The
Apple of His Eye ... commentary of Psalm 74
The Apple of His Eye
… A commentary of Psalm
74
Verse Two
Psalm 74:2 “Remember thy congregation,
which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of
thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed;
this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.”
The Toboggan Ride
Deuteronomy 19:14: “Thou
shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which
they of old time have set in thine inheritance,
which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD
thy God giveth thee to possess it.”
The congregation of Israel, the
apple of God’s eye, had forgotten their God.
They had removed the landmarks [both
literally and figuratively].
It is said: Israel’s house is forlorn.
FORLORN' - Deserted; destitute; stripped or
deprived; or forsaken.
Hence, lost; helpless; wretched; solitary …
with 190+ nations against her.
Now, a nation is like a house.
And what about us living here in the 21st
century.
Forlorn and neglected
is our house too.
Our nation itself [the United States of
America] is on a fast toboggan sled going down the
slippery road to HELL.
We are certainly no better than Israel.
We have also, rejected GOD's word which is
kept and preserved by GOD for the
English-speaking people in the Authorized Version of
1611. [This BOOK is commonly known as the King
James Bible.]
We too, have seen “the landmarks
removed” in the day which we live.
We have also, like Israel, lost our
true reference to our own starting point.
We have also, departed from our
biblical foundation upon which this nation was
built.
We have also, “reaped” for what we
have “sown.”
Oh, for the grief and for the
sadness that has come across our land and to all of
its inhabitants; as a very dark cloud in the
enveloping blackness of night, so blanketing, and so
leaving for dead the multitudes from even knowing of
the wondrous truths of this old black BOOK, and its
beautiful ways of deliverance and the freedoms
contained therein!
We Gentiles sigh [as well as the Jew]:
We all sigh!
The psalmist of Israel {King David]
in Psalm twelve cried out:
“Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth;
for the faithful fail from among the children of
men. They speak vanity every one with
his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a
double heart do they speak.
The LORD shall cut off all flattering
lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
Who have said, With our tongue will we
prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
For the oppression of the poor, for the
sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the
LORD;
I will set him in safety from him that
puffeth at him.
The words of the LORD are pure words: as
silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven
times.
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt
preserve them from this generation forever.
The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted” [Psalm 12]
The Intercessor
The psalmist [Asaph] by of a song, and
being filled with the Spirit, is nevertheless
moved, to pray for the congregation of Israel
and to pray in their behalf.
Notice: Asaph prays: “Remember thy
congregation” even while knowing it was
because of their sins which caused God in the
first place to hide his face from them and
to not even hear them.
Thus, the psalmist acts an
intercessor.
An intercessor is a mediator.
The mediator interposes
himself between two parties at variance, with a goal
in mind to reconcile them both.
Notice: The mediator pleads in
behalf of another, and he does this by framing out
the points of the argument with which to win
over the other party [God] and thus, achieve
reconciliation.
The two parties at variance are now
here identified:
1. The congregation of Israel
2. The God of Heaven and Earth.
The points of the argument we read
again: “… which thou hast purchased of
old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou
hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast
dwelt.”
Take note: The law of “double-sense”
or double reference is shown here. These are
two events, widely separated as to the time
of their fulfillment is brought together into the
scope of a single prophecy.
Zechariah 9:9-10: “Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he
is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding
upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
And I will cut off the chariot from
Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the
battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak
peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be
from sea even to sea, and from the river
even to the ends of the earth.”
Lay this argument out,
you say!
Well, the first point in the
argument is this: GOD, you “purchased”
us!
When? When did this occur?
Answer: The year was in the spring of B.C. 1491.
Where? Answer: While we were in
Egypt! Do you remember that LORD?
Yes, I certainly do remember the blood
of the lambs applied to the houses where you were.
I passed over you!
This thing is recorded for you in the book
of the Exodus of your people. It is located
in chapter twelve. Come down to verse
thirteen: “And the blood shall be to you for a
token upon the houses where ye are: and when
I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the
plague shall not be upon you to destroy you,
when I smite the land of Egypt.” [Exodus 12:13]
We belong to you! Don’t
throw away that which you purchased with a great
price!
God has “purchased
of old” with an earnest-payment,
by the blood of goats, pointing to a future blood
atonement of the Lamb of God. Where? At
the cross of Mount Calvary.
Definition: earnest-payment is the
first payment called the deposit which gives promise
or assurance of a full payment in a future time.
This transaction: “purchased of old”
[fulfilled in the exodus] was to
point to a future time and place of the
purchase Jesus Christ would make with his own
blood for their salvation.
When?
When did this occur? Answer: The year
was in the spring of A.D. 33.
Where? Answer: In the land of Israel
… outside the city walls of Jerusalem!
Do you remember that place LORD?
Answer? Yes, I do certainly
remember very vividly being there. I remember
my blood … of my LAMB OF GOD who shed HIS BLOOD for
you!
I passed over you!
Now, it is found this
way in the Gospel according to John in chapter one,
verse twenty-nine: “… Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
[John 1:29b]
At this juncture we need to turn to the
books of the Acts of Apostles, to chapter twenty,
verse twenty-eight: “Take heed
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock,
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood.”
[Acts 20:28]
Purchase complete!
The second point in argument is
this: GOD, you “redeemed” us!
You saved us! Don’t throw away that which
you redeemed with a great price!
We are waiting for this happen!!!
Close your eyes ... see this by faith.
“So then faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
[Romans 10:17]
Settle this thing in
your heart: “Which is the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, unto the praise of his
glory.” [Ephesians 1:14]
This redemption of the purchase
is coming soon! This involves
physically taking possession of the purchased
item.
We can see this in the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans: “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” [Romans 8:2]
