PSALM 75- The Bigger They Come...

Introduction

So the title of today’s sermon is the first half of an old saying: “The bigger they come… (the harder they fall).” It’s been around at least a century or more; it was popularized by a famous British boxer, Bob Fitzsimmons, before his heavyweight bout with American James “The Boilermaker”Jeffries at the Coney Island Athletic Club in 1899. Jeffries outweighed Simmons by almost 50 pounds and had at least a 5 inch advantage on his reach, but when Fitzsimmons was asked if he was worried about Jeffries’ size, that was his answer— “The bigger they come, the harder they fall!” (Jeffries went on to win that match, knocking out Fitzsimmons in the 11th round).

There’s something endearing—even admirable—about the kind of confident courage that can look a bigger, faster, more powerful opponent in the eye and say that. To not be intimidated by an enemy, but to have a settled conviction that they will fall. That is the sense that you get when reading Psalm 75—this is a psalm of a sure and settled confidence that, the bigger God’s enemies are, the harder they will fall!

If you trace back through the last three psalms of Asaph, you see a progression here—in Psalm 73, Asaph was almost knocked off his feet by unbelief. God’s enemies seemed strong and healthy and happy, and the psalmist almost despaired over it—where was God’s judgment on these mocking, proud enemies?

Psalm 73:11–13 (ESV)

11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” 12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. 13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.

Then in Psalm 74, the psalmist has a more sure—if stubborn—assurance that God will be faithful to judge His enemies:

Psalm 74:18–19 (ESV)

18 Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs, and a foolish people reviles your name. 19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of your poor forever.

But by the time you come to Psalm 75, Asaph has come into a full and certain confidence in God’s ability and promise to bring justice on the earth:

Psalm 75:9–10 (ESV)

9 But I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10 All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

All in all, the psalmist’s condition hasn’t changed through these three psalms—he is still surrounded by enemies, he is still facing wickedness and arrogance that mocks God and seeks to destroy His people, he is still in the trenches of warfare against a world that boasts in prideful arrogance against him—but instead of fretting over them, he is singing! He is no longer intimidated by their threats or their power; he looks up at them in their might and sings, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall!”

And so this is what we can learn from Psalm 75—because we are in the same trenches as Asaph was. We see all around us the boasting arrogance of the enemies of God, threatening to take us down. They have the courts, they have the legislatures, they have the popular culture, they have the institutions of higher learning, they have the arts, they have the medical establishment—and they have far too many churches too.

The need of the hour is not more churches who hide in the trenches, throwing the authority of God’s Word out in order to curry favor with the enemy. What we need is more churches who know how to sing for joy in God and His deliverance in the midst of the battle! We need more Christians who look around at the forces arrayed against God and His people and sing, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall!”

What I believe Psalm 75 is calling us to do this morning, and what I aim to help you learn from God’s Word today, is that as this battle rages around you,

Fill the TRENCHES with your song of COURAGEOUS CONFIDENCE in God

The song that Asaph sings in this psalm is a pattern for our courageous confidence in God. Verse 1 sets the tone for the whole psalm—since it’s a song, you could say that this verse sets the “pitch” for what follows. First of all, as a foundation for everything else to come here in Psalm 75, we see that this is

I. A Song of God’s GRATEFUL PEOPLE (Psalm 75:1)

Psalm 75:1 (ESV)

1 We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.

Courageous confidence in God that equips you to sing in the trenches of this warfare is first of all a grateful confidence. Asaph begins his psalm with gratitude to God. Worshipping God in song begins in an atmosphere of gratitude to Him—the same connection comes through in the Apostle Paul’s instructions for how the church in Colossians was to sing:

Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Notice at least two specific reasons Asaph and his congregation are grateful to God in Psalm 75:1—first, they

Give thanks for the NEARNESS of His NAME (cp. Psalm 121:2-4)

Psalm 75:1 (ESV)

1 We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near...

In 1 Kings 18, the prophet Elijah taunted the prophets of Baal, saying,

1 Kings 18:27 (ESV)

27 ...“Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”

Baal can’t answer your prayers at the moment; he’s out of the office… But YAHWEH dwells with His people! He is never too far away to answer; He is never out of town or indisposed,

Psalm 121:2–4 (ESV)

2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

2 Chronicles 16:9 (ESV)

9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him...”

