How long will the enemy mock you, God? Will the foe revile your name forever?

Psalm 74:10-17

10 How long will the enemy mock you, God?
Will the foe revile your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!

12 But God is my King from long ago;
he brings salvation on the earth.

13 It was you who split open the sea by your power;
you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
15 It was you who opened up springs and streams;
you dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and moon.
17 It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.



Today’s title is “Remembering God in Times of Crisis”

Many non-believers often say cynically “ Where is your God? Why isn’t He doing anything when there is so much evil in this world? Is your God real?” Of course, they do not believe in God from the beginning. But indeed there are many times that even we believers couldn’t see God’s presence at all in our life. So many faithful believers cry out to God in the same way. We see a lot of outcries of the faithful in the book of psalms. Today’s psalm starts with the same outcry of a believer. The enemy is mocking God. But God seems silent. We see many occasions that the enemy of God mocks at God. Goliath of Philistine mocked God of Israel when he defeated soldiers of Israel. The Babylonians also mocked the God of Israel when they invaded Jerusalem. They destroyed and ransacked the temple of God. They ravaged the people of God mercilessly. But God seemed to remain silent. We encounter such silence of God rather frequently, don’t we? Not only the old faithful but we also face such challenging times. But very often the silence of God becomes the testing rod of true believers. Non-believers take the silence of God at the time of crisis as an excuse to deny God. Weak believers are greatly shaken in their faith. But true believers hold onto the truth of God that they have already experienced. Even at the time of God’s silence, they trust God and His promise. They are not swayed by their own feelings or judgment. They remember who God is and what they have done before. They remember God creating heaven and earth in the beginning. They remember God dividing the sea. They remember that God is the only king and savior of the world. We can add many more personal experiences of deliverances to these cosmic deliverances of God. God saved me when I was dying from sickness. God saved me when I fell into gross sin. He fed me and supplied me when I was utterly helpless. I can go on and on. I am sure you can too. In fact, there were many times that we were at the mercy of enemies but God came to our deliverance at such a time that we thought it was all over. So we stand strong in our faith even at the time enemy mocks us and our God. God’s silence is not God’s lack of care. He could be rather intensely watching over us without taking a breath. Then, in His time, He will come and make His power and wisdom known to us. Can we just persevere in faith until then?