(Through the Bible) Psalms 71-80 — Chuck Smith

Psalm 71: David’s Prayer for Protection in Old Age

So we turn now in our Bibles to Psalm 71. Psalm 71 is the psalm of the aged man. Probably David as he was getting up into years and his reddish colored hair had turned gray. David's life was a tough life.

He had many devoted friends, but also many avowed enemies. And David is always praying concerning those enemies that are seeking his hurt, seeking to destroy him. And even up into the elder years, as the Lord said to David, the sword shall not depart from thy house.

And so in the elder years of David, there was still that problem of the sword, that problem of enemies. And so, a psalm of again calling upon the Lord for His help, for His protection, even in his older years.

In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in Thy righteousness and cause me to escape. Incline Thine ear and save me. Be Thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort.

For Thou has given commandment to save me, for Thou art my rock and my fortress. David's prayer, that God would be his strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort. We read in the Scriptures, the name Jehovah is a strong tower.

The righteous runneth into it and is safe. How many times have we run into the protection of the name of the Lord? How many times when faced by danger, just automatically almost the name of Jesus escapes our lips?

We're facing a real problem and we just sort of unconsciously say, Oh Jesus, the strong tower, I run into it. We're a place of safety, a place of refuge. Thou art my rock, my fortress, my dwelling place.

And how wonderful it is when we have found that glorious dwelling place in Christ Jesus, of which the psalmist wrote, He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

And so he declares the Lord is his habitation. I continually resort, constantly finding that place of help and strength, comfort and refuge in the Lord. I continually resort. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked and out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

For Thou art my hope, O Lord my God. Thou art my trust from my youth. So God is not just a place of hope, but He is also the place of trust. I've learned to trust in the Lord, but I'm also hoping for His deliverance.

By Thee have I been held up from the womb. You took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of Thee. For I am as a wonder unto many, but Thou art my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise and with Thy honor all the day.

Cast me not off in the time of old age. And so here's a hint to the time of the writing of the psalm and later on he'll refer to his gray hairs. Forsake me not when my strength fails, the weakening position of the old age.

For mine enemies speak against me and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together. Saying, God has forsaken him, persecute and take him, for there is none to deliver him. O God, be not far from me.

O my God, make haste for my help. Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul. Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor that seek my hurt. So again, David's prayers for his enemies that God would take care of them.

But again, the tragedy that in the older years there are still those enemies of David. No rest. Because of the sin with Bathsheba, the sword is not to depart from his house. But I will hope continually and will yet praise Thee more and more.

David, a man after God's own heart, even though he was oppressed by the enemy, yet he was close to the heart of God. And part of the reason for that is David's continual praise. Lord, I will praise You more and more.

My mouth shall show forth Your righteousness and Thy salvation all the day, for I know not the numbers. I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention of Thy righteousness even of Thine only.

O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth and hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works. Now also, when I am old and gray-haired, O God, forsake me not until I have showed Thy strength unto this generation and Thy power unto all that is to come.

Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who has done great things, O God, who is likened to Thee. Thou which has showed me great and sore troubles shall quicken me again and shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

So, here is David's declaration concerning his confidence in the resurrection. Lord, You will make me alive again. You will bring me up from the depths of the earth. Again, we read, and it is of course declared to be prophetic concerning Christ.

Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither will You allow Your Holy One to seek corruption. But there was that belief in the resurrection from the dead. You will make me alive again. You will bring my soul up from the depths of the earth.

The Bible teaches that the place of the grave, Sheol or Hades, is more than just the grave where a body is buried, a sepulcher, a sarcophagus where a body is placed. But there is a place of consciousness in the heart of the earth.

And when David said, You will make me alive again, that You shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth, he is actually making reference to this place where the spirit of man went upon death.

Prior to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there were two areas divided by a gulf. One a place of comfort with Abraham, the other a place of torment. Jesus, when asked for a sign, said, A wicked and an adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the depths or in the heart of the earth. So Jesus went down and preached to those souls that were in prison.

And He led them from that captivity. He who is ascended is the same one who first of all descended into the lower parts of the earth. And when He ascended, He led the captives from their captivity, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 61.

So, David makes mention here of his hope in the resurrection. You will not find much in the Old Testament written concerning the resurrection from the dead. Job made mention, I know that though the worms eat this body, yet in my flesh I'm going to see Him when He stands upon the earth in the last days and so forth.

