Psalm 75
Let’s hear God’s word together.
This is a Psalm of Asaph. We give thanks to you, O God.
We give thanks for your name is near. We recount your wondrous
deeds. At the time set that I appoint,
I will judge with equity. When the earth totters and all
its inhabitants, it is I who keep it steady. I keep steady
its pillars. I say to the boastful, do not
boast. And to the wicked, do not lift
up your horn. Do not lift up your horn on high
or speak with haughty neck. For not from the East or from
the West and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God
who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.
For in the hand of the Lord, there is a cup. with foaming
wine well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked
of the earth shall drain it down to its dregs, but I will declare
it forever. I will sing praises to the God
of Jacob. All the horns of the wicked I
will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted
up. Now, before we dive into this
psalm, this is a psalm that’s helpful to know who the speakers
are. Maybe some of you go to a play
or a musical and you have to jab the person next to you and
say, now, who is that? Now, who is that? And who is
that? Well, it’s helpful to know from the outset. So verse one,
you have an individual speaking. Verses two through five, you
have God speaking. and then verses six through eight,
you have a priest speaking, and then verses nine and 10, you
have another individual. And you’ll notice the pronouns,
verse one is we, and then God, of course, speaks from the I
perspective, and then you have the priest speaking, and then
at the end, nine and 10, you have a I again. Might be a different
person than in verse one, but anyway, there’s a couple different
speakers here, so that’s good to know. If you ask most people
on the street, they will say that we live in a closed universe. They’ll say that we live in a
closed universe that really came about from some banging and booming.
And that big bang or that big boom took place some point millions
or billions of years ago, and that from nothing came something. And then over time that something
that came from nothing evolved into what we have today. So if
you make a little summer trip to the zoo, you’ll read those
kinds of things on some of the placards and display boards. You’ll turn on PBS and you’ll
hear that very often in the description of animals and the ways of the
earth and all. Most people believe that we live
in a closed universe that got here on its own and it carries
on on its own. But if you go to the Bible and
you read the Bible’s worldview, and I’m not talking about our
sophisticated, what is it, 2018 worldview, our sophisticated
2018 worldview where we know the Bible and we know a whole
lot of science and we’ve meshed it together. I’m talking very
simply about the ancient Near Eastern worldview. Remember when
Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, he wrote the Pentateuch,
he wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. He wrote it in about
maybe the year 1400 before Christ, after the Exodus, during the
wilderness, and of course before they settled in the Promised
Land because he died. after only seeing the promised land from
afar. But about 1400 years before Christ, the five books of Moses,
the first five books of the Bible give us that ancient Near Eastern
worldview. And how do those five books of
Moses begin? In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. And so we know from the get go,
from our basic ancient Near Eastern Hebrew worldview, that there
was at one point nothing. But God, who always had been
and always will be, made the world and everything in it. And
you see throughout the rest of the Bible that not only did God
make the world and everything in it, but He upholds the world
and everything in it by His wonderful works of providence. And so we believe like ancient
Israel, but with maybe some more sophisticated views because we
know science and astronomy and all kinds of other observations
over the last centuries. We believe that against all other
gods, that Yahweh is the great God of the universe. He made
the world and everything in it, and he takes care of it. So if
you look at verse one, verse one, the psalmist, begins by
saying, we give thanks to you, oh God. We give thanks for your
name is near, and we recount your wondrous deeds. You have
to ask the question, what does it mean that your name is near?
And there are all sorts of options. But the best understanding of
this is that we are not alone in this world. God made the world
and everything in it, and he upholds the world and everything
in it. He is moment by moment involved in this world that he
made. In our theology, we call that
providence. Some of you know the question and answer to the
catechism. God’s works of providence are
his most holy, wise, and powerful, preserving and governing all
his creatures and all their actions. And so we study the stars and
the galaxies. We walk around our little yards,
our little quarter acre of American dream. We can see the science
in it. We can go to the ocean and see
the fish. We can look in the skies and see the birds. We can
study ecosystems and we see how God not only made the earth,
he formed it, but he also filled it. And in the way he designed
it, it can continue on its own. I was having a little discussion
with someone recently. about space travel. It was about
space travel. And we were talking about why
would you want to go to another planet? I would feel really claustrophobic
personally. Why would you want to go live
in a space station? And if you watch some of these television
shows, they say, well, when the earth runs out, we’re going to
have to have another place to live. I said, well, yeah, if
you believe the Bible, that’s the new heavens and the new earth.
