Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Take Heart | The Writings | Psalm 74

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. In John chapter 16, Jesus tells his disciples, in this world, you will have trouble. And he wasn't wrong. Many of the disciples with whom he spoke faced imprisonment, beatings, and gruesome deaths in this world. And his words ring true for you too, don't they? You've faced trouble. There's no escaping it. We live in a fallen world. Things are not the way they were supposed to be. We are not living in the ways we were created to live.

Starting point is 00:00:43 We face evil, injustice, death, grief, sinful hearts day in and day out. Trouble feels like an understatement sometimes. The psalmist Asaph of Psalm 74 has found himself in the midst of trouble. In this Psalm, he's recounting the destruction of the temple. Most likely he's speaking of the time when the Babylonians came in and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. For context, the temple in Jerusalem wasn't just a church building like we think of today. It was the place where the Israelites were able to make sacrifices, complete ceremonies, and follow the laws that God set out for purification from sin,

Starting point is 00:01:24 so that they could be in right relationship with the Holy God. It was the heartbeat of the community, both religiously and socially. And most importantly, it's the place where God dwell among his people. His presence was in the Holy of Holies inside the temple. The creator of the universe was with his people in this temple. So the temple wasn't just a building. It was a symbol of God's presence with his people. It was where they came to draw near to him, to repent, to be washed clean of their sins so that they could be in relationship with their God. And so the destruction of the temple, and so the destruction of the temple was truly devastating, socially, emotionally, spiritually, physically, and the psalmist laments saying,

Starting point is 00:02:10 Oh God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture remember the nation you purchased long ago? The people of your inheritance whom you redeemed Mount Zion where you dwelt. Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins. All this destruction the enemy is brought on the sanctuary. So he cries out to God, to remember them, to turn to them, because in the destruction of the temple, it seems as though God has rejected them forever. And then he recounts the destruction of the temple. Your foes roared in the place where you met with us. They set up their standards as signs they behaved like men-wielding axes to cut through a thicket of trees. They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and

Starting point is 00:02:55 hatchets. They burned your sanctuary to the ground. They defiled the dwelling place of your name. They said in their hearts, we will crush them completely. They burned every place where God was worshipped in the land. Remember, his words are describing a physical destruction, but we know the depth of what is happening here. Their access to God is being stripped away. The place where they met with God is being desecrated, this holy dwelling place defiled, destroyed.

Starting point is 00:03:25 And yet, with such an awful occurrence, it still seems as though God is silent. verse nine we are given no signs from god no prophets are left and none of us know how long this will be how long will the enemy mock you god will the foe revile your name forever why do you hold back your hand your right hand take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them so god has sent no prophets to speak he sends no judgment it seems as though evil has won how long will this last forever have you ever been here surrounded by trouble, wondering if God is there? Will this last forever? Has God forsaken you? The psalmist is utterly devastated. He sees no signs of God's justice, his voice. And yet, in the next verse, he says this, but God is my king from long ago. He brings salvation on the earth. Now this verse, verse 12, is dead center

Starting point is 00:04:27 in the psalm, 11 verses before it, 11 verses after it. It is positioned as the central point, the theme, the defining verse for the entire Psalm. And so in the midst of silence, in the midst of devastation, the psalmist knows who His God is. We see this happening again and again in the Psalms, despite the trouble, despite the circumstances, despite the devastation, God's people, are implored to remember who their God is. God is king. He brings salvation on the earth. And for the next 11 verses, the psalmist appeals to who he knows God is. Versus 13 through 17 are full of allegorical references to God's rescue of his people from Egypt. He divided the sea, crushed Egypt. He is creator and ruler of all the earth. And he finishes,

Starting point is 00:05:22 appealing to God's nature, begging him to intercede, not because of the goodness of the people, not because they deserved it, but because God is good, and he has made a covenant with his people. Remember how the enemy has mocked you, Lord, how foolish people have reviled your name. Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts. Do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever. Have regard for your covenant, because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land. Do not let the oppressed retreat and disgrace. May the poor and needy praise your name. Rise up, O God, and defend your cause. Remember how fools mock you all day long. Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries, the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually. So the psalmist,

Starting point is 00:06:14 he clearly mourns his present trouble. He cries out to God, lays his fears and hurt at his feet, and then he grounds himself in who God is and what God has promised. It's a beautiful picture of his humanity and his faith. Remember in John when Jesus tells his disciples that they'll have trouble in this world? Well, you probably already guessed that that wasn't all that Jesus said. John 16 is a chapter full of Jesus hinting to the disciples that his life is coming to an end, but that in his death and resurrection, they can only be. ultimately find joy and hope. He tells of the coming Holy Spirit, where God's presence will not be

Starting point is 00:06:56 bound to an earthly dwelling place like the temple, but will be found in the lives of every faithful follower of Jesus. And he ends with the statement we read earlier. But in full, he says, I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world. You see, he tells them in part what we already know to be true. Through Jesus's life, death, and resurrection, he washed us clean of our sin once and for all. He made us righteous so that we could be in right relationship with God. In his resurrection, he defeated death and in doing so took away the final power of the devil. His resurrection paved the way for you and I to one day find life in our own resurrection of our bodies, to live alongside

Starting point is 00:07:50 King Jesus in his kingdom of love, justice, and peace. Until the day that we have final resurrection, we have the power and peace of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, guiding us, teaching us, convicting us, and keeping us faithful until that final day. Those are the promises that Jesus hinted at, and the ones we know that he ultimately fulfilled. And he did those things so that we may have peace in the midst of trouble. Why do we have peace? Is it because God is promised to take away the trouble? Is it because God has promised that the trouble won't last very long,

Starting point is 00:08:30 or that it won't hurt too bad, or that in this life we'll see our enemies face justice for the trouble they've caused? No. We find our peace in Jesus, in the work He'll come. accomplished. We take heart because Jesus has overcome the world. We take heart because we remember that our God is king and he has brought salvation to the earth through Jesus. The psalmist looked back to the salvation God brought to the Israelites trapped by slavery in Egypt. And we look back to the life of Jesus and the salvation he secured for us on the cross and through the empty tomb. You can find

Starting point is 00:09:11 peace in knowing that though you may face trouble in this life, you have a hope that is securely set on Jesus. You can find peace and confidence in the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life as it teaches you, refines you, convicts you, and holds you fast through trouble and plenty until the day that Jesus returns, until the day that Jesus establishes his kingdom here on earth and accomplishes the resurrection of the faithful so that you and I can live along side him, praising him, and bringing him glory for all of eternity. In the midst of trouble, no matter how dark, how devastating, how desolate it may look, take heart, you have not been forsaken. Jesus is king. He has overcome the world.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Take Heart | The Writings | Psalm 74

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