Ruins Song – Psalm 74

Imagine driving home from a family outing one day only to return to a pile of smoldering ashes with an occasional metal object standing here and there like charred witnesses to the merciless power of flames. Every thing you worked for, treasured, and lived in... gone. Furthermore, imagine you have no insurance policy, no savings, and no supportive family or friends. This is just a taste of the devastating loss the temple destruction presented to the faithful few at the time of the Babylon invasion of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. - likely the occasion for Psalm 74. The sanctuary was far more than just a home for the people of God, it was God's home among them. It was not a collection of sentimental memories or mere refuge from physical elements, it was the every instrument of their communion with almighty God. Without it they weren't just homeless, they were lost, abandoned, hopeless, condemned, save for God's mercy... and so the Psalmist cries. Can we relate to Psalm 74? It would seem if we set our hope and joy exclusively on the Lord, with no delusions of supplemental saviors, we may more readily relate to this psalm. Perhaps the reason psalms of lament seem foreign to us is due to our tendency to readily invest our hope elsewhere while waiting for the Lord. Consider how the church of Jesus Christ has been overrun by the spirit of the age in our time! Are our prayers and songs appropriate given we are surrounded by so many ruins?