And his hope for the resurrection. And yet Job vacillated so much. But David, here he is old now, and he is thinking of death, but you're going to make me alive again. Thou shalt increase my greatness and comfort me on every side.

I will also praise Thee with a psaltery, even the truth, O my God. Unto Thee will I sing with a harp, O Thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto Thee, and my soul which Thou hast redeemed.

My tongue also shall talk of Thy righteousness all the day long, for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame that seek my hurt.". So David's speaking of praising the Lord with a psaltery.

That is praising Him with the music. Praising Him with a song accompanied by the harp. Singing of God. Greatly rejoicing and talking of God's righteousness all day long. Psalm 72 is entitled A Psalm for Solomon.

Psalm 72: Christ’s Messianic Kingdom

As we read this, we find that it goes far beyond Solomon. It actually is a prophecy of that Son that was promised to David, even Jesus Christ, who would sit upon the throne of David and rule it and establish it in order, in justice, and in righteousness from henceforth forever.

And so Psalm 72 transcends beyond just David's prayer for his son Solomon, and it becomes an expression of Jesus Christ in the kingdom age upon the throne of David. And so there is that dual interpretation of Psalm 72.

Give the King thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the King's Son. When Jesus Christ comes again, the first order is that of judging the earth. Gathering together the nations for judgment.

Give judgment unto thy King and thy righteousness to the King's Son. He shall judge thy people with righteousness and the poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people and the little hills by righteousness.

He shall judge the poor of the people. He shall save the children of the needy and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations.

He shall come down like rain upon mown grass as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish and the abundance of peace so long as the moon endures. So you see even by the words of the Psalm.

They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations. So it carries far beyond Solomon to that righteous King that God had promised to sit upon the throne of David and to establish it from henceforth even forever as long as the moon endures.

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. Again, the kingdom of God covering the entire earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him and his enemies shall lick the dust.

The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall bring presents. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. All kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him. Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.

And the kings of the earth will gather and bring gifts from all over the world where his kingdom extends. And will bring the praises of the people unto him in Jerusalem. The glorious kingdom age. Now when you read of the kings of the earth coming and gathering and paying their homage and bringing their gifts.

Who are those kings of the earth? Revelation chapter 1 verse 7. Unto him who loved us and who hath made us unto our God the kingdom of priests and we shall reign with him upon the earth. Revelation chapter 5.

The song of the redeemed saints in heaven worthy is the Lamb to take the scroll and loose the seals for thou wast slain and have redeemed us by thy blood out of every nation, tribe, tongue, kindred and people and hath made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall reign with thee upon the earth.

The church. So this mention of the kings falling down before him is actually a reference to you. His church and your place with him in the kingdom age. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth the poor also and him that hath no helper.

He shall spare the poor and the needy and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence and precious shall their blood be in his sight and he shall live and to him shall be given the gold of Sheba.

Prayer also shall be made for him continually and daily shall he be praised. There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains. The fruit thereof shall shake like lemon and they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth.

His name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as long as the sun and men shall be blessed in him and all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel who only doeth wondrous things.

And blessed be his glorious name forever and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen. The prayers of David, the son of Jesse are ended. So this brings us to the end of the second book of Psalms.

As we mentioned to you, the Psalms are actually divided into five books and each of the books ends with a doxology. And here we find the doxology, the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen.

Just sort of, you know, the capstone on the thing, the conclusion. And thus the prayers of David, the son of Jesse are ended. So as we enter into book three of the Psalms, we now get into a series of Psalms that are ascribed to Asaph.

Now Asaph was the chief musician. He was appointed by David as head over the musicians. Whether it is the name of an actual person or the title for the chief musician is not known. It is quite possible that Asaph is just the title for the chief musician and thus the Psalms of Asaph would be the psalm of the chief musician and not necessarily of the same person.

Some of these Psalms ascribed here to Asaph are Psalms that definitely go beyond the Davidic period of reign even into the areas of the desolation. Psalms that were written after the nation of Israel was devastated by their enemies, which of course goes then beyond Solomon's reign.

Psalm 73: Trusting God When the Wicked Prosper

Psalm 73 begins with an affirmation of a basic foundational truth concerning God. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. It is important that we have basic foundational truths that are undergirding us because we all of us are going to face experiences of life that we will not understand.

