The One Thing To Remember-- Psalm 75

For the leader, "Do Not Destroy". An Asaphic Psalm. A Song.
This psalm, Psalm 57, 58 and 59 all begin with a word meaning, “Do Not Destroy.” This would simply be nonsense, unless it was a reference to another psalm. Probably it is a reference to the melody of another psalm.

We give thanks to You, O God
We give you thanks and your name is near.
People tell of your wondrous deeds.
This is a common passage in the Psalms, offering thanks and praise to God for his salvation. However, as we will see, God’s salvation hasn’t arrived yet. Thanks is being offered for God’s character which will produce future action.

"When I determine the set time
I will judge with equity.
The earth and all who live in it dissolve.
I set firm the pillars.
The psalmist throughout this psalm give quotes from God himself, and provides commentary around it. God’s voice speaks here, instructing the world that He is the final judge. He recognizes that the world right now is going to hell in a handbasket. The whole world, God says, is dissolving, melting down in to chaos, the state it was before His creation (see Genesis 1:2). Everything is falling apart. But God says that he alone is the one who will establish the world. At the set time, God says, the world will be set right, as if it were a wobbly roof, and then placed upon secure, strong pillars. The judgment of God isn’t a time of destruction. It is a time of healing, of restoration, of renewal.

I say to the boastful, 'Do not boast.'
And to the wicked, 'Do not raise up your horn!'"
For not from the East,
Nor from the West,
Nor from the Desert comes uplifting
For God determines justice--
This one he humbles
That one he exalts
Many people think that they can fix the world themselves. In the ancient world, many felt that they had the right army, the right ideas to bring about stability in the world. The Mesopotamians, in the East, thought they could bring the world into stability via empire. Egypt thought their mysticism and religion could restore all things. The Greeks and Romans in the West thought they could stabilize things through their philosophies and culture. Those in the desert thought that through their religious fanaticism they could make all things well. Even today, the West think that all will gain happiness through capitalism. The Islamics think that religious purity will solve the world’s chaos.
But the psalmist says that no one but God himself will create stability in the world. Not the secular philosophers, nor the religious fanatics. God, acting on his own behalf as creator of the world. So, says God, don’t boast about your abilities! Don’t, as a candidate, say you will solve the world’s problems—you won’t! Only God is the one who establishes the righteous ones who will bring security and utopia for all. And no one knows who they are. Some are cast down into anonymity. Others are raised to prominence. It is up to God.

For a cup is in the hand of Yahweh with foaming wine;
It is well mixed
He pours from it
The dregs of it will be drained
For all the wicked of the earth drink of it.
Those who make promises of utopia only for their own gain and benefit to the detriment to others God will give his wrath to. One being forced to drink a cup of wine from God is often a symbol of God’s judgment on the wicked (Psalm 60:3; Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15-16; 51:7; Revelation 14:10; 16:19). These who drink fully of God’s wrath are the wicked who claim to bring utopia, but only bring hardship. Those like Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Idi Amin, Mobutu, Osama Bin Ladin and hundreds of others throughout history and others today who claim they will being in a new era of prosperity, and only bring in war and genocide. All of these leaders face the wrath of God because of their oppression and death.

As for me, I will rejoice forever
I will sing hymns to the God of Jacob
But the righteous in God need not worry about God’s wrath. They who wait humbly upon God to change things will have the opportunity to praise God eternally, before God’s throne.

"And all the horns of the wicked I will cut off
But the horns of the righteous will be lifted high."
God has one other thing to say. “Horns” are symbols in scripture for authority or rule. The wicked, Scripture says again and again, raise up their own authority, boasting that they can fix all the problems in the world. They put themselves in the place of authority, and inevitably, God will cut off their horns—take away whatever authority they have. On the other hand, the humble, the lowly who wait for God, who just do what God says in their specific communities and depends on God to answer the big problems, God will raise them up to have the authority these others are actually looking for. God does the raising, God does the lowering. And God will rule over all.

So this is the one thing to remember: God is the judge and He will judge the world.
If we are trying to get authority for ourselves, it is best to remember that God is in charge and we shouldn’t try to take his place by judging others or oppressing others.
And if we are trying to do good and all we see is injustice, it is good for us to remember that justice comes from God alone. For this reason, the most powerful political act in the world is to pray.