Reading: PSALM 75 – GOD IS IN CONTROL!

(From ‘Encounter with God’ Bible Reading Notes)

When you watch the news or read the newspapers, do you ever wonder whether God really is in control? Never doubt his promises.

When we watch the news these days, it may seem that everything is out of control. We see violence against the vulnerable; cruel wars and brutal crimes, and perpetrators who seem (literally) to get away with murder. Sometimes we ask ourselves where we might find God in all this. Psalm 75 is a response to just such a question, and encourages us to see world events from God’s perspective.

The psalm was probably a formal liturgy used in worship to remind the people that God is the one who rules over everything that happens. So, appropriately, the psalm begins with thanks and recognition of God’s wonderful deeds in the past. We then hear God’s voice reminding us that he is the one who orders the world and its events and who gives fair and just judgement.

When it seems that everything we know is being shaken and challenged, God holds it firmly, and prevents it from collapsing. He warns the arrogant not to boast, and the wicked not to be defiant towards his rule, for they are powerless against him. Only God can allow anyone to rise in status and power: he can just as easily bring down those who think they are important. God will bring judgement, pictured here as the cup of his anger which the wicked have no option but to drink in its entirety. No wonder the writer responds with praise and states his intention to go on declaring this truth.

We may still be left with questions about why God does not act more quickly and decisively in certain situations, but the central and fundamental truth revealed in this psalm is that God is the one who has ultimate control of all that happens in this world.

Pray about a situation that is currently being highlighted in the news, remembering God’s ultimate control over it.

– Rosemary Linton

Copyright Scripture Union, 2001

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