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Topic: Enemy In The Sanctuary
[DCLM Daily Manna 13 August 2019 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Psalm 74:1-23 (KJV)
1 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.
5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.
7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.
8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.
12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.
22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.
Key Verse: “Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary” (Psalm 74:3).
MESSAGE:
It is not uncommon these days to read stories of maids and househelps who brutalise children under their care. Their masters brought them into the households to take care of children not knowing that they are actually exploiters of children. Immediately such cases are discovered, such housemaids are ejected from the family. No one would want to have his house occupied by an enemy or have them be in charge of his family.
Unfortunately, this is the tone of Psalm 74. It depicts a dire situation whereby the enemy has taken over the sanctuary and the people of God have become helpless. They complain of the outrage and cruelty of their enemies, not so much against themselves but to God’s house. There are no complaints of the burning of their cities and ravaging of their country but what they had done against the sanctuary and the synagogue. We see here what seems more like the cry of a child, wondering why, and grieving that his father’s face is so turned away from him in displeasure.
The passage had been applied to the defilement of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes, but prophetically, it refers to the end-time. It is a picture of the ungodliness and worldliness that have taken over the Church. The enemy is on the altar and the name of God is blasphemed and mocked recklessly.
The people of God must not delight in the holiness-bashing that is taking place in the sanctuary today. It is time to cry, “Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily”. When we call on God, He arises and fights against our common enemies in the Sanctuary because the gate of hell shall never prevail against His church.
Thought For The Day: Erroneous doctrine is the breeding ground for the devil.
The Bible In One Year: Job 1–5
