Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 75

There is much to pray for each day. Our world seems to be spinning out of control as violence and threats of war fill the headlines. We tend to think it’s all just running as if things were out of control, but it is not. God is in control. Yet the mystery of prayer requires we intercede and pray without ceasing. Prayer must start with Thanksgiving and praise. Psalm 75 does that.

Psalm 75:1

We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.

But then this psalm turns and we hear from God as He gives a warning.

Psalm 75:2-5
“At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity.  When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah  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.’”

No one is getting away with anything. The psalmist explains.

Psalm 75:6-8
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 the dregs.

But the psalmist knows the Gospel. He knows there is hope in Christ. This psalm is the truth. Without the Blood of Christ covering our sin, we will face the cup of judgment. But if we trust in Christ, then we can rejoice, for He has already drank the cup for us.

Psalm 75:9-10
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.