Pleading the Covenant Text: Psalm 74:18-23
Introduction: The Logic of Covenantal Prayer
We live in a sentimental age, an age that has mistaken niceness for virtue and has consequently forgotten how to pray. Modern evangelicalism, particularly in the West, often treats prayer as a polite, celestial suggestion box. We ask for blessings, for comfort, for a good parking spot, and we do so with the kind of timid deference you might use when asking a stranger for the time. But this is not the robust, sinewy, and often ferocious prayer we find in the Psalter. The Psalms teach us how to argue with God. Now, I don't mean quarreling with God, which is always sin. I mean we are to bring covenantal arguments before His throne. We are to take His own promises, His own character, His own reputation, and plead them back to Him. This is what it means to pray in faith.
Psalm 74 is a raw, desperate prayer from a nation in ruins. The sanctuary has been desecrated, the covenant signs have been destroyed, and God appears to be silent. The psalmist, Asaph, has spent the first part of the psalm detailing the wreckage. It is a grim catalogue of sacrilege and destruction. But then, in our text, the prayer pivots. It moves from describing the problem to prescribing the solution. And the solution is not found in the strength of Israel, but in the character and covenant of God. Asaph begins to load his cannons with covenantal ammunition and aims them at the gates of Heaven.
This kind of prayer, what we call imprecatory prayer, makes modern Christians nervous. It sounds vindictive. It sounds hateful. And it can be, if it is rooted in personal animosity. But that is not what is happening here. This is not about personal revenge. This is about zeal for the name and glory of God. The psalmist is not saying, "They hurt my feelings." He is saying, "They have spurned Your name." This is the essential distinction. When we pray like this, we must first ensure our own hands are clean and our cause is righteous. We are not to return evil for evil, but rather to overcome evil with good. We commit the terrors of strict justice entirely to God, particularly for those who are our enemies for His name's sake.
This passage teaches us how to pray when the world is unraveling, when the enemy seems to be winning, and when the church is afflicted. It teaches us to ground our pleas not in our own worthiness, but in God's jealousy for His own great name and His faithfulness to His covenant promises.
The Text
Remember this, O Yahweh, that the enemy has reproached, And a wickedly foolish people has spurned Your name. Do not deliver the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beast; Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever. Look to the covenant; For the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence. Let not the oppressed return dishonored; Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name. Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause; Remember how the wicked fool reproaches You all day long. Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries, The rumbling of those who rise against You which ascends continually.
(Psalm 74:18-23 LSB)
The Central Argument: God's Reputation (v. 18)
The prayer's central argument is laid out in verse 18:
"Remember this, O Yahweh, that the enemy has reproached, And a wickedly foolish people has spurned Your name." (Psalm 74:18)
The psalmist begins by calling on God to "remember." This is not because God is forgetful. This is covenant language. It means to act on the basis of a prior commitment. "Remember your covenant, remember your people, remember your promises." And what is it that God must act upon? The fact that the enemy's attack is ultimately an attack on Him. The enemy has "reproached" and "spurned Your name."
This is the fundamental basis for all righteous imprecation. The issue is not personal. The psalmist is not saying, "They have spurned my name." The offense is theological. The enemies are not just any people; they are a "wickedly foolish people." In Scripture, the fool is not the man with a low IQ. The fool is the man who says in his heart, "There is no God" (Psalm 14:1). He is a moral and spiritual rebel. And his rebellion manifests as contempt for God's authority and character, which are summarized in His "name."
When the world mocks the church, when it blasphemes the Scriptures, when it tramples on God's created order, it is not ultimately attacking us. It is attacking the God who made us and saved us. Our prayer, therefore, should be, "Lord, they are not just mocking me; they are mocking You. Your reputation is at stake." This is a powerful argument because God is infinitely jealous for the glory of His own name. He will not share His glory with another.
The Helpless People and the Binding Covenant (v. 19-20)
Next, the psalmist appeals to the vulnerability of God's people and the security of God's covenant.
"Do not deliver the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beast; Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever. Look to the covenant; For the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence." (Psalm 74:19-20)
The imagery here is striking. Israel is God's "turtledove." A turtledove is not a hawk or an eagle. It is a gentle, defenseless bird. It is a picture of utter vulnerability. The enemy, by contrast, is a "wild beast," savage and merciless. The plea is simple: "We cannot defend ourselves. You are our only protector." This is a confession of complete dependence. God's people are His "afflicted." They are suffering precisely because they belong to Him.