Hard, painful experiences. Experiences that will challenge God's goodness and God's love. If God is good, then why did God allow this tragedy to happen to me? If God loves me, then why would He allow me to have to experience this heartache?

I do not understand all of the things that happen to me in life. And I have made it a practice. Whenever I am faced with a situation I cannot understand, I fall back on what I do understand. There are certain foundational truths upon which I fall back when I am faced with circumstances that I cannot understand in my life.

And what I do understand is that God is good. That God loves me. And that all things are working together for good to those who love God. And thus, by faith, I accept my adverse circumstances. Though I don't understand them, I accept them knowing that it is God that has brought these circumstances.

It is God who is in the control of my life. For I have committed my life to Him. And I know that God is working in these circumstances, though they may seem bitter and adverse, yet God is working a good and perfect plan in my life.

And I just live with it. I just accept, Well, Lord, I'll just leave this with You that You will bring out of this Your good purpose and Your good plan for me. If I did not have the basic foundations underneath, then when the troubles come, when I get into these kind of circumstances, I would be totally wiped out.

And you do see people that they seem to be really going great in their walk with the Lord, and then adversity arises. And they just can't seem to handle the adversity. The reason is that they have not really had a solid foundation in scriptural truth.

These people who are being encouraged to believe God for healing in all circumstances, that give no place for any sickness, when sickness does come or when death does come, they're not able to handle it.

Because they don't have a proper foundation in God's Word and in the truth. And thus, when the superstructure is shaken, they've got nothing to fall back on. Jesus said, A foolish man built his house upon the sand.

A wise man built his house upon the rock. And the rain came, the floods rose. The house that was built upon the sand perished. But the house that was built upon the rock stood. Luke's gospel tells us that the wise man dug deep and built his house upon the rock.

And it's important that we lay a good foundation for our relationship with God. And that good foundation has to be based upon proper concepts of God that are brought to us through the Word of God. So, God is good.

I know that. I must remember that. Because that truth will be challenged by the experiences of my life. But underneath, I know that God is good. So, the psalmist begins with that basic foundation. I know that God is good, but as for me, different story.

My feet were almost gone. My steps had well nigh slipped. I almost had it. I was almost wiped out. I was slipping. I was going under. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

We are told in the law not to covet. In the New Testament, we are told that envy is one of the works of the flesh. It is easy if I get my eyes off of God and onto people to become envious at the prosperity of the wicked.

It would be exciting to have your own personal jet. It would be exciting to have a yacht. All equipped and ready to go anytime you went down to the dock. They'd salute you and bring out your chair, you know.

And you'd say, I want to go to Catalina this weekend. Or let's go to Baja or something, you know. And just to have the whole thing, you know, where you had that kind of power and possessions. To have a beautiful estate with manicured grounds.

And you see these kind of things. And when we have a hard time paying our rent, we think it's not fair that those people can spend two million dollars for a stupid painting. And I can't buy a Big Mac.

And we begin to be envious at the prosperity of the wicked. Here I am, Lord. I love you. I go to church faithfully. I pray. I pay my vows. I'm obedient. And yet I have this hardship. Yet I seem to always be in trouble.

Financial problems. My kids are sick. And here are these people. They don't even think about you. They blaspheme your name. They're ungodly. They're unrighteous. And yet they're blessed. They're prosperous.

They have more than their heart could wish. And you start looking around at the inequities within the world. And it is difficult to handle. It would seem that if God is good, He would bless good people and smite the wicked.

I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. And then He begins to express the things that He was observing. Yet it must be recognized and admitted that the things that He is saying about the wicked are not always true.

But Satan has a way of putting and planting a thought in our minds and then building on it. And as he begins to build this thought in our minds, he begins to exaggerate the thing. So we begin to make rash statements of generalization that aren't really true.

But I don't want you to tell me they're not true. I don't want you to tell me I'm generalizing because I'm upset and I want to just blow the thing, you know, blow it up bigger than it really is. And we do have a tendency when we are upset to blow the situation to a greater degree than is actually true.

But that's just one of the games that Satan plays in our minds. There are no bands in their death. But their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men. Neither are they plagued as other men.

