TEXT: PSALM 80
OBSERVE: Verses 1-2: The psalmist refers to God as the Shepherd of Israel in an appeal to God to listen to their prayer. The psalmist asks God to shine forth. Verse 3: Here is the first statement of the psalm’s refrain calling on God to restore his relationship with his people by saving them. Verses 4-6: The psalmist continues the lament by asking: How Long? Verse 7: Again, the psalmist asks God to restore the relationship. Verses 8-11: Israel is likened to a vine. The vine transplanted from Egypt is an obvious reference to the Exodus. Verses 12-15: The psalmist urgently asks God to return, invoking him again with his battle name “God Almighty”. Verses 16-18: The psalmist requests that God enable their king, since God had given them this king. Verse 19: For the third and climatic time, the psalmist calls on God to restore them to his good graces. INTERPRET: The psalmist speaks on behalf of the community and asks God to save them in a manner typical of a corporate lament. This psalm is notable for its use of a repeated refrain (v. 3, 7, 19) and a striking use of the metaphor of God’s people as a vine. The historical setting that inspired this poem is uncertain but the reference to God as enthroned above the cherubim indicates a connection with the theology of the Jerusalem temple, and thus a southern Israel perspective. The psalmist calls on God during the midst of a threat, likely an attack from a northern army, to come in power to save them. They recognize that God has become distant, but now they call on him as Warrior to rescue them. This psalm speaks of God’s people’s special position and their present predicament, using the figurative language of a vine. APPLICATION: Reading this psalm from a New Testament perspective brings our attention first to the reference of the king, the “son of man you have raised up for yourself” (v. 17). While not cited in the New Testament, this passage cannot be read by a Christian without evoking a connection with Jesus, the Son of Man, who is the Christ (the anointed King). Secondly, our attention is drawn to John 15: 1-6, where Jesus presents himself as the vine and his followers as the branches. In the light of other New Testament passages in which the Kingdom is describes as a vineyard (Matt 20: 1-11; 21: 33-43), Jesus is saying that participation in the Kingdom depends on his followers being united with him. Very often, we attempt to grow the vineyard apart from the vine. This often leaves us feeling exhausted or even worse, disillusioned. Similar to the southern kingdom of Israel, we too can feel distant when we put too much faith in our own efforts or in other branches. It is the vine that gives life to the branches, and it is the vine that grows the vineyard. Jesus is the true source of life and nourishment, and it is when we abide in him that we become capable Kingdom builders. Not only is it an honour to serve him in this way, but it brings honour and glory to his name when we do. God’s light will shine upon us and our Kingdom work, when we abide in the True Vine. PRAYER: Heavenly Father, teach me to abide in Christ and He in me. Teach me to live my life as you would have me to live in total dependence upon you, which is the life of Christ being lived through me, so that I may produce that good fruit in my life that is honoring to you. In Jesus name I pray. AMEN. SONG: You Are The Vine; We Are The Branches July 4th – Les Kovacs Psalm 79
Observe: Psalm 79 laments the destruction of Jerusalem, and it was likely composed by a descendant of Asaph, who was King David’s chief music director. In the first 4 verses of the psalm, we witness the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem. The city is destroyed, and the temple is defiled. The streets are littered with the bodies of the dead which have been left as food for the birds and wild animals. The streets run with blood because there is no one to bury the dead. Their enemies heap scorn and derision on them. The next verses 5-8 are a cry for mercy. The psalmist asks how long they must endure God’s anger. He asks God to pour out His wrath on the other nations who do not revere the Lord instead, for His people are in desperate need. The following verses 9-12 plead for forgiveness of their sins and deliverance from their enemies. They ask the Lord to avenge their destruction and captivity, and to pay back seven-fold the insult their enemies have cast on God’s name. The psalm ends with verse 13 in which the people promise to praise God’s name forever, from generation to generation. Interpret: This psalm, like the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations deals with the destruction of Jerusalem as a result of the people turning away from God and following their own ways. Jerusalem had served as the capitol city for the Kingdom of Israel, and later for the southern Kingdom of Judah, for many centuries. The great buildings, the Temple, and the palaces had weathered much over the years, and probably looked like they would survive forever. They gave the people a false sense of permanence and invulnerability. The kings, priests, and people began to pay less attention to the worship of the Lord and were lulled into a sense of apathy towards Him by their great city. Although their prophets continually warned them about their bad behaviour, they ignored the warnings because they believed they were God’s chosen people so He would always protect them no matter what. As we know, eventually, God’s judgement did fall on them, and their world came crashing down around their heads in a most brutal and dreadful way when the Babylonians captured and razed the city. Too late the people realized the folly of their defiance of God as they endure the pain and the shame of the destruction of their