And on what basis can this helpless turtledove appeal for protection? Verse 20 provides the answer: "Look to the covenant." This is the bedrock. The psalmist is not appealing to Israel's obedience, which was spotty at best. He is not appealing to their inherent worth. He is appealing to God's sworn oath. A covenant is a divinely-sanctioned, binding agreement. God swore an oath to Abraham, and He cannot lie. The security of the believer rests not on the firmness of his own grip on God, but on the firmness of God's grip on him, a grip secured by covenant oath and sealed with blood.
The reason for this urgent appeal is that "the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence." When God's law is rejected, the inevitable result is tyranny and violence. When men abandon the fear of God, they lose the basis for respecting other men. The world becomes a dark place, a predator's jungle. This is not just ancient history; it is a perpetual spiritual reality. Any society that turns its back on God will find its dark corners filling up with the "haunts of violence," whether it is the violence of the abortion clinic, the violence of street crime, or the violence of a totalitarian state.
The Desired Outcome: God's Praise (v. 21)
The psalmist is not merely seeking deliverance for its own sake. The ultimate goal is the glory of God.
"Let not the oppressed return dishonored; Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name." (Psalm 74:21)
The concern is that if God's people are ultimately crushed, they will "return dishonored." This dishonor would reflect back on the God who promised to protect them. The watching world would conclude that Yahweh is either unable or unwilling to save. His name would be dragged through the mud along with His people.
The positive goal is that the "afflicted and needy" would "praise Your name." Deliverance is the prerequisite for doxology. God saves His people so that they might become a choir. The purpose of redemption is worship. Therefore, the psalmist is arguing that for the sake of God's own praise, He must act. "Lord, if you save us, we will sing your praises. The whole world will hear of your power and faithfulness. But if you let us be destroyed, the music will stop." This is an appeal to God's own ultimate purpose for creation, which is to be glorified in and through a redeemed and worshiping people.
The Ultimate Plea: God's Own Cause (v. 22-23)
The prayer concludes with the most potent argument of all, urging God to see the conflict as His own.
"Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause; Remember how the wicked fool reproaches You all day long. Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries, The rumbling of those who rise against You which ascends continually." (Psalm 74:22-23)
"Arise, O God" is a military summons, a call to go to war. And the cause of the war? It is God's "own cause." The psalmist has successfully reframed the entire conflict. This is not Israel's battle; it is God's. The church's struggles against the world are never ultimately about the church; they are about the lordship of Christ. When we are persecuted for righteousness' sake, we are simply the battlefield on which a much larger war is being fought. Our role is to call upon our King to fight for His own honor.
The psalmist again reminds God of the incessant nature of the enemy's rebellion. The fool reproaches Him "all day long." The "rumbling" of those who rise against God "ascends continually." This is a picture of constant, arrogant, defiant rebellion. The world's rebellion is not quiet or subtle. It is a loud, clamorous, and ceaseless roar against the throne of Heaven. The psalmist is essentially saying, "Lord, can you not hear it? The noise of their rebellion is filling the heavens. How long will you endure it?"
The final plea, "Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries," is a masterful stroke of covenantal logic. By not forgetting their voice, God must remember His own. The voice of blasphemy demands the voice of judgment. The voice of rebellion demands the voice of the King. God is being called upon to answer the challenge, to vindicate His cause, and to silence the arrogant noise of the wicked with the thunder of His righteous judgment.
Conclusion: Praying for God's Honor
This psalm is a master class in biblical prayer. It teaches us that when we are afflicted for the sake of the gospel, we have every right to approach the throne of grace with boldness. We are not to come with a cringing, sentimental piety that is afraid to mention the wickedness of the wicked. We are to come as God's covenant people, His turtledove, and point Him to the wild beasts who are not only threatening us, but are blaspheming His name.
Our argument is never our own righteousness. Our argument is His righteousness. Our plea is not for our own comfort, but for His glory. We point to the covenant, sealed in the blood of His Son. We remind Him that His reputation is on the line. We ask Him to arise and plead His own cause.
This is how we must pray for the church in our day. The dark places of our own land are full of the haunts of violence. The name of our God is reproached all the day long. The rumbling of His adversaries ascends continually from our universities, our halls of government, and our media. Let us not be timid. Let us pray with the boldness of Asaph. Let us call upon God to look to His covenant, to remember His afflicted people, and to arise and vindicate His own great name. For when God pleads His own cause, He never loses the case.