Now, this is not true. Wicked people have weakness. They become sick. They become infirmed. Just like everybody else. Look at Howard Hughes. Now, I don't mean to infer that he's wicked, but he didn't have any real testimony that I ever heard of real faith and trust in God.

There were bands in his death. There were years of drug addiction. He did have troubles. He was plagued. And yet, you know, you pick out isolated cases and then you exaggerate that. Therefore, pride compasses them about as a chain and violence covers them as a garment.

Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than their heart could wish. And yet, these men are corrupt. They speak wickedly. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens. They speak against God.

And their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore, as people return hither, waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. They've got all they could ever wish, but yet people are always bringing them gifts and, you know, catering to them.

And they say, How does God know? And is their knowledge in the Most High? In other words, they deny the existence of God. Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world and they increase with riches.

Now, the psalmist, upon looking at this and upon building this case in his mind, was led to false conclusions. And that, of course, is always the purpose that Satan has in building up in your mind situations like this.

The purpose is to lead you to false conclusions. The false conclusion that the psalmist was led to is Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain. Or, it doesn't pay to try to live the right kind of a life.

It doesn't pay to be good. It doesn't pay to seek to be righteous. The wicked are the ones that get all the breaks. The wicked are the ones that have it made. It doesn't really pay to try to live right.

I've washed my hands in innocency. For all day long, I'm plagued. I'm chastened every morning. I've got problems surrounding me all the time. Now, if I say I speak thus, then I would offend against the generation of thy children.

And when I sought to know this, it was too painful for me. Life does have painful experiences. And there are some things that are so painful, we don't like to think about them. In fact, there are some things that are so painful, we've got to somehow put them out of our mind.

When I sought to know this, when I sought to understand the things in my life, it was just too painful. I couldn't do it. It is wrong to think that you're going to understand everything that happens in your life.

Why it happened. We always seek and search for the rationale. Why God allowed a Christian lady to be raped and murdered in her own home. And so we try to rationalize. You can't. There's no way we can understand that.

We know that God is good. Why God would allow that, we don't know. We can't understand that. There's no sense of trying to pretend that we do. There are many experiences that we will face in life that we do not understand.

The ways of God or the whys of God. And so often a person comes up and says to me, Chuck, I don't know why God... And I say, don't go any further. I don't either. I don't know the whys of God. I'm not God.

I can't tell you why God allows certain things. When I was first in the ministry, I was under a heavy, heavy burden. Because I felt I had to have an answer for everybody. Because I was young. I just had, you know, people ask me questions.

I had to have an answer. Even if I didn't know one. I had to figure one out. Frame one. Under all kinds of pressure to give answers. I was trying to answer why God was doing various things. Thank God now that I'm older, people don't expect me to know everything anymore.

And so I have a lot of questions that people ask me and I just flatly answer, I don't know. And it's been so comfortable since I've matured to the place where I can answer honestly and say, I don't know.

I don't know all the answers. Far from it. I do not know the whys of God. It's very hard. Because I do represent God to people. As a minister of Jesus Christ, I seek to represent Him. And people say, but why did God allow this to happen to my little girl?

Why did God allow this to happen to my wife? I don't know. Painful. I seek to understand it is too painful for me. And so the psalmist, his foot was slipping. He was almost gone. As his mind was dealing with these things, it just about wiped him out.

Seeing Life from an Eternal Perspective

Till, I went into the sanctuary of God and then, I saw their end. Going into the sanctuary of God gave to him a broadened perspective. And that is always the chief value of coming into the house of God.

The chief value of gathering together with the Word of God is that we come into the consciousness of the eternal and our perspective is broadened. Because my problem in trying to deal with the issues of my life is that I'm always looking at them in the narrow perspective of today, tomorrow and next week.

The present discomfort that I feel. The present sorrow that I experience. The present hardship that I'm going through. And I'm always interested in immediate relief from this present situation. From the pain or the grief or the hurt.

Whereas, when God is dealing in my life, He is dealing with the eternal in view. God is looking down into eternity. And He's looking at the eternal values. And it is better for me to go through life maimed and enter into eternity with Him than to go through life whole and to go to hell.

And because God is dealing with eternity in view, sometimes He has to take away from me that which I count dear, that which I hold precious in order that He might work in my life His eternal purpose and plan.

But I'm always looking at just the fact that I've lost it. I don't want to lose it. I, you know, wanted that. Oh God, why did You take it away? And God could see what it was doing in detracting me from my walk and fellowship with Him.

