Rejoicing In God’s Sovereign Judgment
Psalms 75
June 21, 2020
Tonight we come to the 75th Psalm.
It is another Psalm of Asaph.
Most people I read and listen to as I study agree that
Psalms 75 is directly linked to Psalms 74.
In fact, they see Psalms 75 as the answer to Psalms 74.
So allow me just a quick recap of the Psalm we studied last Sunday night
So that its truth is readily on our brain.
We called it “Faith Beyond Circumstances”
Because we looked at how Asaph (similar to Habakkuk)
Determined to trust God in the midst of a bad situation
When there were many circumstances he clearly didn’t understand.
The context was the Babylonian invasion & the destruction of the temple.
And as those events unfolded, there were several things
That Asaph couldn’t reconcile in his mind.
1) The Perceived Rejection of God (1-2)
2) The Apparent Victory of God’s Enemies (3-8)
• Invaded the Temple (3)
• Mocked God there (4a)
• Hung Pagan Banners (4b)
• Destroyed the Altars (5-6)
• Burned the Temple (7)
• Totally dominated the people (8)
3) The Silence of God’s Prophets (9)
4) The Absent Response of God (10-11)
Asaph had no answers for such circumstances.
• If you approached him and asked him what was going on, he would only be able to shrug his shoulders.
• He could not explain how these pagans could enter God’s temple, desecrate it, and then burn it to the ground.
The beauty of the Psalm was that despite the negative circumstances
Asaph chose to trust God anyway.
He declared (12) “Yet God is my king from of old”
And then Asaph began to recount other difficult circumstances in which God delivered.
• Events like the slavery in Egypt
• Events like the trap at the Red Sea
• Events like the lack of water in the wilderness
• Events like the crossing into the Promised Land
All of those events seemed hopeless too, but God intervened.
And he ended his Psalm with some requests.
He didn’t ask for an explanation, but he did have some requests.
• Remember the Enemy (18)
• Remember Your Beloved (19)
• Remember Your Covenant (20-21)
• Remember Your Glory (22-23)
All in all, it was an inspiring song and one that the church could sing
Every time we face circumstances that we do not understand.
But the reality was that the Psalm ended in faith, but not in sight.
• There was no resolution given by God.
• There was no answer given.
• There was no explanation made.
The song just ended with that great expression of faith
And a cry for God to remember.
But that is what makes Psalms 75 so joyful!
Psalms 75 is the answer.
The real heart of the Psalm is that in verses 2-5 God actually speaks!
Now, I do think it is important to clarify.
I’m not sure that we are getting new revelation here,
• As if to say that God spoke from the Heavens to Asaph in regard to His prayer.
Verse 1 seems to indicate that someone declared God’s wondrous works.
• It reads more like Asaph heard a sermon.
And therefore what we have going on in Psalms 75
Is much like what we learned from Asaph in Psalms 73.
Remember in Psalms 73 he was perplexed about the prosperity of the wicked.
He couldn’t understand why they could have it so good.
But we read:
Psalms 73:16-17 “When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end.”
And we didn’t apply anything mystical to that.
We just read what he said.
He went to church.
• He heard God’s word proclaimed and it set his thinking straight.
• He was reminded that this is not the end, but that it is in the end when God
makes all things right.
• And that message or word that Asaph heard completely changed his entire
outlook and demeanor.
He immediately stopped envying the wicked
And started rejoicing in the fact that he had God.
That is exactly what happens here as well.
• In Psalms 74 Asaph is perplexed. (He’s not contemplating defection as he was in Psalms 73, but he is still confused)
• He declares faith in God.
• He cries out to God in that faith, but still he has no answer.
And yet, now it would appear that God has once again opened his eyes.
Asaph has once again heard a message from the word of God
And it has redirected his mind and changed his demeanor.
Only in Psalms 75 Asaph actually gives us an excerpt of the message
And he builds this entire Psalm around it.
IT IS A TREASURE!
Now, before we dive into it, there is one more thing we need to see.
The subheading reads “For the choir director; set to Al-tasheth. A Psalm of Asaph, a Song.”
I don’t know if you recognize that heading, but you should.
“Al-tasheth” was also the setting of Psalms 57, 58, and 59.
It means “destroy not”
And I hope you remember the basis of those Psalms.
• By identifying the Psalms as “destroy not” Psalms the immediate assumption is that they are songs pleading for mercy, but they are not.
• In fact, all 4 of these Psalm are actually Psalms that cry out for severe judgment and rejoice in that judgment.