city, their temple, and their people. Too late they remembered who the source was of their strength and prosperity. Too late they returned to the Lord to ask His forgiveness and deliverance. And in their remembrance of who He is, they will still praise Him. Application: How much like the Israelites we are! Every day of our lives we are faced with choices to make. We make our decisions based on how the outcome will affect us personally or the people we care about. Sometimes those decisions line up with God’s will, and sometimes they don’t, but either way, we usually make them based on our own wisdom and understanding, and what we believe the desired outcome should be. Following our own desires can sometimes lead to painful lessons for us to learn and disasters may result. In just about everyone’s life, there will be times when it feels like our world is crashing down around our heads. Sometimes those catastrophes are the result of our own bad choices and sometimes they are the result of outside circumstances that we have little or no control over. When it happens, to whom do you turn? Do you try to handle it on your own? Do you turn to God, but only when things have spun completely out of your control, and you have nowhere else to turn? Or do you turn to God because that’s what you always do? God loves you. He always has. He wants to have a real, on-going relationship with you. Although He Is glad when you come to Him under any circumstances, He wants you to include Him in all your daily activities, not just when you are distressed, so that He can help you align your will with His. When you spend time with God in your prayer time, quiet time, or reading scripture, you get closer to Him, and it becomes more and more natural to simply seek Him in all the different aspects of your life. The challenges in your life don’t define the depth of your relationship with God. The depth of your relationship with Him define your response to the challenges. Sing His praises day and night. Prayer: Father God, we praise you and bless the name of Jesus above all things. Help us to praise you when life is hard, as well as when they are good, for only you are steadfast and true. You are our one true hope during all of life’s ups and downs. Open our lips, Lord, and our mouths will declare your praise. This we pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Song: Praise You in this Storm – Casting Crowns https://youtu.be/sAle3dI8NYM Psalm 78
Observe The psalm begins with a command: Listen! Verses 1-8 are a preamble to a parable (2), a means of instruction, a riddle (‘dark sayings’) to solve. Without careful listening, the meaning is lost. Teaching God’s deeds must be passed on to future generations: What we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us, we will not hide these things from their children. (3,4). Asaph then recounts the history of Israel as a parable. A riddle. Why did Israel not obey the Lord? How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! They tested him again and again, and provoked the Holy One of Israel. (40,41) Another riddle: Why is God so patient with them? Yet he, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often, and did not stir up all his wrath.(38) He fed His rebellious children, sheltered them, led them, almost to no avail. Their response was complaint. But he remembered they were only flesh (39) weak and dependent. The writer, Asaph, recalls the plagues that God sent on the Egyptians but bypassed Israel; they forgot. He drove out the pagan inhabitants as He led them to the border of His Tabernacle; they forgot. When the Ark of the Covenant was captured at Shiloh (58), God’s power broke through the enemy’s blasphemy, and again they forgot. God has had it; He deserts Ephraim in favour of Judah, the small tribe from which David arose by God’s choosing to shepherd and rule His forgetful people. This is the riddle’s answer: God’s mercy never stops. Interpret This contemplative ‘Maskil’ is the second longest Psalm (after 119). A ‘history Psalm’ recounts the story of Israel in Egypt up to David’s kingship; and teaches future generations to avoid the mistakes of their forebears. The opening verses stress the need to teach children about God. ‘Hear’ in Hebrew literally means “Stretch your ears …”, really work at listening to absorb God’s Word. Apply We would do well to review the story of Israel in the Hebrew Bible, as recounted in this Psalm. Things haven’t changed much in human history. God is so gracious and generous, but how easily we forget, lured by lesser things. Yet, He welcomes us back in love and mercy. Teaching young ones to love the Lord is a communal responsibility (thus very counter cultural): Phase One: ‘Home schooling’ by example, by reading the Word together and talking about God and His love. Phase Two: Sunday School and youth group prepare them to know the Lord, follow Jesus and take their place in the congregation. Just because the children are downstairs doesn’t imply segregation. They are learning at their own levels, taught by skilled and caring teachers (who could use some responsible help from us!). Phase Three: We welcome our grown no-longer-children into the congregation, encouraging them to find and use their gifts, praying for God’s wisdom. We’re not a nuclear family; we’re God’s extension of Himself. Ask A riddle: How can we get to know our church’s children? Pray Lord, who welcomed children for whom the Kingdom is prepared, show us how to live in You, teaching the young in years (or in faith) the joy of obedience to You and the delight of serving You, together. Sing Psalm 78 Pilgrims Psalm 78 Listen O My People - Karl Kohlhase (he sings all 72 verses, and speaks at the end. Listen patiently…) |
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