Lessons From the Psalms - Psalm 79

[00:00:07] Welcome to Lessons From the Psalms. This is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. On this podcast we will be going over the book of Psalms.

[00:00:22] Let's open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you would reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them. In Jesus name, Amen.

[00:00:37] This is Psalm 79 beginning in verse 1.

[00:01:12] We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those who are around us.

[00:01:21] How long, Lord, will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his dwelling place.

[00:01:44] Oh, do not remember former iniquities against us. Let your tender mercies come speedily to meet us. For we have been brought very low. Help us, O God, of our salvation, for the glory of your name. And deliver us and provide atonement for our sins.

[00:02:08] For your name's sake. Why should the nations say, where is their God? Let there be known among the nations in our sight the avenging of the blood of your servants which has been shed.

[00:02:24] Let the groaning of the dead. Let the groaning of the prisoner come before you, according to the greatness of your power.

[00:02:33] Preserve those who are appointed to die, and return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom, their reproach with which they have reproached you, O Lord.

[00:02:46] So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will show forth your praise to all generations.

[00:02:59] Now friends, Psalm 79 is attributed to Asaph, and Psalm 79 is very similar to Psalm 74.

[00:03:09] It is a psalm of lamentation. Now I sometimes like to look at a particular psalm and ask myself,

[00:03:21] is there anything I can learn from this psalm today that would be beneficial in our lives today, in this country, America?

[00:03:33] And I can find a few things. Now what I'd like to do first is to just review Psalm 79.

[00:03:42] Let's look at verses 1 through 4.

[00:03:45] O God, the nations have come into your inheritance.

[00:03:50] Your holy temple they have defiled.

[00:03:54] They have laid Jerusalem in heaps, the dead bodies of your servants.

[00:04:00] They have given as food for the birds of the heavens, the flesh of your saints, to the beasts of the earth.

[00:04:08] Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem,

[00:04:12] and there was no one to bury them.

[00:04:15] We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those who are around us.

[00:04:23] Now friends, this is a bleak picture.

[00:04:26] This is actually talking about the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire,

[00:04:33] the city of Jerusalem, which really today in our modern world is basically the center of Christianity.

[00:04:41] If you really want to go to Jerusalem and see Christ and basically where he lived, you go to Jerusalem.

[00:04:50] So what can we learn from this today?

[00:04:52] And this is what I'd like to say having to do with those four verses.

[00:04:56] Friends, sometimes in our lives, we have a catastrophic event that happens in our life,

[00:05:05] something that will derail us and can throw us for a loop.

[00:05:11] Maybe you've been with a company 20 or 25 years, and you're planning on retiring with that company.

[00:05:18] And all of a sudden, either that company goes down and is no longer around, you lose your job,

[00:05:25] or they may be downsizing, and you no longer have your job.

[00:05:31] And you go, oh my gosh, I never had planned for this.

[00:05:35] Or what happens if there is a death in your family?

[00:05:40] Somebody very close to you.

[00:05:42] Now it may be someone in your household, or it may be someone in your family that is close to you.

[00:05:49] Maybe a parent, maybe a cousin, someone that you're very close to, and all of a sudden they are, you know,

[00:05:57] taken away from you with no advance notice.

[00:06:01] Or what if you go to the doctor and you get a negative report,

[00:06:06] and all of a sudden you find out that you have a disease or some type of, you know,

[00:06:14] something that, you know, you're not going to be around very much longer.

[00:06:17] And you panic, and fear strikes you.

[00:06:21] Now let's look at verses 5 through 7.

[00:06:24] How long, Lord, will you be angry forever?

[00:06:28] Will your jealousy burn like fire?

[00:06:31] Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you,

[00:06:36] and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.

[00:06:39] For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his dwelling place.

[00:06:44] Now friends, these verses are talking about non-Christians.

[00:06:48] These verses are talking about our enemies.

[00:06:51] People that you don't want to think about because they don't care for you.

[00:06:58] Maybe you have let them know that you're a Christian,

[00:07:02] and you're trying to live your life in a Christian manner.

[00:07:06] And they make fun of you.

[00:07:08] They give you a hard time.

[00:07:09] And so sometimes we actually pray that things will happen to them,

[00:07:15] and that they will be cursed.

[00:07:17] Let's go to verse 8.

[00:07:18] Oh, do not remember former iniquities against us.

[00:07:23] Let your tender mercies come speedily to meet us.

[00:07:29] So friends, my first point today is let your tender mercies come speedily to meet us.

[00:07:37] Friends, sometimes things happen in our life that we're not expecting.

[00:07:43] And we ask God, and we seek Him in prayer, and say,

[00:07:46] Have mercy on me.

[00:07:49] Help me.

[00:07:51] Help me get out of the situation I'm in.

[00:07:54] Let's go to verse 9.

[00:07:55] Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name.

[00:08:00] And deliver us and provide atonement for our sins, for your name's sake.

[00:08:05] In other words, sometimes we do make mistakes in life.

[00:08:09] And we're asking God to forgive us.

[00:08:12] Have mercy on us.

[00:08:14] Please forgive me for what I have done.

[00:08:17] So friends, my second point of today's lesson,

[00:08:20] Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name.

[00:08:28] That is an awesome verse of Scripture.

[00:08:31] Help us.

[00:08:33] God, I need your help.

[00:08:37] Let's go on to verse 10.

[00:08:40] Why should the nations say, Where is their God?

[00:08:44] Let there be known among the nations in our sight

[00:08:48] the avenging of the blood of your servants, which has been shed.

[00:08:53] Let the groaning of the prisoner come before you,

[00:08:57] according to the greatness of your power.

[00:09:00] Preserve those who are appointed to die.

[00:09:04] And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom,

[00:09:09] their reproach with which they have reproached you, O Lord.

[00:09:14] And finally, we close with the last verse of this psalm.

[00:09:19] And this is a culmination of our prayer.

[00:09:24] We are praying to God,

[00:09:26] so we, your people and sheep of your pasture,

[00:09:31] will give you thanks forever.

[00:09:35] We will show forth your praise to all generations.

[00:09:41] And friends, my third and final point of today's lesson,

[00:09:45] we will show forth your praise to all generations.

[00:09:51] Friends, the bottom line is,

[00:09:54] eventually things in our life will settle down.

[00:10:00] We need to acknowledge God for who he is,

[00:10:04] and we need to praise him.

[00:10:06] We need to testify of the goodness of God

[00:10:10] to our friends, to our neighbors, to our family,

[00:10:14] and have them realize we put our trust in God.

[00:10:22] Friends, please join me again soon

[00:10:24] as we take a closer look at Psalm 80.