• And we pointed out that the theme “destroy not” was not a point directed at God as if we are asking God not to destroy. Rather, it was a theme directed at us reminding us that we never take our own revenge because God is the One who will avenge us.
Asaph here clearly adopts that theme
As a point of emphasis for this Psalm as well.
In similar fashion he is reminding his readers
To never take their own revenge
But to also leave room for the wrath of God.
• Even in regard to these “blood-thirsty Chaldeans” who invaded the temple, blasphemed God, and slaughtered their children.
• Asaph here relates the message he has heard and thus encourages the people to worship God for His just judgments.
Let’s work our way through this Psalm tonight.
4 points
#1 THE ANSWER RECEIVED
Psalms 75:1
The actual answer itself is not revealed to us until verse 2.
What we have at the beginning of the Psalm is a word of gratitude to God
That He would be willing to relate an answer to us.
If you will remember,
• One of the real points of grief for Asaph in the midst of these negative times
was that he was getting no response from God.
Psalms 74:9-11 “We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet, Nor is there any among us who knows how long. How long, O God, will the adversary revile, And the enemy spurn Your name forever? Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? From within Your bosom, destroy them!”
Asaph was grieved that all of this had happened and God had been silent.
Well now God has broken His silence and Asaph is grateful.
“We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks,”
And we remember again that revelation is strictly a one-sided reality.
• We have no capacity in ourselves to go and find God in order to know Him.
• We are mortal, He is eternal.
• He dwells outside of time and space, beyond our realm.
• If we are to know anything of Him it is only because He has graciously chosen to allow us to know.
Job reminded us that while men can dig deep into the earth to find diamonds or gold or other precious jewels, there is no place a man can go to find wisdom.
Job 28:12-23 “But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? “Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living. “The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ “Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price. “It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire. “Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold. “Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls. “The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold. “Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? “Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living And concealed from the birds of the sky. “Abaddon and Death say, ‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’ “God understands its way, And He knows its place.”
This is partly the frustration of our world.
They keep up this search for wisdom and revelation.
• Some have sought it outwardly through exploration and even space and such.
• Some have sought it inwardly through meditation and contemplation.
• Some have sought it experientially through drugs and substances.
• Some have sought it spiritually through religious ritual and requirement.
But the truth of the matter is, it only comes from God.
Revelation is purely His prerogative.
If He doesn’t choose to reveal, you and I can never know.
And that is why it is so fitting that when God does answer Asaph,
Asaph begins with a word of gratitude.
He DOESN’T say, “It’s about time!”
He says, “We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks,”
And he even gets specific.
“For Your name is near; Men declare Your wondrous works.”
When we speak of God’s “name”
We are referring to His person and the revelation of who He is.
Throughout Scripture we read of the names of God which give us insight into who He is.
• Jehovah Jireh “The LORD Provides”
• Jehovah Rohi “The LORD is my shepherd”
• Jehovah Tsidkenu “The LORD is my righteousness”
• Etc.
Asaph here is grateful for God allowing His name (His person)
To be brought “near” or to be revealed.
God has revealed Himself to Asaph.
How?
“Men declare Your wondrous works.”
• Asaph heard preaching about the truth of who God is.
• And as Asaph heard God spoken about, he learned more of who God is, and Asaph rejoiced.
Another translation renders the verse:
“Thy name is brought very near to us in the story of Thy wonderful deeds.”
God, men have declared to us Your “wondrous works”
And thus You have revealed Yourself yet again,
And for that we “give thanks”.
When God does this for you…
Even as simple as allowing you to understand His word – THANK HIM!
The Answer Received (for which he is grateful)
#2 THE ANSWER REVEALED
Psalms 75:2-5
• Here is the excerpt of the sermon.
• Here is the revelation from God.
• Here is the truth, that perhaps Asaph had forgotten, but now has been reiterated to him.
(2-5) “When I select an appointed time, It is I who judge with equity. “The earth and all who dwell in it melt; It is I who have firmly set its pillars. Selah. “I said to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ And to the wicked, ‘ Do not lift up the horn; Do not lift up your horn on high, Do not speak with insolent pride.'”
Remember that Asaph ended Psalms 74 with some SPECIFIC REQUESTS.
That God would:
• Remember His Enemies
• Remember His Beloved
• Remember His Covenant
• Remember His Glory
Asaph wanted God to right a wrong situation.
Asaph wanted God to exercise justice on the earth.
Here is God’s answer.
1) HE SPEAKS OF HIS ULTIMATE SOVEREIGNTY (2)
“When I select an appointed time, It is I who judge with equity.”
So what is God’s first answer to Asaph?
