I’ve been meaning to post this Psalm for some days now. Like Psalm 73–both of them are by Asaph–No. 74 seems to go right to the heart of today’s concerns and tribulations.
In Psalm 73, Asaph expresses his frustration at seeing how the wicked prosper in this world, but then reminds himself, sternly, that all that wealth and power counts for nothing with God.
Here, in No.74, Asaph can’t help wondering why God seems to be doing nothing while wicked people blaspheme His name and vandalize His Church. And who of us has never asked about that? “Arise, O God, and plead thine own cause!” cries Asaph. Lord, why do you tolerate this stuff? How long is it to go on?
You can’t live in this fallen world and never say or think those words. Especially now.
Does the Bible not assure us that God is, by our standards, astonishingly patient and long-suffering? And it’s a good thing He is, or we’d have all been wiped out long ago. God is not willing for anyone to perish, says St. Peter, but rather that all should come to repentance. And Ezekiel teaches the same.
God understands our spiritual anguish. That’s why Asaph’s psalms are in the Bible.