GIVING THANKS - PSALM 75

 

PSALM 75

The last two psalms showed the psalmist wrestling with theological questions, such as why the wicked prosper, as well as dealing with personal oppression and struggle. Both psalms come to expressions of faith after the struggle.

Psalm 75, in contrast, is a psalm of unmitigated thanksgiving and praise to God for his presence and his mighty acts. This is a song and may have been sung liturgically by the congregation.

75:1

Thanksgiving

The psalm begins with thanks to God for his presence with Israel as shown by his mighty deeds. To say “your name” is near is to say God is near to them, he is present among them. 

God’s presence certainly dwelled with Israel in the Tabernacle and Temple, but here the emphasis is on God’s presence in upholding Israel, such as in the Exodus or in protecting Israel from defeat at the hands of its enemies. The psalmist here says they recount God’s wondrous deeds. 

“Recount” means to give an account of. So God’s people give an account of the things God has done and recognize that his presence was with them at those times. 

We should do this in our day as well. Individually, we can recount what God has done for us. As a congregation, we can do the same, either in public prayer, testimony, or song. 

For example, we may sing the hymn “I Will Sing The Wondrous Story”, which recounts the death of Christ for us and his saving us. The first stanza says:

I will sing the wondrous story

Of the Christ who died for me.

How He left His home in glory

For the cross of Calvary.

I was lost, but Jesus found me,

Found the sheep that went astray,

Threw His loving arms around me,

Drew me back into His way. 

In contrast, a lack of thankfulness is unpleasing to God. Romans 1:21 includes the failure to give thanks as a characteristic of those who are unrighteous and futile in their thinking.

75:2—5

The “Oracle\the Words of God

In these verses, God speaks about judgment. The first thing he says is that  he and he alone will set the time for judgment. He will judge, but he will do it when he determines. How he will determine it, this text does not say. But, we get some ideas from other texts. 

First, Jesus told us that no one knows the time of his return, when judgment will occur, except God the Father. (Matthew 24:36) So, there is no point in trying to calculate a date. Conversely, there is no point in believing it will not happen, because it could happen at any time. 

Another text is Genesis 15, where God promises the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants, but they will not get there until the fourth generation that is in Egypt. The reason is that the sin of the Amorites is not yet full. (Generation 15:16) This shows us the Israelite conquest of Canaan was not only a deliverance of the Israelites, but a judgment on those who lived there, the Amorites. God often accomplishes more than one thing when he does something. Here he is granting mercy to the Amorites while he prepares Israel to take over the land. Similarly, the delay in the final judgment now is an act of mercy toward those who have not yet believed. 

Finally, there is 2 Peter 3, where Peter confronts those who scoff at the idea of judgment since the world has existed a long time and judgment has not come. Peter first reminded them that God has actually judged the world before and destroyed it with the Great Flood. God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. (Genesis 6:5) And so he determined to “blot out” all living things except Noah and his family and the animals Noah preserved at God’s instruction. Peter was saying this shows God judged before and he will judge again. 

Peter also reminded us that God’s time is not our time. He is eternal and also sees the whole picture of existence. So, one of his days, figuratively speaking, might as well be a thousand years, and vice versa. He is not bound by time as we are (By the way, this is not to give us a figure for calculating the end of time and the judgment.)

Not only will God judge in his own time, he will judge “with equity” (ESV or NASB) or “uprightly” (NIV). He will both condemn his enemies and vindicate the godly. 

In the meantime, while we wait for Christ’s return and our vindication, God remains sovereign and in control. When the earth’s peoples wobble, unbalanced by evil, God protects it for coming completely apart. He keeps the pillars steady. It is the picture of a building tottering in an earthquake, but God keeping the building’s pillars from falling apart. 

In verses 4 and 5, God spoke directly to the evil people, telling them not to be arrogant. Speaking with a “haughty neck” (ESV) or “outstretched neck (NIV) is to speak with insolence, being disrespectful to God. The “horn” is a symbol of power in the old testament. So, God is telling them not to exalt their power against God (“on high”). 

 

 Prophecy of Judgment

75:6-8

The reason the wicked and arrogant should not disrespect God it that only he lifts one up and puts another one down. He is the only one who will execute judgment. And he will judge the wicked. The cup of foaming wine in verse 8 is a metaphor for God’s wrath, which he will pour out on the wicked until it is completely exhausted. 

Revelation 15-16 shows us this truth in a picture. There are seven angels with seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God. The number seven is symbolic for completeness, so the full wrath of God is poured out, resulting in the calamities described in Revelation 16. None of the wicked can escape God’s wrath.

A Final Praise

75:9-10

The psalmist ends the psalm with a praise to God, a doxology. He will forever declare that God is the one who will judge the wicked and vindicate the righteous (those who believe in Jesus). He reaffirmed that the power of the wicked (“horns”) will be put down, but the righteous will be lifted up, or vindicated.

Takeaways

We believe that Christ will return, he will raise all believers to be with him for eternity. He will raise those who reject Christ to judgment. Sometimes God brings judgment upon the wicked during their lifetime. We have certainly seen some rich, powerful, and famous people called to account and their lives destroyed for their wickedness. But, even if they are not brought to account in this life, they will face God’s judgment and wrath in the next. 

We must faithfully and patiently wait for Christ’s return and the vindication of our faith in him.

We must also realize that those around us who have not come to Christ face judgment, and we should pray and witness with the goal of their salvation.