I am sovereign over the timing of judgment.
Asaph wanted justice, God said, “In My time, not yours”
The timing of judgment has always been God’s prerogative.
We even remember way back to the days of Abraham,
• When God was making promises regarding the giving of the land to Abraham’s
descendants.
Genesis 15:13-16 “God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
• God had every intention of giving Israel the land.
• God had every intention of judging Egypt.
• God had every intention of destroying the Canaanites.
But in His timing, not ours.
He alone knew what He was doing.
And certainly this is STILL TRUE regarding the timing of God’s judgment.
Jesus Himself said:
Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”
• God knows the day.
• God determines the day.
• And it is His prerogative alone.
Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
And God reminds Asaph of this here.
You want justice, you want judgment.
The timing for that justice is Mine alone.
And yet, God promises that He will do it.
“It is I who judge with equity.”
• The timing is God’s, so is the judgment.
• He alone determines when, He alone determines how.
And God’s judgment is A JUST JUDGMENT.
He judges “with equity”
It is the Hebrew word MEYSHAR
And it means “level or smooth or even or right”
There are no crooked scales with God’s judgment.
There are no broken levels when God judges.
Romans 2:6-11 “[God] WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”
And this is the first thing God taught Asaph.
I do judge, and I do judge rightly, but I judge in My time, not yours.
2) HE SPEAKS OF HIS UNENDING SUSTENANCE (3)
“The earth and all who dwell in it melt; It is I who have firmly set its pillars. Selah”
Think again to the concern of Asaph.
There was destruction everywhere.
• It must have felt very close to the end.
• It must have felt like life couldn’t continue much longer.
We see this type of panicking even in our world today.
• For years we’ve dealt with the environmentalist groups who assure us that the world cannot sustain, but that global warming and other ecological disasters will kill us all.
• Some are convinced that a plague like COVID-19 will spread and kill us all.
• Some see the civil unrest of riots and protests or of ANTIFA or some other militant group and they see the end.
Asaph must have certainly wondered if he was near the end.
And yet God reminds him that the earth nor its inhabitants
Have ever determined its longevity.
If the duration of life was up to humanity we’d been in a horrible condition because “The earth and all who dwell in it melt” (or totter).
• There is no strength or ability to sustain this earth.
But God is the sustainer.
“It is I who have firmly set its pillars. Selah”
• The earth survives…
• Humanity survives…
• Because God causes it to survive.
God even promised Noah after the flood.
Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.”
Furthermore God used the certainty of the faithfulness of creation as a sign of His commitment to His people.
Jeremiah 31:35-36 “Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.”
GOD SUSTAINS THE EARTH.
And when the earth does implode or is destroyed,
It will be because He destroys it.
2 Peter 3:7 “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”
This world is not going to fall because of global warming
Or over population or COVID-19 or any other man-made dilemma.
God has determined the day of the destruction of the world
And He is reserving the world for that day.
And God reminds Asaph of that here.
• I will judge with justice.
• I will judge in My time.
• I will preserve the world until the time for that judgment.
3) HE SPEAKS OF HIS UNYIELDING STANDARD (4-5)
(4-5) “I said to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ And to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn; Do not lift up your horn on high, Do not speak with insolent pride.'”
Here God reminds exactly who will receive the force of His wrath.
It is the boastful, it is the wicked, it is the arrogant and proud.
THOSE WHO HAVE THE AUDACITY
To defy God and break His Laws and exalt themselves.
GOD WILL JUDGE THOSE PEOPLE.
James 4:6 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
We remember that story about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
Luke 18:14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
And certainly we remember the Beatitudes of Jesus
• Where He reminded us that it was “the poor in spirit”
• And those “who mourn”
• And “the gentle”
• Who inherit the kingdom of heaven, not the proud.
But this was the answer God gave to Asaph.
This was what Asaph was so grateful for.
From where Asaph sat, it looked like the wicked had won,
God had been defeated, and the end had come.
Namely because the enemy had boasted
And God had not done anything about it.
God spoke to Asaph and said, not hardly.
I most certainly will judge them. I will judge them justly, and in My time.
That was God’s message to Asaph.
And now Asaph will take that message and relate it to the church.
#3 THE ANSWER RELATED
Psalms 75:6-8
• Here is where the “Al-Tasheth” comes into play.
• Here is where we see the “destroy not”
Asaph reminds the people.
“For not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert comes exaltation; but God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another.”
• We don’t have to defend ourselves…
• We don’t have to deliver ourselves.
• We don’t have to avenge ourselves…
GOD ALONE DOES THAT
He is the Judge and He will judge in His time.
