Remind God of His Promises

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by Jim Peters in Hearing God - Jim's Daily D

Psalm 74:12-23

¹² God is my ancient King

He produces salvation in the middle of the earth.

¹³ You split the sea apart with your strength

You broke the heads of the monsters[1] in the water.

¹⁴ You crushed the heads of dinosaurs[2] and gave them as food to the desert people.

¹⁵You broke the springs (of water) open

And dry valleys (became) permanent rivers.

¹⁶ The day and also the night are yours;

You have provided the sun’s light,

¹⁷ You set all the limits on earth;

You created summer and winter.

¹⁸ Lord, remember this:

The enemy laughed at you[3]

Foolish people despised your name.

¹⁹ Don’t give your turtledove’s soul to the wild animals;

Don’t continually forget the lives[4] of your poor and needy (people).

²⁰ Pay attention to the legally binding agreement!

The dark regions of the land are filled with places where violence lives.

²¹ Don’t let the oppressed return in shame;

Let the poor and needy (people) go crazy praising[5] your name.

²² God, stand up and take up their legal case;

Remember how the foolish (person) laughs at you all day.

²³ Don’t forget your enemies’ voice,

(Don’t forget that) the roar (of those who) stand (against you) continuously goes up.

[1] “dragon/dinosaur/monster/sea monster” [2] “Leviathin” Hebrew meaning “sea monster/dragon/dinosaur/plesiosaurus” The exact meaning is unknown. [3] Could possible mean “the enemy stayed through the harvest time/winter” and may well be a very clever pay with words considering the previous verse [4] Another clever play on words in this verse. The words translated wild animals and the word translated lives are all the same,but with different intended meanings. The Hebrew word used is “chayah” which means life/living things/animals” etc [5] “halal, halal, halal, halĕluyah” which means “boast,” “praise,” “make into a fool” and “act like a madman”

Application

God is my King and he is the eternal King (which is a plausible translation of verse 12). He is King over everything and for all time. He is in control. He’s in control of my life. He’s in control of circumstances. He’s got it all under control.

He brought down dinosaurs, which by the way must have coexisted with mankind) and he turned dry places into permanent rivers. And he wants to bring down the monsters in my life and turn my spiritual and physical dry places into places of abundance. The important consideration here is that he does it to advance his kingdom rather than to make me rich for my sake. God has blessed me with the gift of Christ which turned me from wickedness to him (see Acts 2). When God makes a river for my life and in my life, I don’t have to worry about it ever running dry. The river of the Holy Spirit will never run dry as long as I live for God and turn from sin. Similarly the river of his joy will never run dry. The river of his supply will never run dry. The river of his healing will never run dry. The river of his love will never run dry. The rivers of his grace, mercy, peace, wholeness, prosperity, ideas, protection and many more will last forever.

Interesting that the psalmist would remind God of what he had promised to do to help. God has promised to be my help in every situation and I need to stand on that promise, remembering that God’s word gives examples of people quoting God’s promises back to him.

Prayer

Father, thank you for your promises that entitle me to your blessing and protection. This is too great a thing to comprehend with my mind. I was your enemy and yet you have made peace with me and given me a position of honour and privilege in your kingdom. Thank you for your great grace. Thank you for giving me the opposite of what I deserve and more than I could ever imagine. I put all my trust, hope and faith in you. You are my God.

IJN Amen

Jim Peters

Remind God of His Promises

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