Reflections on Psalms 75

 Psalms 75(Contemporary English Version)

1. (A psalm and a song by Asaph for the music leader. To the tune "Don't Destroy.") Our God, we thank you for being so near to us! Everyone celebrates your wonderful deeds.
   
2. You have set a time to judge with fairness.
   
3. The earth trembles, and its people shake; you alone keep its foundations firm.
   
4. You tell every bragger, "Stop bragging!" And to the wicked you say, "Don't boast of your power!
   
5. Stop bragging! Quit telling me how great you are."
   
6. Our LORD and our God, victory doesn't come from the east or the west or from the desert.
   
7. You are the one who judges. You can take away power and give it to others.
   
8. You hold in your hand a cup filled with wine, strong and foaming. You will pour out some for every sinful person on this earth, and they will have to drink until it is gone.
   
9. But I will always tell about you, the God of Jacob, and I will sing your praise.
   
10. Our Lord, you will destroy the power of evil people, but you will give strength to those who are good.

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Life cannot be seen in its proper perspective without viewing it from the perspective of eternity. After all, this is the perspective with which it is intended by the One who made time. God, the Creator, controls history and nothing happens that He has not allowed as, in His great wisdom, He permits mankind the freedom to choose. But as the psalmist points out in this psalm, there is a time in which there is an accounting for those choices.

Asaph, the psalmist, warns the wicked that God will choose a time in which He will judge, and His judgment will be fair. Therefore, the wicked should not boast of his strength or lift up his horn in arrogance as if he is in control. For God, and not he, is the judge, and when He judges it will be apparent who is in control. For it is God who "brings down one and exalts another," and any power the wicked possesses has been granted by God whether he acknowledges Him or not.

Any who reject the existence of God are like the ostrich that hides its head in the sand. If the ostrich can't see it, to him it doesn't exist. So it is with the atheist. He thinks that if he doesn't acknowledge the existence of God, God doesn't exist. But a time will come when the atheist, or anyone else, cannot ignore God's existence, "For there is a cup in the LORD's hand, full of wine blended with spices, and He pours from it. All the wicked of the earth will drink, draining it to the dregs." (75:8)

But as for the psalmist, he says, "I will sing praise to the God of Jacob." It is the God of Jacob who will, "cut off all the horns of the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up." (75:10)