Dear RTB’ers,
Truly, this Psalm shocked me! In my head I see all the Psalms (or any one Psalm) as Davidic psalms, with words of persecution and deliverance, with laments, with praise. But here the psalmist is telling us a story, recounting details of the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians: They set Your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of Your name, bringing it down to the ground. (v. 7) He is apparently writing during the exile, during time of Ezekiel, all the destruction about which we just read. He could be one of those Jerusalem priests who were taken to Babylon in the second exile, 586 B.C. He is asking God why all this has happened, when is He going to act. (See verses 1, 10, 11.)
But then he comes back to what he know is true, that God is God; He is the God who acts when He chooses: Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Yours is the day, yours also the night; You have established the heavenly lights and the sun. You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; You have made summer and winter. (v. 12, 16-17) And in the end he calls on the Lord for deliverance; his words hearken for praise, Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame; let the poor and needy praise Your name. (v. 21)
It’s a sad song, but also redemptive. We would do well to recall this Psalm when difficulties overwhelm us.
Blessings.
Fred