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Day 36

Psalm 74:7a "They have set fire to Your sanctuary..."

Day 36 – Psalm 74

“They have set fire to Your sanctuary…” Psalm 74:7a

IN SHOCK

The psalmist must have written this text in dismay and in shock!

“They have set fire to Your sanctuary;
They have defiled the dwelling place of
Your name to the ground.”
Psalm 74:7

1. “They have set fire to Your sanctuary”

a) This poses a historical problem.
b) When could this incident have taken place?
c) The only instance would be when King Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem and razed the city.
d) In which case the historical Asaph would not have been alive.
e) This psalm that bears his name would thus be written by one who came from the line of Asaph.
f) The setting on fire of the Jerusalem temple was cause for great alarm to all who served in the Temple, and the family of Asaph, being Levites, would certainly be deeply grieved over this matter.

2. “They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground”

a) In this horrendous act of burning the temple to the ground God’s name was “defiled”.
b) The temple represented a number of things to Israel:-
i) It represented the House of God.
ii) It represented the Name of God.
iii) It represented the Glory of God.
iv) It represented the Presence of God.
c) The perpetrators had done the unmentionable.
i) They had brought God’s name down to the ground.
ii) Surely this was cause for God to rise and judge the wicked perpetrators.
iii) Surely God would be personally offended by this affront!