How does Psalm 74:11 connect with other scriptures about God's mighty hand? Opening the Text Psalm 74:11: “Why do You hold back Your hand, Your right hand? Draw it out of Your bosom and destroy them!” Hearing the Heartbeat of the Psalmist • The psalmist is bewildered: enemies ravage God’s sanctuary (vv. 3–8), yet the Almighty seems inactive. • He pleads for the very symbol of divine power—God’s hand—to move once more. Tracing God’s Mighty Hand through Israel’s Story • Exodus 6:6 — “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.” • Exodus 13:3 — deliverance from Egypt is forever tied to “a mighty hand.” • Deuteronomy 4:34; 7:19 — Moses reminds Israel that God’s hand overthrew Pharaoh’s tyranny. • Psalm 89:13 — “You have a mighty arm; strong is Your hand, high Your right hand.” ➔ Psalm 74:11 echoes the memory: “Lord, You did it before. Do it again.” Prophetic Echoes of the Same Appeal • Isaiah 51:9–10 — “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD… Was it not You who dried up the sea?” • Isaiah 59:1 — “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save.” ➔ Both passages mirror the longing of Psalm 74:11: present silence does not cancel past power. The Right Hand in the Psalms • Psalm 20:6 — “He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.” • Psalm 118:15–16 — “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly; the right hand of the LORD is exalted.” • Psalm 138:7 — “Your right hand saves me.” ➔ Lament and confidence sit side-by-side; the hand that seems hidden is still mighty. Fulfillment and Continuation in Christ • Acts 2:33 — Jesus is “exalted to the right hand of God,” signifying the same saving power now extended through the risen Lord. • Acts 4:30 — early believers pray, “Stretch out Your hand to heal,” applying Psalm 74:11 language to gospel mission. • 1 Peter 5:6 — believers are called to humble themselves “under God’s mighty hand,” trusting His timing. Living with the Tension Today • Scripture never soft-peddles delay; it invites honest cries like Psalm 74:11. • Past acts (Exodus, resurrection) guarantee future intervention; apparent silence is never impotence. • Our hope rests in a hand once stretched out in judgment on Egypt, later stretched out on the cross, and now stretched out in sovereign care. |
    |