#DailyDevotion In Asking God To Remember, We, Ourselves Are Called To Remember
Psalm 74 13By Your power You stir up the sea and crush the heads of sea monsters in the water. 14You smash the heads of Leviathan and give them as food to the sharks in the sea. 15You cut openings for springs and brooks and dry up rivers that always flowed.
In the previous verse the Psalmist recalls how God had given them the victory over their enemies in the past. Here he begins to continue doing that with specifics from Israel’s history. The reference to stirring up the sea, crushing the heads of sea monsters, smashing the heads of Leviathan and giving them to the sharks for food is likely the Psalmist poetically recalling the death of the Egyptians in the Red Sea. The reference to cutting openings for springs, brooks and rivers are likely an allusion to Moses striking the Rock in the wilderness to provide water for His people, twice. The LORD looked after them.
16The day is Yours, and the night is Yours — You set up the moon and the sun. 17You set all the boundaries of the earth. You make summer and winter.
The Psalmist now appeals to the general providence of God. Everything in nature the LORD has created and rules over. Night and day, their rulers, the sun and moon, the boundaries of the earth, the seasons, these all are under the rule of the LORD. It is important that we too recall the deeds of the LORD. Not only should we recall what the LORD has done in the past for His people in the Bible and His general providence of all things, but also, when we are troubled, remember how the LORD has often helped us, at the right time and in the right manner that we needed it. If we can recall these things, then our current struggles will not make us so anxious.
18Remember how the enemy has defied You, O LORD, how a foolish people have scorned Your name. 19Don’t let wild beasts take the life of Your dove, or forever forget the lives of Your suffering servants. 20Have regard for Your covenant, because darkness and dens of violence have filled the land.
Having himself recall the great deeds of the LORD, not he calls upon the LORD to remember also. He asks the LORD to remember how the LORD’s enemies have defiled Him and how they have scorned His name. He calls on Him to remember His people and not to forget His suffering servants. He calls upon the LORD to remember His covenant because darkness and violence has filled the land.
While the LORD has not made any specific covenant with any other specific nation, we can ask God to remember the covenant He has made with mankind in the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. In this covenant the LORD our God proclaims His love to the world by redeeming it through the blood of His Son. We ask the LORD to remember His covenant with us that in Christ Jesus, He is our God and we are His people. He has reconciled Himself to us and has removed us from His wrath and fury. We can remind Him He has told us to pray for daily bread and deliverance from evil. Since He told us to pray for such things we know it is His will to provide these things.
21Don’t let the down-trodden return in disgrace; let the poor and needy praise Your name. 22Rise, O God, fight for Your cause. Remember how a fool defies You all day long. 23Don’t forget the shouting of Your enemies, the continuous noise of those attacking You.
Here we join the Psalmist in his prayer for deliverance from our foes and ask the LORD to fight for us.
Almighty God and Father, remember Your promises to us through Jesus Christ and provide for us what we need for today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.