
O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme Your name forever? Why withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Pluck [it]
from Your bosom: for God [is] my King
of old, working salvation in the heart of the earth. You divided the sea by Your strength. You break the heads of the dragons in the
waters. You broke the heads of leviathan
in pieces, [and gave] him [to be] meat to the people inhabiting the
wilderness. You split the fountain and
the flood. You dried up mighty rivers. The day [is]
Yours. The night also [is] Yours. You have prepared the light and the sun. You have set all the borders of the earth. You have made summer and winter.
Remember this: The enemy has reproached, Lord. The foolish people have
blasphemed Your name. Deliver not the
soul of Your turtledove to the mob. Forget
not the congregation of Your poor forever.
Have respect to the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full
of the habitations of cruelty. Let not
the oppressed return ashamed. Let the
poor and needy praise Your name. Arise,
O God, Plead Your own cause. Remember
how the foolish man reproaches You daily.
Forget not the voice of Your enemies. The tumult of those who rise up against You increases
continually.[3]
[1]
There are indications in this Psalm which show that Asaph lived and wrote after
586 BC. He appears to be among the
survivors left in Jerusalem after the Babylonians have sacked the Temple. Asaph mourns what “the enemy has done
wickedly in the sanctuary.” Ezekiel
assures us that God has abandoned Israel-Judah by this time, and Asaph pleads,
“Why have You cast [us] off forever? ... Remember Your congregation, You have
purchased of old....” Asaph complains
that Babylonian ensigns (flags or other triumphal markers) were even set up
over the ashes of God’s Temple ruins.
Then Asaph reminisces that the skill of axe-men in felling timber
and carving the beautiful wood work of the Temple used to be what destined men
for fame. He mentions that such beauty
was replicated in the Synagogues, which were also in existence already, at that
time. But now that which took years to
lovingly build, was now destroyed with fire in minutes. God’s name was thrown in the dirt.
In contrast, the ensigns of the people of God are gone. Since God’s Glory has departed, there are no
prophets: Israel-Judah is left in darkness.
“Withdraw your hand,” is a reference to the second miracle God worked
through Moses: where Moses’ hand turned leprous, then clean again, as he pulled
it from his bosom: it is a cry for God to swing into action, to unleash the
plagues against the wicked. Asaph has
nothing else left on which to cling, except for his memories; in his despair he
recounts God’s great redemption and power in the Exodus and in Creation.
Asaph concludes with a glimpse of the future. He sees Jesus dimly in, “Deliver not the soul
of Your turtledove to the mob.”
Accordingly, he prays with fearful confidence for the poor, the
covenant, the oppressed, and the needy: he prays that God would “Plead [His]
own cause.” We know that God does
exactly this. Christ is risen from the
dead. The day of Pentecost has
come. Let all the earth keep silence before
Him.
[2]
The kingdoms of Israel-Judah were built on prophecy, more than anything
else. The tiny nations were led out of
Egypt by Yahweh, established before the Law at Sinai, brought into the land,
and protected there by the prophetic conversation that God maintained with
Moses and the prophets who followed Moses.
In Eli’s days, the word from God was rare. Now, that prophetic word from God is
completely gone. This is nothing less
than national disaster, catastrophe.
Because contact with heaven is lost, this must be viewed as a cosmic
event: for the communication of Yahweh with Israel-Judah is the saving lifeline
for the whole Universe.
[3] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations,
please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish. No rights are reserved. They are designed and intended for your free
participation. They were freely
received, and are freely given. No other
permission is required for their use.
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