Romans 12:17-21 “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
This is the very message Asaph is now preaching.
And just in a word of the events of our day.
• While no one thinks racism is a good thing.
• While certainly the church understands that in Christ Jesus “there is neither
Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female”
• While we condemn racism, racial inequality, and all forms of injustice against
anyone for any reason.
We also understand that any response or movement
That takes it upon itself to seek its own revenge is sinful.
There is no way to justify
• The Black Lives Matters movement
• Or the Looting or Vandalism
• Or even the protesting that seeks to resist the civil authority of the police
department. Things like this Autonomous Zone are sinful to the core.
There is no justification for them whatsoever,
And no Christian can be involved in such movements
And at the same time claim to be following the Scripture.
Christians “destroy not”
Christians “never take their own revenge”
ASAPH KNEW THAT HERE.
Even in captivity the Jews were NEVER CALLED to rise up
And win their freedom from the Babylonian government.
In fact, THEIR SPECIFIC COMMAND in captivity might surprise you.
Jeremiah 29:4-7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. ‘Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. ‘Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’”
Asaph is reiterating that very thing here again.
Leave room for the wrath of God.
“He puts down one and exalts another.”
AND HE WILL CERTAINLY DO IT
(8) “For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, and the wine foams; It is well mixed, and He pours out of this; Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.”
Asaph reminds the afflicted TO TRUST God
And that they CAN SURELY TRUST God.
He will most certainly judge the wicked.
And let me just show you the frustration that the Israelites had
Toward this Babylon and to the Edomites who helped them.
Psalms 137:7-9 “Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, “Raze it, raze it To its very foundation.” O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, How blessed will be the one who repays you With the recompense with which you have repaid us. How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones Against the rock.”
This children of Israel certainly wanted revenge.
Asaph wanted them to know that GOD WOULD BE THE ONE TO DO IT.
TURN TO: JEREMIAH 51:54-57
And this is also true for us.
• We trust that Judgment is God’s prerogative alone.
• And we trust that God will certainly do it.
Asaph speaks of God’s CUP OF WRATH
Which He will pour out and cause the wicked to drink.
Do you doubt this?
TURN TO: REVELATION 16
God does not need our help judging the wicked.
God has not allotted to us the judgment of the wicked.
God has given us the message of the word of reconciliation.
If there was ever any doubt as to OUR JOB IN THIS EARTH.
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
We are not in the revenge game, we are in the evangelism game.
We trust God for the judgment.
That is the message God gave to Asaph
And the one he relates to God’s people.
The Answer Received The Answer Revealed The Answer Related
#4 THE ANSWER REJOICED IN
Psalms 75:9-10
We saw Asaph’s demeanor in Psalms 74.
• He was confused and uncertain.
• He was walking in blind faith with the hope that God knew what He was doing.
My how God’s word has once again changed his perspective.
• He is now a man with a message.
• He is now a man on a mission.
“But as for me, I will declare it forever;”
Declare what?
What he learned about God.
• Namely that He is judge.
• That the timing of judgment is His.
• That He will judge with equity.
• That He will certainly do it.
Asaph is going to preach that message over and over.
And, he is going to rejoice in that message.
“I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.”
Have you ever considered that?
That the message of God’s judgment
Is both one to be declared and rejoiced in?
Asaph did.
And he closes with one final reality of rejoicing.
(10) “And all the horns of the wicked He will cut off, But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”
Asaph didn’t see that today,
But he knew he would see it and that was enough.
That is where our hope lies as well.
• That even in a day of confusion and injustice we trust who God is and what He
has promised to do.
• We don’t have to worry about overthrowing evil, God will do that.
• We simply overcome it by trusting God.
Now, there is ONE FINAL POINT to be made
And one that we always want to remember.
It’s very easy to read verses like verse 10
Where we read of “the wicked” and “the righteous”.
And it is very easy to read that and say,
“I’m the righteous” and my enemy is “the wicked.”
But again we must be reminded that
“there is none righteous, not even one.”
The only reason we can apply this verse favorably to our lives
Is because of the work of Christ on our behalf.
Consider this when you read verse 10.
“And all the horns of the wicked He will cut off.”
That is what God did to Christ because of us.
“But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”
That is what God does to us because of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
That means we certainly look forward to God’s righteous judgment,
But ONLY BECAUSE in Christ we have been declared righteous.
Otherwise we have nothing but fear and dread.
But as those who are in Christ, and dressed in His righteousness,
We can certainly rejoice in the coming judgment of God
Where He will vindicate us and deliver us from evil.