PSALM Seventy Five

 

For the director of music. 

To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. 

A psalm of Asaph. 

A song.

1 

We praise you, God,

    we praise you, for your Name is near;

    people tell of your wonderful deeds.

2 

You say, ‘I choose the appointed time;

    it is I who judge with equity.

3 

When the earth and all its people quake,

    it is I who hold its pillars firm.

4 

To the arrogant I say, “Boast no more,”

    and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horns.

5 

Do not lift your horns against heaven;

    do not speak so defiantly.”’

6 

No one from the east or the west

    or from the desert can exalt themselves.

7 

It is God who judges:

    he brings one down, he exalts another.

8 

In the hand of the Lord is a cup

    full of foaming wine mixed with spices;

he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth

    drink it down to its very dregs.

9 

As for me, I will declare this for ever;

    I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,

10 

who says, ‘I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,

    but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.’

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 75: “wonderful” (v.1)

What does the Psalmist describe as “wonderful”? Not subjectively either, because he writes, “men tell of your wonderful deeds” (v.1). He is not commenting on the attributes of God, his kindness or mercy or holiness, but on his actions – his visible intervention in the world. “Deeds”, not just words. God in action.  

Things happening that defy any other rational explanation except the LORD’s “hand” (v.8). And when it is at such a providential “appointed time” (v.2), coincidence isn’t credible. Why should praise use flowery ‘airy-fairy’ language, with little substance, despite his “wonderful deeds”?

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PSALM 75

Read by Sir David Suchet

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