Finding Yourself in the Psalms

Psalm 74

A Psalm for Life’s Devastating Circumstances

OVERWHELMED with anguish.

The TIME: Babylonian capture of Jerusalem. 586 BC

– 30 month siege! Jeremiah 39:1-4

– Psalm 74:4-11

I. QUESTION: Is This Judgment or Trial?
A. For JUDAH: JUDGMENT. Eze 22:1-12
B. For JOB: Trial.
1. Job 1:8
2. 7 sons, 3 daughters
3. sheep, camels, oxen, donkeys
4. “greatest man among all the peoples of the east” (Job 1:3)
5. PLUS – physical suffering
C. Personal illus – the attack on 9/11
1. Had been studying Islam
2. Knowledgable of Biblical phophesy
3. GOD’s JUDGMENT has begun!
II. RESPONSE:
A. Remember God’s PLACE. Psalm 74:12
1. God is SOVEREIGN (74:12)
2. God is SAVIOR (74:13)
3. God is still on the throne
4. Asaph did not doubt God’s place.
5. “In all of this Job did not sin” Job 1:22; 2:10
6. God still has an eternal plan
7. NOTHING can interfere with His plan!
B. Remember God’s POWER. Psalm 74:13-15
1. The LORD delivered Israel through the SEA (power over NATURE)
2. The LORD delivered Israel from EGYPT (Leviathon) (power over

NATIONS)

3. The LORD provided Israel with WATER in the desert (power over

NEED)

4. The LORD has the POWER to deliver YOU! Remember what He has
done in the past.
C. Remember God’s PLAN in the world. Psalm 74:16-17
1. God is not TROUBLED by anything!
2. Psalm 139:12 “even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you."
D. Remember God’s PROMISES. Psalm 74:18-21
1. Kim: “I haven’t had to repeat one promise!”
2. Psalm 77:10-12
E. Remember God’s attention to your PRAYER. Psalm 74:22-23