Day 167. Psalms 72-75

Psalm 72
The kings of Israel were never priests—remember that King Saul got in trouble with the prophet Samuel because, before a crucial battle and in the absence of a priest, he, a layman, presumed to offer a sacrifice. The offices of king and priest were not to be confused--but both were holy and ordained by the LORD. The king was anointed--set apart for a purpose--to be the embodiment of God's justice and faithfulness on earth. Some of the kings of Judah and a rare few in Israel took this role seriously. But the expectation that an anointed king—a Messiah--would establish justice and equity continued to be expressed by the congregation of worshippers in the temple long after there was no king of the house of David on the throne of Israel. This royal psalm--#72—asks that God's attributes be poured out upon the king. If the LORD is the protector of widows and orphans, the king should also "give deliverance to the needy and crush the oppressor"
(72:4). The psalm is dedicated to Solomon, and it reflects the splendors and accomplishments of his reign. (Verses 10-11 are part of our worship on the Feast of the Epiphany.) But all the kings of the house of David were expected to live up to the ideal of kindness and compassion the psalm describes—"from oppression and violence" he should redeem the weak and needy, and in his sight "their blood"—their lives—should be as "precious" as his own (14). (That is a wonderful description of Jesus Christ, by the way.) I went to a church the other day where prayers for the president of the United States were pointedly excluded—obviously for political reasons. In our profoundly divided and partisan age we need to be reminded that the people of God are called upon to pray for their rulers, whether they care much for them or not. Government is given to us by the grace of God, and it is an insult to the grace to belittle our rulers because in
incidental things we disagree with them. The welfare of the nation's citizens and its rulers are bound to each other by the God of history—these royal psalms remind us of that.
Psalm 73
This psalm is an instructional one intended to defend belief in God's justice in the face of confusing appearances. The psalmist sees the prosperity of the wicked and hardships of those who follow God's law, and he is tempted to wonder if he might be better off to abandon the LORD's family—those who worship in the temple-- and live as if God did not exist. Then, in the midst of his confusion he goes "into the sanctuary of God" (73:17). What exactly happens there is not disclosed, but afterwards his mind is changed and he realizes that he had been "stupid and ignorant" (22). And the one who had wavered in his faithfulness to the LORD realized that even in his doubts, the LORD's love toward him had remained rock solid. "Whom have I in heaven but you?" the psalmist asks God (25); the answer, though unspoken, is self-evident. And although he is weak and his "flesh" and his "heart" may fail, "God is the strength of [his] heart
and [his] portion forever" (26). It is "good" for him "to be near God," who is his refuge" (28)—indeed, it is life itself.
Psalm 74
Something traumatic has happened, not just to one individual in the community but to the entire congregation of worshippers. Perhaps it is the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.—indeed it could hardly be anything less. It seems as if in his anger God has forgotten his "congregation," and together they beg him to "remember Mount Zion" (74 :2). God is invited to come down and look at what has happened there, at "the perpetual ruins" and to see how "the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary" (3). This part of the psalm has all the earmarks of a firsthand witness to the events described. The temple worship has been disrupted. There is no prophet who can reveal how all this will end. When will God revenge this sacrilege to his house? How long will he "hold back" his hand? And yet the congregation, now bereft of a sanctuary in which to worship, still recalls the mighty works of God in creation, how he
subdued the chaos of "sea" and overcame "Leviathan," the sea monster, in order to make the world. The creation is recounted poetically—the creation of light (16), of the firmament and the seasons (17). In the midst of destruction and violence, the congregation of his faithful people, who have been shamed by defeat and reduced to poverty, find hope in the "covenant" (20), the agreement which God made with his people Israel to be its LORD. That covenant has never been broken by a faithful God, and now in the midst of chaos—the clamor of [God's] foes and the "uproar of [his] adversaries" (23)-- they pray for a new creation for the people of the promise.
Psalm 75
In the light of the previous psalm, this one provides an answer. God is indeed faithful. His "name" still dwells in his temple, and he speaks to assure his people that he still judges the nations "with equity" (75:2). He is still the source of the order and stability he established in creation—"When the earth totters, with all of its inhabitants, it is I who keep its pillars steady," the voice of the LORD says (3). The "cup with foaming wine, well mixed" (8) is a symbol of God's judgment—the wicked will "drain it to the dregs." Horns are symbols of power and strength—the horns of the wicked will be shorn off, the psalmist affirms, and the "horns of the righteous shall be exalted" (10). The God who executes judgment will finally and completely be vindicated in the vindication of his people.