Psalm 74

Psalm 74 brings to memory the story of Prince Caspian. The children arrive back in Narnia and everyone has forgotten about Narnia. There is only a remnant left and even they have great doubt about the power and might of Aslan. Even the children begin to doubt Alsan and his power.

The Lord can appear to be absent from our life during our suffering. The Psalmist exists in a time of sadness and despair for the nation of Israel. Invaders have ruined the Lord’s Temple and the people of God feel demoralized. They have lost a sense of hope in the Lord and his ability to redeem them.

The Psalmist, however, continues to encourage himself in the Lord. He knows that the Lord is constantly working throughout history to bring redemption to his people. “Yet God my King is from old, working salvation in the midst of the earth (vs. 12).” History, even with its sufferings, is God’s tool to bring about his ultimate plan of salvation to all that call upon his name. History then becomes a display of the power of God working through people to reveal his glory.

The end of the prayer is a request for God to remember what he is doing (vs. 18). There really is no possibility that God has forgotten what he is doing so why does the Psalmist ask him to remember? Is it possible we need to ask God to remember himself, because we can forget him so easily ourselves? It is too easy to forget God when we get busy or hurt or consumed with life. It is easy to let days, weeks, and months go by avoiding our true calling to give God glory. Way too easy.