Tag: Man Can’t Replace God - Psalm 72-74

Psalms 74:9

We do not see our signs;

there is no longer any prophet,

and there is none among us who knows how long.

Psalms 74:4

Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;

they set up their own signs for signs.

Tag:  Man Can’t Replace God, But He Tries

Psalm 74 for a prayer to God.  Asaph, the writer, is asking God to not forget all that the “Foes” of God (and, by extension, Israel) have done to the Temple and the Jerusalem, the royal city.   They have ruined the city (vs 3) and and scattered the sheep (vs 1).   Asaph points out to God that there is no prophet or priest left to show them the meaning of all these things. (not as thought God didn’t notice, but to acknowledge that Asaph did and needs God’s help to understand it all).   Instead of God’s “signs” being seen and understood, the enemies of God have created their own signs.   The term “signs” was first used in God’s word to speak of the sun and moon.  They were to be “signs” for the seasons.   Later we see the word used for the staff of Moses and Morse hand being turned to leprosy before Pharaoh and the nation of Israel to demonstrate Moses’ authority.  They were powerful signs.   God uses “signs” to show His power.  Man attempts to replace God’s signs with their own philosophies and psychological wondering.   Paul tells us that the Jews always seek for signs:

 1 Corinthians 1:22

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,

He then goes on to tell the Corinthians that the only sign they need is the sign of the cross.   The cross was a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. However, that was the ultimate sign.  The world tries to change the signs, but the truth is, God shows us His sign:  The sign of the cross.   We are to rejoice in that sign and reject the signs of the world.  In Psalm 74 the world’s sign was their power and strength to destroy.  In the cross God’s sign is the power of redemption and the His strength to restore.