Psalm 079

Introduction

This is another lamentation where the psalmist cries to the Lord because of the trouble which he and God’s people are facing. It’s also another psalm of Asaph. I’ve said before that Asaph was appointed by David to provide music for the worship of God. However, today’s psalm seems to be about the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, which took place a long time after David was alive. And so, it’s perhaps the case that the psalm was not written by the original Asaph, but by one of his descendants.

In verses 1 to 5, the psalmist describes what happened to God’s people. He then brings his petitions to the Lord in verses 6 to 12. And the psalm ends with a promise to praise God in verse 13.

Verses 1 to 5

The psalmist addresses the Lord in verse 1 and cries out to him because the nations have invaded God’s inheritance. When he refers to God’s inheritance, he probably means the Promised Land of Canaan, which the Lord gave to his people as an inheritance. They inherited the land from him as a gift which they did not deserve or earn. And the psalmist goes on to mention the temple and the city of Jerusalem. So, not only have the nations invaded the land, but they have taken over Jerusalem and they have defiled God’s holy temple and they have reduced the great city to rubble. It’s most likely that he’s referring to the time when the Babylonians invaded the land, destroyed Jerusalem, and when they took away the people as captives to Babylon.

We’ve been reading through the book of Jeremiah on Sunday evenings and Jeremiah was warning the people that this would happen to them if they did not turn away from their unbelief and rebellion. And then the book of Daniel tells us of how Daniel and his three friends were taken from Judah to Babylon. And the books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell us of the time when God’s people were allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the walls surrounding the city. And all the Old Testament prophets can be divided up into those who were writing before the exile and those who were writing during the exile and those who were writing after the exile.

So, the exile to Babylon and the return from exile feature prominently in the Old Testament. And in this psalm, the psalmist is writing about what happened at the beginning of the exile, when the nations invaded the land, defiled the temple and destroyed the city.

He says that the nations have given the dead bodies of God’s servants as food to the birds of the air; and they have given their flesh to the beasts of the earth. He means the bodies of those who were killed were not buried. And so, the birds and animals were able to use them for food. He also says that their enemies have poured out blood like water. So, we’re to imagine a stream or river flowing down the streets of the city. But it’s not a stream of water, but of blood. And there’s no-one to bury the dead, because those who survived have been taken away into exile. The once busy and bustling city of Jerusalem has been devastated because of the nations who invaded the land.

And so, the psalmist complains that they have been objects of reproach and scorn and derision to their neighbours. When he refers to their neighbours, he probably means the neighbouring nations around Judah. Instead of being sympathetic, they are mocking God’s people because of what has happened to them. They have become a laughing stock.

And so, the psalmist asks the Lord in verse 5: ‘How long?’ And he means: ‘How long will God be against them? How long will God be angry with them?’ This tells us that he believes the Lord sent the nations to attack them, because the Lord was angry with his people. And when he refers to God’s jealousy in the second line of verse 5, it tells us that the psalmist believes the Lord is angry with them because they had turned away from him to worship false gods and idols. Their idolatry provoked him to jealousy. So, they had promised to forsake all other gods and to worship him alone; but they forsook the Lord and went after other gods. And so, the psalmist is saying that the Lord let this happen to them because they had turned away from him.

And yet, by asking ‘How long?’, the psalmist makes clear that he believes the Lord is still in control and that the Lord will not let the devastation continue forever. The psalmist believes it will come to an end one day. So, how long do we have to endure our suffering before you come and put it to an end?

Verses 6 to 12

In verses 1 to 5 he describes what happened to them. And in verses 6 to 12 he brings his petitions to the Lord.

Firstly, he asks the Lord to pour out his wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge God and on the kingdoms that do not call on God’s name. So, instead of pouring out his wrath on his people who have sinned, pour it on those people who do not worship you. And pour your wrath on them because look what they have done! They have devoured Jacob, which is another name for all of God’s people; and they have destroyed Jacob’s homeland, which is the Promised Land of Canaan.

Here we see how the Lord is able to use our sins for his own good purpose. The Babylonians sinned when they devastated Judah and when they killed the people without mercy and when they took the survivors into exile. They should not have done any of those things. And yet, God used their sins for his own good purpose, because he used the Babylonians to punish his people for their waywardness. So, God used the sin of the Babylonians for his own good purpose.

However, since the Babylonians had sinned, then the psalmist calls on God to punish them for it. Don’t let them get away with what they have done wrong, but hold them to account for what they have done. He wants to see justice done.