Yes, maybe this one will wear out. Yes, we’ll destroy it. But
as a Christian, you have a worldview that this is not a closed system. This is not a closed system where
no one is involved. And so that’s the worldview that
is affirmed in this psalm. We find that in verse one. But
here’s the question for you. What does this truth, what does
this worldview give to the psalmist? What’s the point? What’s the
word of comfort in Psalm 75? Well, it’s this. God reigns over
all. God reigns over all. This is not a closed universe.
God, if he did make it in some people’s worldviews, didn’t put
the earth on a finger and spin it like maybe the Harlem Globetrotters
might with a basketball and then thrust it into the air and it’s
still spinning because of the great force with which he thrust
it. No, what’s that little song we sing? He’s got the whole world
in his hands. We believe that. It is a truth
of the Bible. So God reigns over all. This
is not a closed universe. And this really relates to life
in a world with enemies. Enemies, in this case, against
God’s nation, Israel, or his people. And today in our theology,
as Christ has come and we don’t live in a theocratic world any
longer, it’s the enemies of God’s church. And so there’s three
speakers we’ll look at. We looked at verse one, so we’ll
pass that one. Let’s look at God speaking in verses two through
five. God says in verse two, at the
set time, I will appoint, I will judge with equity. When the earth
totters and all its inhabitants, it is I who keeps steady its
pillars. This first time that God’s speaking,
he is speaking to the upright. In a moment, he’ll speak to the
arrogant, but he’s speaking to the upright. He’s speaking to
the Christian. He’s speaking to the one of faith. And he’s
saying to us at the appointed time, I will judge. You know,
there’s a passage in the book of Revelation, I think it’s in
chapter eight, where the souls of those who have been persecuted
and put to death for the cause of Christ, they’re under the
altar and under the altar they are crying out, Oh Lord God,
when will you come and judge and avenge our deaths? Sometimes
we watch the news cycle of the week and we say, Oh Lord God,
how much longer can we bear up under this wickedness? People
have said that for centuries, they’ve said it for millennia.
And God comforts us, the one who is righteous, the one who
reigns, he comforts us and he says to us in verses two and
three, at the set time I appoint, I will judge. I will judge with
equity. When the earth totters, can you
imagine that from our perspective? I mean, we get a little earthquake
and it’s local, you know, it’s California or it’s, you know,
Indonesia or one of these places where earthquakes typically happen. But can you imagine from God’s
perspective, the whole earth teetering and tottering and he’s
got it in his hands as we say, it is I who keeps steady. its
pillars.” What a comforting worldview that is. I’ve got the world in
my hands, God is saying, and at the appointed time, I will
come. Now, sometimes we wonder, why
does God delay his judgment? Why didn’t he just take care
of business now? Do you remember what God said to Abraham? I think
it was in chapter 15 of Genesis. He said, I’m going to give you
a people. They’re going to outnumber the sand on the seashore. They’re
going to outnumber the stars in the sky. and I’m gonna give
you this land to possess, but it’s not gonna happen until about
four generations pass. Well, we know the rest of the
story later, Israel’s in Egypt, they’re outnumbering the Egyptians,
the Egyptians are scared, they’re trying to drown baby boys. God
raises up Moses and Aaron and he delivers the people who had
grown numerous out of Egypt. But God had told Abraham, I won’t
deliver them into Canaan until the sins of the Amorites have
risen. And so for 400 years, people
in Canaan could have said, why doesn’t God judge these wicked
people? I mean, they do some pretty foul things. And God,
remember, as he sends the people into the promised land, he tells
Israel, you put everyone to the sword. This is my judgment on
them for their sins. But God was letting their sin
heap up and rise to the level where they deserve the judgment
of the ban that God would place on them as Israel entered the
promised land. Sometimes we wonder, why doesn’t
God judge now? Why is he holding back? There’s
plenty of evidence. He could lay down the hammer.
