Psalm 75

Psalm 75 NKJV

A Praise to God

and a warning

to the wicked of their coming judgment.

A psalm of

Asaph

Verse 1

We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks!

For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.

Asaph gives praise for a recent victory.

The rest of the psalm

deals with the

Power of God

to judge

the wicked.

Verses 2

God says...

When I choose the proper time,
I will judge uprightly.

We often want God to do things on our timetable.

Verses 3-5

The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved;
I set up its pillars firmly. Selah

I said to the boastful, "Do not deal boastfully,"
And to the wicked, "Do not lift up the horn.

 Do not lift up your horn on high;
Do not speak with a stiff neck."

The Hebrew word translated "dissolved" means melted.
It means they are fainthearted. 

*

Selah means "pause and think about that."

*

It is important to note that the word

"horn"

in the Bible

refers to strength. 

These verses call out to the wicked

to warn them

and to advise them

not to

lift up and exalt their power

and

not to speak with pride.

One day in the future, the wicked will not be strutting before the world, and one day they will not be proudly sitting on their high horse.

The next verses - verses 6-7 -  tell us why...

These verses inform us that
it is GOD who gives all power and decides all results.
Our power is null and void
unless
God allows us to do something.

-

And God will one day stop the wicked from doing sin and send them to their eternal punishment.

Verses 6-7

For exaltation comes neither from the east
nor from the west nor from the south.

But God is the Judge:

He puts down one,
and exalts another.

The TLB version says,

"For promotion and power

come from nowhere on earth,

but only from God.

He promotes one and deposes another."

These verses inform us

that there is no power apart from power allowed by God.

God is Sovereign.

God can do whatever he wants, and no one can stand against him and prevail.

God is the ultimate Judge.
His decisions rule, and we are without a way to overrule him.

Even though God is Sovereign and
even though he always wants righteousness,
he shows us in the Bible
that
he will allow his perfect will not to be done at times.

King Saul

is an example of this

We see this happen in 1 Samuel chapter 8 telling the story of how Saul became king.
God did not want his people to have a king - but the people complained and demanded.
So God gave them what they wanted -
even though it was against his perfect will.

God has a perfect will and a permissive will.

Look at the image above

The area marked

"A"

represents the perfect will of God for you.

If we are wise, we seek to stay in God's Perfect

will in every area of our life.

~

The area marked

"B"

represents

the permissive will of God for you.

That means that God will allow you to choose

options inside the "B" area.

~

The area marked

"C"

represents the choices that

God will not allow you to make.

For more understanding on God's will

see our page on

understanding the difference

between God's perfect will and his permissive will...

God's Will

And our page on

understanding free will...

Free Will 

And a devotional to help you in your life...

A Devotional about Following God's Will

Prayer

Lord,

Inside your perfect will is your best blessings.

Inside your perfect will is healing for my soul.

Inside your perfect will is peace for my soul.

Inside your perfect will is wholeness.

I will seek to be inside your perfect will.

In love and devotion I pray,

Amen

Copyright © 2019 Beth McLendon of Inspirational-Prayers.com

Even though God is Sovereign,
he often allows sin.

He allows sin in his permissive will
but sin is never a part of his perfect will.

Many times, Christians take God's Sovereign will
to a place
where God does not intend us to take it.

For example,
many Christians won't vote because they say that
God decides who will rule over us.

They do not correctly understand the way
God's Sovereignty operates.

Next

Helpful Clarification

about God's sovereignty

I submit that...

Many times God allows a country to elect a wicked ruler.

In some cases, the situation is similar to Saul situation...
God sees the wickedness of the population.
He see that they are clamoring for a wicked ruler.

When deciding, he also looks at the hearts of the Christians.
When he sees apathy and indifference
it can make a difference in how he will use his sovereignty.

(See 2 Chronicles 7:14)

In some cases,

he sees that his people are running after the same sins

that the wicked are doing.

He sees that his people are not repenting and living righteously.

All these things are taken into consideration.

"So not voting because God is sovereign"
is not a proper way
to look at the opportunity to vote.

> >  VOTING  < < 

There may be some special circumstances for you where God agrees that you should not vote,
but
in general, I would say that Christians should vote.

*

I submit that

we should consider voting as a privilege given by God.

Many people around the world do not have that opportunity.

And even if there are some shady things that happen in the election process,
we are to do what we can and
pray for God to do what only he can do.

And let us not forget 2 Chronicles 7:14.

God says - IF

If My people

who are called by My name

will humble themselves,

and pray and seek My face,

and turn from their wicked ways,

 then I will hear from heaven,

and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 

Christians are commanded to
humble themselves,
pray,
seek God's face
AND TURN from OUR wicked ways
and then God heals our land.

So all our problems in our country are not the result of wicked people. They are often the result of Christians not living a dedicated life to God.

For those who think that is just Old Testament...

Titus 2:11-15

tell us what our life should look like...

"Denying ungodliness and world lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age."

Verse 8

Verse 8

God's cup of Wrath.

For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup,
And the wine is red;
It is fully mixed, and He pours it out;
Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth
Drain and drink down.

God's Word says...

Judgment will come
and the wicked will have to experience
every drop of
God's judgment.

This verse talks about a cup of judgment.

It talks about drinking

a symbolic special cup of wine as a judgment. 

God uses this type of language in other places in the Bible.

We see a cup of judgment in

Psalm 11:6 NKJV

It says,

Upon the wicked He will rain coals;

Fire and brimstone and a burning wind

Shall be the portion of their cup.

We see in the next verse that people are made to drink the wine of confusion.

Psalm 60:3 NKJV says,

You have shown Your people hard things;

You have made us drink the wine of confusion.

We see in the next verse,

people are made to drink the cup of wine of God's fury. 

Jeremiah 25:15 says,

For thus says the Lord God of Israel to me:

“Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations,

to whom I send you, to drink it."

Verse 9

But I will declare forever,

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

Asaph is declaring that he will praise God

in all circumstances.

* * * 

And

Praise God!

Heaven is the destination of

those who love Him.

We can see our destiny in the next verse.

Verse 10

 “All the horns of the wicked I will also cut off,
But the horns of the righteous shall be exalted."

This verse speaks about the destinies of

the wicked and the righteous. 

Judgment is a fearful thing for the wicked,
but judgment is a blessing to the righteous. 

For those who have been obedient to God, there will be rewards.

For those who have been wicked and not repented,
there will be terrible punishment.

This verse and this whole psalm is a warning

to those who are rebellious toward God.

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