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O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins (Psalm 79:1, ESV).
The Psalms encompass the gamut of human emotions: joy, victory, frustration, anger, sorrow, vengeance, love, forgiveness, defeat, praise, and complaint. There is a psalm for any experience.
In Psalm 79, with the defeat and destruction of Jerusalem, we listen as Asaph (the author of this psalm) describes his anguish, questioning, and somehow still gratitude for God. This psalm provides a format for dealing with our deepest sorrows.
Babylon had conquered Jerusalem, and the inhabitants were slaughtered, with neighboring countries mocking.
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 (v. 2).
We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us (v. 4).
Have others ruined you, and those around you cheer the calamity? Have you questioned God’s goodness? Have you longed for justification and restoration?
How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? (v. 5a)
Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name! (v. 6)
Every time I read Psalm 79, I note a similarity to Christ on the cross.
The chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way (Matthew 27:41-44).
When we falter, do our enemies rejoice, and do they mock us with statements like, “We knew there was something wrong with him/her,” “He/she deserved it,” or “It was their fault”? The leaders of the Jews ridiculed Jesus and challenged his relationship with God. Psalm 79 describes the same response by Israel’s enemies in their defeat …
Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” (v. 10a)
Do we feel lost during our trials? Jesus said on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 27:46). Do we cry out, “God, why have you left me?”
The undergirding lesson of Psalm 79, and with most of our defeats, is that sin removes God’s favor, sets us up for attacks by enemies, and hinders God’s protection. The Israelites had forsaken God and adopted pagan behavior. Fortunately, God did restore Israel, as Asaph pleads …
Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. 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! (vv. 8-9)
The difference between Israel and us today is that Israel suffered for their sins while Jesus died for our sins. We live under a new covenant of grace and mercy, allowing the Spirit to work God’s holiness into our thoughts, attitudes, and actions.
We still suffer and encounter trials (some due to others’ attacks, and some due to our own mistakes). Still, we learn from Psalm 79 and experience in our relationship with Jesus that everything works towards the goodness of God.
But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise (v. 13).
Psalm 79 details the effects of rebellion against God with Israel, but living today as a part of this new “generation to generation” prophesied in Psalm 79, we find our freedom in the blood of Jesus.
Amen. Peace out!