He could swing the sword. He could put out his fire and
his wrath. But when God speaks, he says,
I’ll judge. and it’ll be at the appointed
time. Well, he speaks in a second way in verses four through five.
He speaks this time to the arrogant. I say to the boastful, verse
four tells us, do not boast. And to the wicked, do not lift
up your horn. Your horn was a symbol of strength. Do not lift up your horn on high
or speak with haughty necks. In a sense, don’t look up at
the heavens and shake your fist at God, he says. So we have God
speaking. Then in verses six through eight,
we have a priest, a priest speaking. Now, think of this maybe like
a preacher. God has already said what he’s going to say in verses
two through five. Well, guess what the priest is going to do?
He’s going to talk about it some more. Right. That’s the way with
preachers. He says in verse six, for not from the east or from
the west, not from the wilderness comes lifting up. but it is God
who executes judgment. He puts down one, he lifts up
the other. For in the hand of the Lord,
there is a cup with foaming wine well mixed and he pours out from
it and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to
the dregs. The priest. The priest is basically
giving a two-point sermon on God’s little speech in verses
two through five. And his two points are this,
God lifts up and puts down. And the second point is if you’re
wicked, you’re gonna get it. That’s a pretty easy sermon,
isn’t it? God lifts up and puts down. God humiliates, God exalts. And then, if you’re wicked, God
is gonna judge you, and it’s gonna be real bad. Well, a few
things about this little two-point sermon the priest gives. God
lifts up. God puts down, verse seven says.
It is God who executes judgment. He puts down one, he lifts up
the other. Notice verse six. It is not from
the east or from the west. It is not from the wilderness.
It is not from man. We live in a world that is a
world of advancement. I mean, if you want to succeed
now, what is it in America? You’ve got to have a sports skill,
right? Because sports is a way to make
it in this world. You become a sports star. You
get a college scholarship. And then if that goes well, you
go to the pros, and you make a million or two, and you buy
your mom a house, and drive nice cars, and have gold chains, and
all the rest. And life is just hunky dory until
you’re about 38. but advancement in this world. Advancement in this world is
through systems, it’s through cultures, it’s through power
plays. You go to the right school, you
get the right training, you drop your resume in the right place,
you play golf with the right people, you do all the right
things, you play the game and you get exalted or you get brought
low. And the priest, the preacher
here is saying, no, It’s not from the East. It’s not from
the West. It’s not from the wilderness. It is God who lives and who puts
down. And then in his second point,
he speaks to the wicked. He speaks to the wicked. If you’re
wicked, you’re going to get it. Maybe sometimes you ride down
the interstate and you see one of those great big billboards
and it has a stern looking highway patrolman on it. And he says,
you just blew $10,000. Don’t drink and drive. So if
you drink and drive, this guy’s going to be in your rearview
mirror, and you’re going to get caught. It’s going to cost you
a lot of money. You’re going to lose your license, and the whole works. We call
it the, what, the scared straight program. Or you see other deterrents. You walk into a store, and it
says, shock lifting is a crime. Or the other day we ran across
Smokey the Bear. We don’t see him too often, but
what does Smokey the Bear say? Only you can prevent forest fires. Well, this is the priest’s public
servant or public service announcement. He says in verse eight, for in
the hand of the Lord, there is a cup. It is a cup with foaming
wine, well mixed. He pours out from it. and all
the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to its dregs. Now, if you’re a old covenant
believer, even a new covenant believer, but particularly an
old covenant believer, when you’re reading the Psalms and you don’t
have the whole Bible just yet, what’s going to come to your
mind about God judging the wicked? Well, you’re probably going to
think about Pharaoh and you’re going to think about the song
of Moses and Miriam for, I will sing unto the Lord for he has
triumphed gloriously, the horse and the rider he has thrown into
the sea. You’ll think of the plagues that
God executed on Egypt and how Pharaoh stuck his neck up, as
you might say, from these early verses. He raised his horns to
Yahweh in the sky and said, I’m Pharaoh. I am the God of the
sun. I am the king of the earth. And
God took care of business. God judged him. God exercised
his wrath on him. Or think about Nebuchadnezzar,
the great king of Babylon. What happened to him by the end
of his life? He was exalted, but he was brought low. At the
end of his life, he was out in the field eating grass like a
cow. His hair had grown wild, his
nails had grown long. And so God has his ways with
Pharaohs and Nebuchadnezzars. Or think about Absalom, David’s
own son, who wanted to steal the kingdom for himself. At the
end of his life, we find him, his donkey passed under a giant
terebinth tree, the branches grabbed him by the hair, the
donkey kept on going, and so he’s hanging there, and Joab
and his men spear him to death. He exalted himself, but he was
brought low by those loyal to the king. In our own lifetime,
we’ve seen this in political regimes. I can remember back
in 2003, I think it was, with the fall of Iraq. And Saddam
Hussein, whose infamous, notorious face we had seen all over the
news for years, was found in a little hidey hole. The soldiers
pulled him out. He was taken. He was imprisoned.
