O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, the tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed. (Psalm 74:1-2)
As we stated in the previous devotion, Asaph begins this psalm with questioning the strictness of God’s justice when it comes to those who have been “purchased of old,” i.e. those who God has redeemed. Not only does exile from the Holy Land subject His people to tyranny and imperil their very existence but, in the minds of the nations, it raises the question whether or not God can redeem His people. It would seem that God’s reputation is on the line when His people are living under the heel of their enemies.
Centuries before Asaph, Moses addressed this same issue when it appeared that God was about to destroy Israel as a result of the Golden Calf. He said, “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’?” (Exodus 32:11-12). In other words, Moses was calling upon the Lord to consider what others will think and say of Him should His people perish at His Hand.
Of course, God doesn’t need us to defend His reputation because, frankly, He is the I AM — He answers to no one. At the same time, He makes it clear that when He does redeem His people, it will be for His name’s sake. As He said through the prophet, “I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt” (Ezekiel 20:9). In short, God did not allow Israel to disappear into history and be lost for all time.
The redemption of His people is one of the greatest manifestations of His greatness and His goodness. Because He alone is good, only He can redeem. He alone has the will to redeem those who have, at times, been seemingly unredeemable. He alone loves those who are, very often, unlovable. This is one of the ways we can know that there is no one like our God; because when we deserved the worst, He offered us the best, which is, to be called His sons and daughters. We who have been redeemed were purchased at a great price and our loving Father — who will chasten those He loves — does not intend that we should get away. And I thank God for it!
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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