January 20
Reading: Psalm 79
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
to the birds of the heavens for food,
the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
mocked and derided by those around us.
5 How long, O LORD?
Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name!
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his habitation.
8 Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and atone for our sins,
for your name’s sake!
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
be known among the nations before our eyes!
11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
12 Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors
the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
13 But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
Psalm 79 begins with another lament over Jerusalem from the Sons of Asaph. In this respect it is like Psalm 74. Like that previous psalm, this psalm moves from lament to questions to pleading to praise. Again, the first step in the movement is the statement “How long, O Lord?” (vs. 5 like Psalm 74:10)
Verses 1-4 of Psalm 79 reflect the fact that the Babylonians have and laid waste to Jerusalem and its people. These words are lament and lament usually begins with description. Lament is good for the soul, and it begins with describing to God what is going on and the pain that we feel. Why do we do this? Doesn’t God already know? He does. But it is good for us to tell Him. We are like a child in daddy’s lap telling him our pain. He knows. But nonetheless it is good to speak it.
Then, in verse 5, “How Long, O Lord?” The psalmist is asking God how long will He stay angry? He is asking God to redirect His anger at the nations that have harmed His people.
But then, beginning in verse 8, the request changes. It is as if the psalmist realizes what the real problem has been and still is. God’s people have sinned and need forgiveness. They need God to save them from their sins. And why should God do this? “For Your name’s sake.” (vs. 9)
The final four verses make clear what “for Your name’s sake means.” God’s reputation is at stake. Does God want the nations to be saying that God has left His people, that He does not keep His promise? Does God want people to think that they can get away with their assault against His people? Doesn’t God want His people to praise Him again?
God does want His people to praise Him. God will answer this prayer.