Psalm 75 - Your name is near

Read: Psalm 75 vs 1-10

Tunes stick in your head. We don’t have any record of the music that the Psalms were first sung to, however the names of some of the original tunes have been preserved in some of the Psalm titles. Psalm 75 is one of 4 Psalms that was written to be sung to a tune called ‘Do Not Destroy.’

The image of things being destroyed or wiped out is a picture with background in the story of the Old Testament. In the book of Exodus we read an account of a great standoff between Pharaoh and the LORD God. Pharaoh was ruler of the great Egyptian civilisation and with a hard heart he ‘took God on’ when the LORD’s servant Moses asked him to free the Israelites from slavery. In Exodus 8:24 we read of how in judgment the LORD brought ‘ruin’ (the word literally means ‘destruction’) to the land of Egypt. This same word reappears in Deuteronomy 9:26. This time it is not Pharaoh or another pagan ruler who has set their heart against God. This time it is God’s own people who have grown tired of trusting God in the wilderness. They built a golden calf, choosing to worship a god their hands had made, rather than bow down to the One they could not see. 

At this moment Moses cries out to God ‘Do not destroy!’ Moses knows that the people deserve God’s wrath and judgment. So He prays that God will give His people what they do not deserve, His mercy and His kindness.

So now back in Psalm 75 as the musicians tune up and get ready to play ‘Do Not Destroy’ they do so praising a God whose kindness and mercy is undeserved. This Psalm pictures God with a cup of ‘foaming wine’ that the wicked must drink (vs 8). On the cross just before He gave up His Spirit Jesus cried out ‘I am thirsty’. At that moment a sponge soaked in wine vinegar (wine gone bad) was lifted to Jesus’ lips. 

Even though the earth shales to its pillars (Psalm 75:3) God will not destroy His people in judgment, because Jesus has drunk the cup of judgment that should have been ours. Every time that tune was heard in Israel it spoke good news to all who would hear, news of a God who has come to save, not to destroy. A tune that leads us all the way to the cross.   

Prayer: Lord even though the earth shakes thank You that Your purposes are to save and not to destroy. Please help me to keep steady in trusting in Your goodness and in Your provision today. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.