Then, in verses 8 and 9 he asks for forgiveness fod God’s people in exile. So, don’t hold against us ‘the sins of the fathers’. The expression ‘the sins of the fathers’ really refers to their former sins. So, it’s not so much the sins which our fathers committed, but the sins which we committed in the past. And that means he’s asking God not to hold their sins against them. Don’t hold against us the sins we used to commit, before you sent us into exile. And that suggests that a change has taken place in their hearts. Before God punished them, they were going astray. But now that God has punished them, they have confessed their sins and turned from them. And since they have confessed them, and turned from them, he now wants the Lord to forgive them.

So, have mercy on us and come quickly to help us, because we’re in desperate need. They’re in desperate need, because the land has been devastated and they’ve been taken away into exile. They’re living far from the Promised Land. So, don’t hold our former sins against us, but forgive us and let us return to the Promised Land.

And in verse 9 he asks the Lord to help them for the glory of God’s name and to deliver them and forgive their sins for his name’s sake. More literally he asks the Lord to atone for their sins. Atonement in the Bible can mean to wipe clean or to pay a ransom. Probably the former idea is in his mind here and he’s asking the Lord to wipe their guilt away and to remember it no more.

And he asks the Lord to help them and to forgive them for the sake of God’s name. This recalls Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9, when he asked the Lord to let the exiles return from their captivity in Babylon. And Daniel prayed: ‘O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O Lord, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your name.’ Daniel and Asaph ask the Lord to help them and to deliver them and to forgive them for the sake of God’s name. That’s because the land and the city and the pople bore God’s name. Judah is the Lord’s land. Jerusalem is the Lord’s city. The people are the Lord’s people. So long as the land was devastated and the city was in ruins and the people were held in captivity, then the nations could say that the Lord was weak and powerless and unable to save them. They would therefore despise the name of the Lord, thinking that the Lord was unable to save them and that their own gods were greater than the Lord. And so, Daniel and Asaph asked the Lord to act on their behalf in order to defend his own reputation among the nations; and to make clear that he is the Lord of lords and the great God over all. So: Let the nations see what a great God you are and what a compassionate and merciful God you are. Or, as it says in verse 10, don’t give the nations a reason for saying, ‘Where is their God?’ Let them see what you can do.

And he wants the nations to see that the Lord is a God who avenges the outpoured blood of his servants. Asaph doesn’t want the nations to think that they can get away with their sins and that it doesn’t matter what they do. He wants the nations to know that they should fear the Lord, because the Lord is a God of justice who punishes iniquity.

And in verses 11 and 12 he asks the Lord to hear their groans and to uphold those who are condemened to die. He wants the Lord to hear his people and to save them. And he also asks the Lord to repay the nations sevenfold — that means fully — for the way they have reproached the Lord. Again, he’s concerned for the honour of God’s name. The nations despised God. They disregarded him. They insulted him. Don’t let them get away with it. Pay them back for what they have done when they dishonoured you.

Verse 13

And the psalm closes with verse 13, where the psalmist describes God’s people as the sheep of his pasture. Since they are his sheep, then he’s responsible for looking after them and for protecting them from danger. He’s therefore counting on the Lord to shepherd them and to lead them back to the sheep fold of the Promised Land. And they, in return, will praise the Lord for ever and from one generation to the next.

Conclusion

The psalmist knows that they have sinned and done wrong. And therefore the Lord was right to punish them. But now that they have turned from their sins, he asks the Lord not to hold their sins against them, but to forgive them and to save them from the exile and to bring them back to the Promised Land. He also asks the Lord to punish the wicked for their wickedness. And he asks the Lord to forgive them and to punish the wicked for the sake of his name. In other words, he wants it to become clear to all that God’s eyes are too pure to look upon evil and that he cannot tolerate wrong, but that he will punish all who do evil and who do not repent. And he wants it to become clear to all that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; and that he’s willing to forgive and save the humble and lowly and contrite.

This psalm therefore foreshadows the great and terrible day of the Lord when, for the sake of his own name, the Lord will condemn and punish the wicked for all that they have done wrong; and when the Lord will forgive and save his people, who confessed their sins before God and asked for his forgiveness. And God is able to forgive and save us, because of Christ our Saviour, who made atonement for our sins when he gave up his life on the cross. Because he took the blame for us, our guilt is wiped away and the stain of our sin has been removed from us. And so, when we stand before God’s judgment seat, he will not hold against us our former sins: the sins we committed during our life. He will not hold them against us, because Christ has paid for them on our behalf. And though we deserve to be sent away from God’s presence forever, exiled to hell itself, we can look forward to coming into the Promised Land of Eternal Life to be with God forever and forever.

Meanwhile, God will punish all those who did not glorify him as God, and who did not give thanks to him; and who, instead of putting him first in their lives, put others things before him. He will punish them for all that they have done wrong.

And in this way, God’s name will be exalted on the day of judgment, because he will display his justice by punishing the wicked for their sins; and he will display his grace and mercy by pardoning his people for the sake of Christ and by bringing them into his presence, where we will praise him forever and forever.