Asaph’s courageous confidence in God comes from his gratitude that God is near—He is always at hand when His people call. And so a grateful people give thanks for the nearness of His Name, and they

Give thanks for the WONDER of His DEEDS

Psalm 75:1 (ESV)

1 We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.

In a couple weeks, Lord willing, we will come to Asaph’s longest Psalm, Psalm 78, a song to teach the coming generations all about the faithful works and wondrous deeds of God—it clocks in at 72 verses, and even then it is far too short to adequately tell of all of God’s power and might and grace and mercy and provision on behalf of His people!

Asaph is careful to set the pitch for Psalm 75 in gratitude for God’s faithfulness, because it is only from that starting point that this song of courageous confidence can be sung. Understand here that the more you recount the amazing work God has done in and through you by His Spirit through faith in Christ, the greater your gratitude. Compare this psalm to Asaph’s earlier writing in Psalm 73—in that psalm he acknowledged that God was good to Israel, but he goes on to say, “but as for me...” He didn’t personally rejoice in God’s wondrous deeds for him the way he does here in Psalm 75. And it showed in the weakness of his confidence in Psalm 73.

The courageous confidence that sets the pitch for your song starts when you look back and see all of God’s faithful works in your life. Don’t pine over things you wish God would have done; don’t look with envy on gifts that He has given to others that you wish He had given you. “Oh, God is good to them, but as for me...” Your courageous confidence in God starts with your song of gratitude for His wondrous deeds in your life!

Christian, fill the trenches of your warfare in this life with a song of courageous confidence in your God—it is a song of God’s grateful people, and it is

II. A Song of God’s INEVITABLE JUSTICE (Psalm 75:2-5)

There is a shift in the narrative here, starting in verse 2. Asaph and his congregation sing their gratitude to God for His Name and His works, and then God speaks to them:

Psalm 75:2–5 (ESV)

2 “At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity. 3 When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah 4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn; 5 do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck.’ ”

See the confidence that the psalmist draws from God’s words here—he is confident because of

His CERTAIN promise of JUDGMENT

Remember in Psalm 73, Asaph complained that God didn’t seem to be paying attention to the wicked, that He was slow in executing justice. But here, he sings a song of confidence—God will judge with equity; He will make all things right, and it is surely coming! Even when it seems as though the whole world is falling apart, the psalmist is able to rest in his courageous confidence of God’s timing—because it is God who is holding this world together!

Psalm 75:3 (ESV)

3 When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah

Notice that Asaph inserts a musical interlude at this point (that’s what Selah probably meant)—this is a moment in the music where there is room to consider what has just been sung. God is the One Who is holding this Universe together; He is the One Who sustains and governs all things—even the actions of the wicked and boastful enemies of His people are completely under His control! So the psalmist can rejoice in that certain promise of judgment—he can sing in the trenches because he knows that God’s justice is inevitable!

And see here that, even in the midst of God’s declaration of His certain judgment, there is also

His GRACIOUS Call to REPENTANCE (vv. 4-5)

Psalm 75:4–5 (ESV)

4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn; 5 do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck.’ ”

In light of the fact that God’s justice is inexorably drawing near, and in light of the fact that God Himself governs the breath in their lungs and ordains the steps they take on their paths, He warns them that their best option is to surrender to Him! The image of “lifting up their horn” is a common Old Testament symbol of power, authority or glory. To “lift up their horn” is to set themselves up for more power, more influence, more fame and glory.

Consider this—in times of upheaval and turmoil when, as the psalmist says, “the earth totters, and all its inhabitants” (v. 3), there are always the unscrupulous, self-serving types who “never let a crisis go to waste”, as it were. They will use a global pandemic or racial turmoil or economic upheaval (just to pull a few random examples out of the blue!) to consolidate their own grip on power or influence. And as God is watching them carry out their schemes to enrich or empower themselves, He is graciously calling them to repent, saying to them, “Don’t do it—don’t lift up your horn and exalt yourself! Because I have set My Day for judgment, and when that Day comes, you do not want to be found in your prideful boasting!”

