Psalm 79- How Long, O Lord
*This blog is part of our weekly, virtual Bible Study through the book of Psalms. For information on how to participate, please visit this page.
By Ben Quine
Have you ever felt like you couldn’t take it anymore? That your suffering was too great to bear? Have you ever been broken hearted because the wicked were triumphing over God’s people? Asaph felt that way. He wrote Psalm 79 from a place of great despair, during the time of Israel’s exile in Babylon; from a place of unspeakable pain, he pleaded with God. Asaph addressed God humbly and honestly, and he gave us a model of prayer for when we are in distress.
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.
These verses describe the horrible suffering God’s people experienced at the hands of the Babylonians. The scene painted here is one of unimaginable pain and devastation. Murder. Injustice. Defeat. Destruction. The desecration of the Lord’s Temple.
Asaph knew that Israel had disobeyed God’s law, broken His covenant, and rejected His prophets. God had promised that He would send them into exile unless they repented, but they refused (Deuteronomy 28). And so both Jerusalem and the Temple were brutally destroyed in 587 AD.
5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
God’s punishment was just, but it was horrible. So Asaph pleads with His almighty, loving Sovereign. He brings six different appeals on behalf of God’s people:
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.
Asaph appeals to God for judgment on the wicked nations who did this evil — they did not know God or follow His ways. He earnestly prays for God to turn His wrath against Israel toward her adversaries, instead.
8 Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
Asaph appeals to God for mercy. He knew Israel could not stand on the basis of their righteousness, so instead, he cried out for mercy. “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3)
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!
Asaph appeals for God to act on behalf of His own renown (just as Moses did in Exodus 32:12 and Deuteronomy 9:28). He asks God to act to uphold His own reputation and honor.
11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
Asaph appeals to God on behalf of the weak and the oppressed, trusting Him to come to the aid of the helpless.
12 Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
Asaph appeals to the justice inherent in God’s character. He calls for a “sevenfold” (meaning complete, or thorough) repayment of all the evil deeds and taunts.
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.
Asaph finally appeals to the Good Shepherd to gather His sheep together, so that they will be able to praise Him as a group forever.
In his distress, Asaph pens a prayer that reverberates with us in our distresses today.
And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily… (Luke 18:7-8)
Jesus taught that we should, like Asaph, call out to our heavenly Father for justice. He wants us to know that God sees what we are going through, that He cares about our heartaches, and that He will answer our prayers for deliverance.
Though not immediately, Asaph’s prayer was fulfilled. Babylon was destroyed by Persia. And during the Persian reign the Hebrew people returned to the land of Israel under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah.
But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God… For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:12, 14)
The ultimate fulfillment of Psalm 79 is in Christ Jesus.
Like Israel in exile, each of us has earned the just wrath of God. Like Israel, the punishment we deserve is far too great for us to bear. Christ took upon himself the just punishment we owed. He paid the horrible debt, and suffered on our behalf to give us full atonement. If you have never done so, call out to Jesus for mercy and forgiveness right now.
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:11-16)
One day Jesus Christ the King is coming again. He will return, riding a white horse, and he will defeat all the adversaries of God with the breath of his mouth.
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31)
Then Christ Jesus himself will sit in judgment over the nations. He will bring final and complete justice. Your prayers for deliverance will be answered. Be honest with God. Tell Him how you are feeling. Confess your sins. Trust Him and commit all your ways to Him. He will answer!
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