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Psalm 74

This is a prayer of mourning.  There's no promise of victory here, no expression of hope for restoration, no hint of mercy.  The psalmist petitions for these things, but there isn't any promise of an answer. It's entirely a song of mournful complaint and sorrow. 

It's very similar, in fact, to Jeremiah's Lamentations when he says, "The Lord has spurned His altar, He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has given up the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy.  They have made a noise in the house of the Lord as on the day of a set feast." (Lam. 2:7)  Both this psalm and Lamentations likely have as their backdrop the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple in 586 BC.  To believers at the time it must have looked as if God no longer loved His people.  There could be no darker time for the faithful.

But there are some instructive things for us here. We need to notice, first of all that the writer is facing reality. Anything short of absolute honesty would be foolishness.  It should be the same with us.  Our prayers should also be totally honest when we speak to God about hard things in our lives.

Secondly, we need to see that the thoughts expressed here aren't self centered – He wasn't concerned only for his own loss and sorrow, but he was also concerned for the reputation of the God to Whom he prays.  He makes that clear when he says, "Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, the tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed - this Mount Zion where You have dwelt."  He's saying, "These are YOUR things and YOUR people, Lord – don't utterly cast off what is YOURS!"  And in the same vein he says, "the enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.  Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place . . . they have set fire to Your sanctuary; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name to the ground."  And even more poignantly he says, "O God, how long will the adversary reproach?  Will the enemy blaspheme Your Name forever?"

Are our prayers thus filled with concern for God's Name?  When we reason with God, do we reason on the basis of what is His, what will glorify Him, what will bring praise to His Name - or are we solely concerned for our own pain, loss, and discontent?  In other words, simply put, do we truly love God, or are we just having a "pity party" for ourselves?  We need to be honest with our feelings but we must never forget His glory.

Thirdly, the psalmist draws from his memory of the wonders of God's working in the past.  He says, "For God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.  You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.  You . . . broke open the fountain and the flood . . . You dried up mighty rivers.  The day . . . night . . . are Yours."  Not only the psalmist, but we also should consider the wondrous things God has done, particularly what He has done in our own lives on many occasions.  We should say, "O God, oh powerful, creating, glorious God, You have helped me many times (name them) in the past, so help me now."

Finally, the psalmist prays specifically.  He tells God just what he wants.  He says, "Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old . . . Oh do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast!  Have respect to the covenant . . . do not let the oppressed return ashamed! Let the poor and needy praise Your Name."  In other words, simply put, don't "let us go down the tube!" 

So our prayers as well should spell out what we want.  Not that God doesn't know!  But He wants us to pray specifically so that we will be fully prepared for His answer.  We're best prepared when we fully express all our needs and wants.

This is an honest psalm, reflecting on a time of the deepest trouble and doubt in a life-or-death situation.  All of God's people have times like that, and all of God's people need to learn honesty like that found here.

sp?  "oursleves"  5th paragraph