The song that Asaph teaches us to sing here in Psalm 75 is a song of courageous confidence in God who has “...fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness...” (Acts 17:31). The song that we are called to sing in the trenches of our warfare in this world is a song of God’s grateful people, a song of God’s inevitable justice, and in verses 6-8 of our text we see that it is

III. A Song of God’s SOVEREIGN DECREES (vv. 6-8)

Look at the next three verses of Psalm 75 with me:

Psalm 75:6–8 (ESV)

6 For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, 7 but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. 8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.

In Verse 5, God Himself warns the boastful and proud not to lift up their horn, not to speak with a “haughty neck”. And here in verse 6, the psalmist reiterates God’s warning, that it is God who “puts down one and lifts up another”. The psalmist’s song of courageous confidence in God is grounded in God’s sovereign decrees for the inhabitants of the earth—

He ASSIGNS a people’s ASCENDENCY (vv. 6-7; cp. Jeremiah 9:23-24)

In verse 6 the psalmist says that “lifting up”—the promotion or ascendency or success of a person (or a people!) does not come from “east or west” or from “the wilderness”. Some commentators take this to mean that there are no political alliances that will guarantee success or exaltation. (The reference to “the wilderness” is probably a reference to the southern part of Israel, the desert region, or Negeb). No matter where you look, the psalmist says, there is only one guarantee of being “lifted up”, and that is when it is the hand of God that does it!

Psalm 75:7 (ESV)

7 but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.

There is no room for boasting in your strength or cleverness or wealth or power. Jeremiah would say the same thing to the inhabitants of Jerusalem when they took so much comfort in their city’s wealth and power:

Jeremiah 9:23–24 (ESV)

23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

God had given His people Israel their land, their wealth, their prosperity and security—they did not lift up their own horn by looking to the east or west. And Jeremiah was warning the inhabitants of Jerusalem that they were about to suffer the wrath of God for their centuries of rebellion against Him. For just as surely as God assigns a people’s ascendency,

He DETERMINES a people’s DESTRUCTION (v. 8)

Psalm 75:8 (ESV)

8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.

God is the one who will exalt a nation, but if that nation, so exalted, then turns its back on God, stiffening its neck and kicking against His decrees, then God is the One Who will bring that nation low.

The prophet Jeremiah warned Israel about the cup of God’s judgment:

Jeremiah 25:15–18 (ESV)

15 Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day;

And Isaiah delivers a similar warning:

Isaiah 28:7-8 (ESV)

7 These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment. 8 For all tables are full of filthy vomit, with no space left.

Make no mistake—the nation whose God is YHWH is blessed, but the nation that hardens its heart and stiffens its neck and raises its horn up against Him will be brought low. A nation on which the foaming cup of God’s judgment is poured out will stagger, will bounce off the walls and talk nonsense.

Such a nation will become so besotted by its own rebellion that it will insist that being homosexual is a biological reality set at birth, and yet biological sex is imaginary and can be changed with surgery. Such a nation will tear apart a baby in her mother’s womb and insist that such a lethal procedure is “health care”.

Such a nation will lose the ability to tell the difference between “my” property and “your” property, and will enact laws and regulations reminiscent of the glory days of Venezuela to prove it.

Such a nation will be filled with churches whose pulpits are filled with men so staggered under the intoxication of their rebellion that they have no place for the Word of God, but instead, like a drunken head of a household, starve their people by filling their hearts with entertainment, morality tales and clips from the latest season of The Mandalorian because it has a baptism scene in it.

