Psalm 74 - 11/17/2024 Sunday PM Study

The Tabernacle Today

Psalm 74 Worksheet

The heading of Psalm 74 says that it is a “contemplation of Asaph.” Last time I made a big deal about how 12 Psalms are ascribed to Asaph. This does not necessarily mean he wrote them all – it could be that the “________________ of Asaph” wrote some of them just as the sons of Korah did. That would seem to fit the content of Psalm 74, which sure sounds like it is referring to the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in 586 BC.

Psalm 74 is a _________________________ lament over destruction suffered at the hands of enemies, and a prayer for God to do something about it.

Taking our “___________________” Questions to God V. 1-11

Taking our questions to God helps us process what has happened and sets the stage for trusting Him and “________________________” our situations to Him. Talking to God helps us go forward even when “why” is not answered.

Often when the psalmists ask God to remember they are also helping themselves remember God’s ______________________. By faith they know that God will respond to the humble and repentant pleas of His people.

Deuteronomy 30:1-10

Or if your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this Temple, then hear from Heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their Fathers. -2 Chronicles 6:24-25

It is good and proper to take time to lament the enemies destruction of what was built up for God’s ________________________.

These verses certainly fit with Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of the Temple in 586 B.C. The same thing happened again AD 70 under the Romans. Some of it relates to the desecration of the Temple in 167 B.C.

Verse 9 does make this Psalm a little harder to place in 586 B.C. – Many prophets were active before, during and after Jerusalem’s destruction. And Jeremiah was able to say the captivity would last 70 years (Jer. 29). Perhaps this does take us back to Asaph prophetically writing generically about future events. That would be a good _________________________ to Psalm 73 that told how much going to Temple helped give perspective. That would make these words helpful in not taking the Temple for granted.

No matter what circumstances we face we still ____________________ our God V. 12-17

In Revelation 4-5 we read of saints always praising God in Heaven for being the Creator and Redeemer – and we see that in these verses as well!

Leviathan is a reference to great and powerful sea monsters that can swallow people up. Here it is a reference to enemies of God. Even as God’s people face new Leviathan’s like Nebuchadnezzar and Antiochus Epiphanes, this Psalm reminds them of God taking care of past Leviathan’s like _____________.

Verses 16-17 are great reminder verses of the ____________________________ of God.

The Psalmist asks God to deal with the enemy V. 18-23

The Psalmist knew that God would ultimately judge those who _______________ God’s people.

For the day of the Lord upon all nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you. -Obadiah 1:15

Verse 20 is well worth meditating on – The dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty. But even there God can ____________________________, as He did in Nineveh after Jonah’s preaching.

The Psalm ends with the Psalmist pleading – “God, your _____________________ is at stake – judge your enemies and save Your people!”

Don’t miss that the Psalmist is not asking God to help him take vengeance on the enemy – He is asking God to act based on His own honor and glory. The Glory of God is the great ________________ of the Bible. God is glorified through the salvation of repentant sinners. But He will also be glorified through judging unrepentant sinners who act selfishly on earth.