And thus He removed it because He was interested in my eternal well-being. And when I come into the sanctuary of God, coming into the consciousness of the eternal, then I see things in a clear perspective where I see them now in the eternal.

As Paul said, we look not at the things which are seen, they are temporal. We look at the things which are not seen because they are eternal. And the present sufferings then are not worthy to be compared with the glory that's going to be revealed in us.

Even Jesus, who for the joy, the eternal joy, that was set before Him, endured the cross though He despised the shame. Sometimes I'm given a cross that I despise. I don't want to carry it. Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me.

I don't want to go through this experience. I don't want to suffer this loss. And yet God lays it upon me because He's looking down to the glory that shall be revealed. He's looking down the line to the eternal benefits and welfare that He has in mind for me in His eternal kingdom.

And so, the psalmist almost tripped up until he went into the sanctuary of God. And then he got the broader view. Surely, you did set them in slippery places. You cast them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors?

This is a portion of the text that Jonathan Edwards used in his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Perhaps one of the most powerful sermons that has ever been preached on the American continent by old Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan.

He was nearsighted. And he had written the sermon out and he read it just right up close because he was nearsighted. But that sermon was so powerful before he was finished. Sinners were crawling down the aisles, crying out in agony, begging God for mercy.

Sinners in the hands of an angry God. He took this, Surely thou hast set them in slippery places. And he likened to sinners as walking on an icy plank over the pit of hell with nothing to hold on to. At any moment, your foot is going to slip and you'll be plunged on into destruction.

God is under no obligation to keep you alive. God is under no obligation to hold you up. So the psalmist saw the end of the life of wickedness. It's not so good. It's not so pleasant. Oh, how foolish to envy them.

Look what their destiny is. How foolish to be jealous of them. Look what is in store. They are consumed with terrors. As a dream, when one awakes, so, O Lord, when you awake, you will despise their image.

Thus, my heart was grieved. I was grieved with my own stupidity, with my own folly. Imagine about to be tripped up over something like that. Oh, my, how foolish I was. And ignorant. I was like a beast before you.

That is, without reasoning capacities, without logic. I was just like an animal with no reasoning capacities. For nevertheless, here I was envious of them, but they are devoid of you. I am with you continually.

You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel. And at the end, you are going to receive me into glory. Oh, what a wonderful life I really have. God is with me, holding me by the right hand, guiding me with His counsel.

And when I get to the end of the road, He is going to receive me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? There is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

For lo, they that are far from Thee shall perish. Thou hast destroyed all them that go a-whoring from Thee. But it's good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in Jehovah God, that I may declare all Thy works.

The psalmist almost slipped, but he discovered that the wicked was the one who was really in slippery places, not him. Psalm 74 is one of those psalms where the psalmist again is speaking of the desolation that has come and the apparent quietness of God in the face of the desolation.

Psalm 74: Lament over the Defiled Sanctuary

God didn't do anything to stop it. God has allowed this desolation and God's hand is not yet seen as far as the delivering of the people. O God, why hast Thou cast us off forever? Why doth Thine anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

Remember Thy congregation which Thou hast purchased of old, the rod of Thine inheritance which Thou hast redeemed, this Mount Zion where You have dwelt. Lift up Your feet unto the perpetual desolations, even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

For Thine enemies roar in the midst of Thy congregations. They set up their ensigns for signs. A man was famous, according to as he had lifted up the axes upon the thick trees, but now they are breaking down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.

And so he speaks of the desolation that had come to the house of God. How they had taken the axes and hammers and had destroyed the beautiful carved works that were there in the sanctuary of God. And how they then set it on fire and they defiled by casting down the dwelling place of Thy name to the ground.

And so the Holy of Holies was cast down. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together. They have burned up all of the synagogues of God in the land. And we see not our signs. There is no more any prophet.

Neither is there any among us that knows how long. We don't know how long this desolation is going to go on. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme Thy name forever? Why do you withdraw your hand, even your right hand?

Pluck it out of your bosom, Lord. Get busy, God. Help us. For God is my King of all, working salvation in the midst of the earth. You did divide the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the dragons in the waters.

You broke the heads of the Leviathan in places and gave him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. You did cleave the fountain and the flood. And you dried up the mighty rivers. The day is Thine.