Commentary - Psalm 74:12-17

Bird's-eye view

In the midst of a psalm of lament over the destruction of the sanctuary, the psalmist, Asaph, pivots sharply. He turns his eyes from the present ruin to the eternal reality of God's power and authority. This section, verses 12 through 17, is a creedal recitation of God's mighty acts of salvation, rooted in the foundational events of creation and the Exodus. Asaph is reminding himself and the people of God that the God who seems absent is, in fact, the King from of old. He is not a recently defeated monarch; He is the ancient sovereign who has always worked salvation in the midst of the earth. The imagery is potent and cosmic. God is depicted as a divine warrior, crushing the heads of sea monsters and the great Leviathan, which are potent symbols for both the primal forces of chaos and the historical enemy of Egypt. This victory is not just a past event; it is the basis for all of God's ordering of the world, from the splitting of rivers to the establishment of day, night, and the seasons. The point is this: the God who can defeat cosmic evil and order the universe can certainly handle the present crisis. It is a call to remember who God is in order to have confidence in what He will do.

This passage serves as a powerful theological anchor. When the temple is in ruins and the enemy is boasting, it is easy to think that chaos has won. But Asaph says, "No." Our God is the one who tames chaos. The sea, the monsters, the desert, the rivers, the sun, the seasons, all of it is under His absolute dominion. The victory at the Red Sea was not just a historical deliverance; it was a display of God's creation-ordering power. Therefore, the present disaster is not the final word. The King who crushed Leviathan's heads will not ultimately be mocked by lesser foes.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 74 is a Maschil of Asaph, a communal lament. The first part of the psalm (vv. 1-11) is a desperate cry to God, asking why He has cast off His people and allowed His sanctuary to be defiled and destroyed by enemies. The psalmist paints a vivid picture of axes and hammers in the holy place, of banners raised by invaders, and of the burning of God's house. It is a scene of total desolation, and it feels as though God has abandoned His covenant people. It is precisely at this low point that our passage (vv. 12-17) appears. This section is the theological hinge of the entire psalm. Before Asaph makes his final appeal for God to act (vv. 18-23), he first preaches to himself. He rehearses God's character and His past works of power. By looking back to creation and the Exodus, he builds a case for faith in the present. This is a common pattern in the psalms of lament: the move from complaint to confidence is almost always fueled by remembering God's past faithfulness and His sovereign power.

Key Issues

The Triumphant King of Old

When everything seems to be coming apart at the seams, the first and most necessary task is to get our theology straight. Asaph, surrounded by the rubble of Jerusalem, does not begin by trying to psychoanalyze his feelings or by seeking a political solution. He begins by remembering God. And the God he remembers is not a diminished deity, wringing His hands in heaven. He is the King from of old. This is not nostalgia. This is a declaration of present reality based on past performance.

The imagery here is drawn from ancient Near Eastern motifs, where gods would battle sea monsters to establish order in creation. But the Bible takes this imagery and completely subverts it. In pagan myths, the outcome of the battle is uncertain. But here, there is no contest. Yahweh, by His own strength, shatters the forces of chaos. Leviathan is not a rival deity; he is a creature whom God crushes and serves up as food. The God of the Bible does not fight chaos to become king; He is King, and therefore He effortlessly subjugates chaos. This is the foundation of our faith. Our God is not one actor among many; He is the author, director, and producer of the entire play. The monsters are just props, and He deals with them as He pleases for the advancement of His story.

Verse by Verse Commentary

12 Yet God is my King from of old, Who works deeds of salvation in the midst of the earth.

The psalm pivots on this word, Yet. Despite the destruction, despite the apparent abandonment, there is a greater reality. God is my King. The verb is in the present tense. His kingship did not begin when Israel became a nation, and it did not end when the temple was destroyed. He is King "from of old," from antiquity, from before time. And His kingship is not abstract or distant. He works salvation "in the midst of the earth." He is a God who gets His hands dirty in history. He acts on the world stage, right where we live. This is the foundational confession. Before we look at any specific act, we must first establish who God is. He is the eternal, active, saving King.

