Psalm 75

What's Happening?

Psalm 75 says God has appointed a time for justice against the arrogant on behalf of the weak and poor (Psalm 75:1-2). While it might seem like the powerful and the proud cause the earth to move, it’s God who’s really in control (Psalm 75:3). So the psalmist warns the arrogant not to boast (Psalm 75:4). Their power is an illusion and their fate rests in God’s judgments. It would be unwise to defy him (Psalm 75:5).

No one on earth can defend themselves against God’s prosecution (Psalm 75:6). God judges with absolute clarity and equity. God has never condemned an innocent person. God always exonerates the humble. And God always and perfectly brings down the proud (Psalm 75:7). The psalmist says God’s judgment is like a cup full of foaming wine that the arrogant guzzle to the last drop (Psalm 75:8). It’s a metaphor for being made to drink an uncut dose of one’s own medicine.

Mixing the metaphor, Asaph says the proud are like rams ready to fight God for dominance (Psalm 75:5). They raise their horns, ready to charge, but God simply cuts off their horns. Their source of strength is judged, removed, and given to the innocent people they have taken advantage of (Psalm 75:10). God reverses the fortune of the proud and gives them a just taste of their own medicine. 

Where is the Gospel?

Every day the arrogant use their strength to exploit the humble. The good news for the vulnerable is that God will not leave injustice unpunished or the weak unprotected. The psalmist says God will judge not some but all proud people. This is important because none of us are immune from pride. All of us challenge God for dominance and demand that we live our lives by our rules instead of his. This means the same justice we celebrate is the same justice we should also dread. 

Psalm 75 warns there is a cup in God’s hand (Psalm 75:8). In the justice of God, if we persist in our pride we will be made to drink our own medicine. Those we deem beneath us will rise above us and God will reverse our fortunes. But God doesn’t want any of us to die this way (2 Peter 3:9). That is why Jesus drinks the cup in God’s hands. He drinks it in our place and for our pride (Luke 22:42). In the greatest reversal of fortunes, Jesus drinks the uncut dose of our medicine so that once proud people can be humbled and forgiven. 

See For Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who pours out his cup of justice. And may you see Jesus as the one who willingly drank the cup of God's judgment so that the proud might receive humility.