A Good Girl
Psalm 74:1-11
Psalm 74 A maskil (Lesson) of Asaph.
1 O God, why have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember the nation you purchased long ago,
the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed—
Mount Zion, where you dwelt.
3 Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,
all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.
4 Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;
they set up their standards as signs.
5 They behaved like men wielding axes
to cut through a thicket of trees.
6 They smashed all the carved paneling
with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.
8 They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!”
They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.
9 We are given no signs from God;
no prophets are left,
and none of us knows how long this will be.
10 How long will the enemy mock you, God?
Will the foe revile your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!
In Psalm 73, Asaph was praising God, "Whom have I in heaven but you and earth has nothing I desire besides you.", as I did yesterday. However, here in Psalm 74, they are complaining with God holding back His hands, seeing His temple being destroyed, so they are asking Him to do something like retaliating the enemies.
Who is Asaph, and what is their identity? They are considered as prominent Levite singers and seers(prophets) in David's courts. There are some psalms(poems) in the bible and their names could be seen in the bible as well, but no one knows for sure. Anyway, I am focused on their attitude on God, the two totally different behaviors. In a word, praising and complaining.
Regardless of their identity, they show the weakness and foolishness of human beings themselves, as we never know the meaning of God and He is beyond our understanding. Yet, I guess that they deserve the difficulties because God had warned them many times through prophets, but they were not willingly listening to Him, disobeying and doing whatever they had wanted, like our disobeying children.
Father would have felt more painful than the children of Him, and how could He persevere seeing the worshiping place of Him and the place of meeting His own children, torn down and trampled down from the children of others. As I grow older and older, I feel like the emotion of my Father, and I am determined to be a better girl than ever, because I trust Him and I know for sure that He loves me.
