Remember that Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day where he gets stuck in a day, doomed to repeat it until he gets it right? God won't turn back time for us but He does graciously forget the sins of our past and lovingly move us forward in time continually shaping and refining us. The Psalms repeat many themes and we start to think, "yea yea I learned this already, I got it." We are repeatedly reminded of His love, forgiveness and power because we are in continually need of it. This psalm is thought to be written after Israel's fall to Babylon. As a nation it was the lowest of the low. And despite warnings and prophesies they had repeatedly gone their own way and not followed God's way. God caused their enemies to defeat them and His people felt abandoned. But the psalmist knew to praise God in all circumstances even in the face of defeat and feelings of abandonment. They felt weak so they praised God's power, they felt small so they praised God's greatness, they felt out of control so they praised His natural order. Realizing you are poor and needy is the key to a restored relationship with God. You won't really love Him unless you realize how much you need Him, you won't ask to be saved until you realize how much trouble you are in, you won't praise Him until you realize how powerful He is. You have to repeatedly be in the word and get to know the God you need. One of Satan's most effective strategies is to keep you independent from God. He tells you you don't need God for everything, you can handle this, you've got it under control. You know you believe Satan's lie if you aren't regularly in the Word, if you aren't in daily prayer, and if you aren't in daily worship and praise of the God who holds the whole world in His hands. Today is a new day, are you going to repeat or repent?
Psalm 74 Questions -
1. How is Satan's lie pushing time for God out of your life? What are you sacrificing or saying no to to say yes to God?
2. Do you feel abandoned by God? Spend time in the word refreshing yourself with the repeated stories of His faithfulness to his people and seek out the people in your life that could encourage you with their own faith stories.
3. Do you openly share your faith story trusting God will use it to encourage dependency on God to others?
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