And before long, he was hung with a rope by the neck. His
statues of himself toppled over. It is God who raises up and who
takes down. Why is this good to know? Why
is it good to know there is a God who reigns over all? Why is it
good to know that there is a God who exalts? There is a God who
humbles. There is a God who judges. Well, our last speaker helps
us with that. Verses 9 to 10, we have one man
speaking. And he says, I’ll declare it
forever. So God has said it. The priest has preached on it.
Maybe in a sense as if this guy has gotten the benediction at
the end of the service. And he says, I’m going to tell the world
now. I’m going to tell everybody what I heard in church today
from God through the preacher. And now it’s my job to sing it
from the mountaintops. And so what do we do? What do
we say as we know this news? It’s evangelism, isn’t it? It’s
good news telling. Seek the Lord while he may be
found. Call on him while he is near. Today, if you hear his
voice, do not harden your hearts as the children of Israel did
at Meribah when they put the Lord their God to the test. What
do we say? We speak these words of truth.
You know, we’re, we’re in a, what do we call it? A politically
correct world now. Evangelism is kind of gotten soft and gentle
and Psalm 75 wouldn’t really pass for evangelism. God has
a cup. It’s got foaming wine in it.
It is well mixed. It’s gonna do its job. It’s gonna
judge. It’s gonna kill you if you drink it. And he pours out
from it. And all the wicked of the earth
shall drain it down to the dregs. Imagine yourself at the swimming
pool this summer with a friend you’re trying to evangelize.
And you say to them, you know, hey, friend, God has a cup. And it’s mixed well with wine.
It’s a foaming cup, it’s foaming wine. That’s really not our evangelism
method, is it? But there was a cup and it was
filled with foaming wine. It was well mixed and Christ
drank it. He drank it to the dregs. He
drank the full wrath and judgment of God that was meant for us. It was meant for our sins. It was meant for our consumption.
It was meant for our death. But God, God the maker, God the
sustainer, God who lifts up and God who puts low, God who will
at a point in time judge. He’s offered salvation through
Jesus Christ. And Christ, if you come to him
by faith, he’s taken that cup for you. He was brought low. He left heaven. He left the riches
of glory. He forsook the right hand of
God, the father, and he came into this world and he was humiliated. He was brought low. He was laid
low, not from the east and not from the west and not from the
wilderness, but God himself brought him low and he suffered and he
died in your place, but he’s been raised up. There was a resurrection
from the dead. There was an ascension into heaven
and there will be a second coming. What a fitting way to evangelize
and to speak of these good things. And so we end with verse one.
We give thanks to you, O God. We give thanks for your name
is near and we recount your wondrous deeds. Let’s pray together. Our
Lord and God, we thank you for this great truth that teaches
us who you are and who we are. what you have done and what you
will do, and how we can escape your wrath and curse due to us
for sin by coming to the only one who can save us, and that
being Jesus Christ. Lord, make us humble. Help us
not to be haughty. Help us not to lift up our necks,
even our horns, and say to you, we are great and you are small,
but let us affirm that you are great and that we are small,
and give our heartfelt thanks that we have been brought up
in Christ Jesus. And may this be our word of evangelism
to those who do not call upon the name of the Lord and who
may one day face your great judgment. We ask for your help and grace
and mercy on this and we pray it in Christ’s name. Amen.