13 You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

Now Asaph begins to list the evidence for God's kingship, and he starts with the Exodus. "You divided the sea" is a direct reference to the parting of the Red Sea. But it is described in cosmic, creation-level terms. This was not just a clever manipulation of wind and tide; it was a display of God's raw, sovereign strength. He portrays this event as a battle. In the churning waters of the Red Sea, God "broke the heads of the sea monsters." In Scripture, the sea often represents chaos, the untamed and dangerous forces of the world. The "sea monsters" (tanninim in Hebrew) are symbols of this chaos, but here they are also a poetic reference to the Egyptian army, the great beast of the Nile, which was drowned in the waters. God's salvation of His people involved a crushing defeat of His enemies.

14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food for the creatures of the desert.

The imagery intensifies. Leviathan is the super-monster, the chief of the forces of chaos. In other parts of Scripture, Leviathan is clearly identified with Pharaoh and Egypt (cf. Isaiah 27:1). God did not just break his heads (the plural "heads" indicates his multifaceted power and cunning); He crushed them. This is language of total and complete annihilation. The victory was decisive. And what became of this fearsome beast? God gave him as food for the "creatures of the desert." This is a picture of utter humiliation. The great sea dragon, the symbol of Egypt's pride, becomes carrion for jackals and vultures. The bodies of the Egyptian soldiers washing up on the shore of the Sinai Peninsula were a feast for the creatures of the wilderness. The great enemy of God's people is reduced to nothing more than a meal in the desert. This is what our God does to those who set themselves against Him.

15 You split open spring and river; You dried up ever-flowing rivers.

The psalmist continues to catalogue God's sovereign power over water, the symbol of both life and chaos. He "split open spring and river," a likely reference to God providing water from the rock in the wilderness (Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:11). He can bring water where there is none. Conversely, He "dried up ever-flowing rivers," a clear reference to the damming of the Jordan River so that Israel could cross into the Promised Land (Josh. 3:13-17). He can stop water where it flows mightily. The point is that God has absolute mastery over the natural order. He is not bound by it; He commands it. The forces that seem most powerful and uncontrollable to us, like seas and rivers, are entirely subject to His will. He makes them, and He unmakes them, for the sake of His redemptive plan.

16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have established the light and the sun.

From God's mighty acts in history, Asaph now zooms out to His mighty acts in creation, showing that they are one and the same kind of power. The God who managed the waters of the Red Sea is the same God who manages the cosmos. The regular, predictable rhythm of day and night belongs to Him. He doesn't just own them; they are His. He set them in place. The pagan nations worshiped the sun, but our God is the one who made the sun and put it where it is. He established the "light and the sun," showing His authority over both the created object (sun) and the element it produces (light). This is a polemic against all forms of nature worship. The things men worship are merely the handiwork of the God they should be worshiping.

17 You have caused all the boundaries of the earth to stand firm; You have formed summer and winter.

God's ordering power extends to geography and time. He "caused all the boundaries of the earth to stand firm." This refers to the separation of land and sea, the establishment of coastlines and continents. It is God who prevents the chaos of the sea from overwhelming the order of the land. And He "formed summer and winter." The predictable cycle of the seasons, on which all life depends, is not an accident of astrophysics. It is a divine construction, a work of art that God Himself has formed. The God who defeated Leviathan is the God who brings the spring rains and the autumn harvest. His sovereignty is total, from the cosmic battle against evil to the turning of the seasons. This is the God to whom Asaph is praying.

Application

The application of this psalm is profoundly practical, especially for Christians living in what appears to be a time of cultural collapse and institutional decay. Like Asaph, we can look around and see the sanctuary in ruins. We see hostile banners flying where the standards of Christ ought to be. The temptation is to despair, to think that the monsters of chaos, whether it be a tyrannical state, cultural Marxism, or sexual anarchy, are winning.

At such a time, we must do what Asaph did. We must preach to ourselves from the Word. Our God is still King from of old. The central act of salvation in our history is not the Exodus, but the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. At the cross, Jesus engaged the true Leviathan, that ancient serpent, the devil. And on the third day, He crushed his head. The resurrection was the ultimate dividing of the sea, the ultimate defeat of the forces of chaos and death. The Lord Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He is the one who upholds the cosmos, who sets the boundaries for nations, and who orders the seasons of history.

Therefore, we must not fear the lesser Leviathans of our own day. We must not be intimidated by their apparent power. The God who turned the Egyptian army into desert food can and will do the same to all His enemies. Our job is not to cringe in fear, but to remember our King and to appeal to Him on the basis of His character and His past victories. He who crushed Leviathan at the Red Sea, and who defeated Satan at the empty tomb, will not abandon the work of His hands. He will vindicate His people and establish His kingdom "in the midst of the earth."