A nation that rejects God and stiffens its neck against His laws and raises itself up in arrogance and pride is a nation that God will bring low. Look around you, Christian: Your country has been on a decades-long bender, and we have long since passed the point where we can just brew a pot of strong coffee and take a cold shower to get back on track. We are draining the poisonous dregs of that cup, and there is only one way back now. There is only one cure, there is only one remedy—full and complete and unmistakable repentance in the Name of Jesus Christ. And so that means that you, Christian, must fill the trenches of this warfare with the song of courageous confidence—the only hope for our people is for them to hear

IV. A song of God’s PRAISEWORTHY GRACE (Psalm 75:9-10)

Psalm 75:9–10 (ESV)

9 But I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10 All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

While everything around him was crumbling and falling apart, the psalmist could sing with courageous confidence in his God, because he was convinced of God’s power

To RESCUE the REDEEMED

He knew that God had set a day when his vindication would be complete! All of the boasting and arrogance of the wicked will someday be silenced, and God would raise up His people!

Christian, this is your song of courageous confidence today—in the midst of this war you are fighting, He sees, and he will rescue you. He will remember you! The Day is coming, one way or another! Sing this song, learn it by heart, make the gratitude of this psalm the background hum of your mind… Have done with grumbling, complaining. Instead, fill your mouth with constant declarations of the goodness of God to you in Christ—He is the One Who has rescued you from the penalty of your sin, He has rescued you from the wrath of God poured out on all those who refuse to bow their heads before Him.

And if that were the extent of the grace of God revealed in this psalm, it would be enough to fuel our eternal praise, wouldn’t it? But there is one more glimpse of the praiseworthy grace of God in these last two verses—His grace to rescue the redeemed, and His grace

To REDEEM the GUILTY

Look again at verse 9, and the way God is described:

Psalm 75:9 (ESV)

9 But I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

Throughout the Scriptures, God is often referred to as “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. But there are several places (ten of them in the Psalms) where God is simply called “the God of Jacob”.

Think of it—Jacob, the deceiver. Jacob the supplanter. Jacob the man who always had a scheme cooking, whether it was getting more speckled goats from his father in law Laban or tricking his brother out of his birthright, or shielding himself from his adversary by hiding behind his wives and children. Always looking for the main chance, on the lookout for a way to exalt himself.

And God says “I am his God! I am the God of Jacob!” Because God is the God who will redeem the boastful, proud schemer! God is the God who will wrestle you to the ground and pop your hip out of joint to humble you! He is the One Who upholds the pillars of the earth, the One Who exalts and the One Who brings low, the God Who graciously calls the schemer and the charlatan out of his rugged ways and brings him into His righteousness!

Friend, if you are here today and you see yourself in these verses; you have been stiffening your neck with your boasts of your self-sufficiency, you pride yourself on pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps and not depending on anyone for anything, that if God had anything to do with your accomplishments or success it wasn’t because you needed Him to. If your ego tells you that there are plenty of people out there who already think you’re a good person, so why do you need Jesus; if you don’t like the idea of submitting to Him, that you might be okay with agreeing with Him from time to time, but turning your life over to Him is a bridge too far—if that is where your heart is today, then let me plead with you once more to look at what His Word says here.

The God that you do not want to obey is the God Who holds all things together by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). He is the God Who

Acts 17:31 (ESV)

31 ...has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

And when that Day arrives, you do not want to be found outside of that Man! When that Day comes, the wine of His wrath will not be mixed or diluted or cut—it will be poured out full strength on all those who refuse to worship Him. You will:

Revelation 14:10 (ESV)

10 ...drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and ...will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

That pride that you are holding on to will destroy you. That stiff neck that refuses to submit to Christ’s call to repent will someday drag you down into Hell for all eternity. You cannot escape the One Who holds the Universe together, you cannot outmaneuver or outwit the One Who has outwitted Death itself and reigns now for eternity and calls for your obedience. There is far more mercy in Him than there is foolish pride in you—turn away from that pride, turn away from that boasting in yourself, confess your guilt and shame and pride and brokenness before Him, lay it all down at His feet, and come—and welcome!—to Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION:

Hebrews 13:20–21 (ESV)

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

Read through Psalm 73-75 in one sitting. How do you see the psalmist’s confidence in God growing through these psalms? Why do you think this change took place?

How does recounting God's wondrous deeds increase our gratitude towards Him? Why is it important to focus on God's faithfulness rather than comparing ourselves to others?

How do verses 2-5 of Psalm 75 provide us with a message of grace for our world? How can you live your life in such a way that you are a testimony to the grace of God for sinners?