Psalms for Turbulent Times - Part 7
PSALM 79
by Pastor Jim Jester
March 14, 2021
Scripture Reading: Psalm 6:1-10
“O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. 3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? 4 Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. 7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.
8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9 The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer. 10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.” – Ps. 6
Through the centuries, the church has regarded Psalm 6 as the first of the seven Penitential Psalms. The psalmist was dreadfully sick and thought he was going to die. It was common in those days to believe that sickness unto death was in punishment for some sin. Now, while this is a possibility, it obviously is not always the case:
“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” – John 9:1-3
However, the psalmist pleads with God to stop his chastisement. He speaks of his bones being troubled because his bones represent the whole man. His reference to flooding the bed with tears is a typical exaggeration made for emphasis. David pleads for deliverance by appealing to God’s steadfast love. He maintains that there is no praise to God while in the grave. His prayer is expressed in the words of Jeremiah, “O Lord, correct me, but with judgment [i.e., tempered judgment]; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.” – Jer. 10:24
Suddenly, the tone of the prayer changes, “Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping” (v. 8). David is absolutely convinced that the Lord has heard his cry and answered his prayer. The “workers of evil” seem to have called David’s moral integrity into question because of his suffering. This was probably comparable to Job’s “friends” who accused him of some sort of sin. There is no explicit confession of sin but it is implied, for David was certainly in a penitential state. The “grief” (v. 7) expressed by David was probably some grievous sin (and we know he had a few).
Don’t you wish that America were in a penitential state? Where is America’s sorrow for sin? Where is her repentance and crying out to the God of her fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Even very few churches talk about penitence or repentance. They are too busy planning a show, or overtaken with the nightclub mentality. The dictionary says of penitence: “the action of feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; repentance: a public display of penitence.”
The Bible speaks of repentance quite often. As young children, we first learn of it through our parents. We learn what is right and wrong, we confess by saying “I was wrong, I’m sorry” and thus we make corrections and alterations to our life. If we do not, we may get a spanking, which in turn helps us to discipline ourselves. This is the same with God and salvation. It works personally and it works nationally.
Very often though, churches speak of repentance as simply “confession,” i.e., saying, “I’m sorry.” However, the Bible makes it clear that there is more to repentance than just saying, “I am sorry, forgive me.” It requires an amendment to the person’s ways, a turning away from sinful deeds:
Isaiah 1:16, “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;”
Jeremiah 26:13, “Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent Him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.”
Ezekiel 14:6, “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.”
Proverbs 28:13, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
Matthew 4:17, “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Mark 6:12, “And they went out, and preached that men should repent.”
If God did not expect us to do this and live such a high standard, then why are these verses here? Repentance is the very beginning of the Christian life, and the point in which many refer to as being “born again” on the personal level. This is what “churchianity” needs to do! But, do you think that in these popular “Christian” clubhouses you will ever hear anything about repentance from sin? Likewise, the whole nation needs to repent, or we will never see the kingdom of God on this Earth.
In The News
The two big stories this week was the “Covid Relief Bill,” which was mostly a “bail out” for Democrat states and Democrat interests; and of course, Biden’s first address to the nation (March 11, 2021) on the one-year declared anniversary of the alleged “Pandemic.” Most of what he had to say we already knew; and he mumbled and jumbled quite a bit about “unity.” He did say he expected to have enough vaccines for all Americans by May 1. He spoke down to the public and intimated (I say this tongue-in-cheek) that if we all are good obedient children and get our vaccines and follow the recommendations of the CDC, he might buy us ice cream and let us celebrate the 4th of July in small groups. If things don’t work out, because someone fails to unite and conditions change, then, we may have to reimpose restrictions. I’m sorry, but it was all your fault.
Biden said, “…in the coming weeks, we will issue further guidance on what you can and cannot do once fully vaccinated to lessen the confusion, to keep people safe, and encourage more people to get vaccinated.” Have you ever heard a president say such an absurd thing to the American people, especially on the first address? Does he know what he is saying? Are we children? What we can and cannot do!
Beneath Biden’s fuzzy “I feel your pain” facade was the real message: Shut up, obey Fauci, wear your three masks and hope that the government may someday reward you with the carrot instead of beating you with the lockdown stick some more. After all, what are you going to do about it – vote them out?
On top of this is the euphoric tone of the media that the “Pandemic” is over; yet, it is not over.
“White House Refuses to Admit Border Crisis as Illegals Pour In”
by RT, March 10th 2021
The fruits of Joe Biden’s border policies are already apparent: a tripling of children detained at the border, and crossings set to hit record levels. Yet, the administration refuses to acknowledge it has a crisis on its hands. The number of unaccompanied migrant children detained along the southern US border has tripled in the last two weeks to more than 3,250,…
These children are filling the same Customs and Border Patrol facilities that Biden himself called “inhumane” during his 2020 campaign, and the “overflow shelters” opened by the Biden administration are nearing capacity.
On top of the surge in child arrivals, agents encountered 78,000 migrants attempting to cross the border in January, the highest number for that month in more than a decade. John Modlin, the interim chief in charge of the Border Patrol’s Tucson, Arizona sector, told Sinclair reporter Sharyl Attkisson on Sunday that if illegal crossing attempts continue at the rate they’ve been going in the last four months, the final tally by the end of this fiscal year will surpass 2018, 2019, and 2020 combined. This uptick in illegal immigration has been directly linked to Biden’s near-total reversal of former president Donald Trump’s tougher border policies.
…
Among his flurry of executive orders overturning Trump’s border policies, Biden resurrected the so-called ‘Catch and Release’ program, an Obama-era policy suspended by Trump, under which migrants apprehended at the border would be released in the US, on the condition that they later show up for an immigration court hearing. Unsurprisingly, few ever do, and even those who play by the rules face a wait time of up to 689 days.
Critics claim that ‘Catch and Release’ effectively invites migrants to make the journey to the US, and Biden has faced criticism even from within his own party for reinstating the policy. “I don’t think, quite frankly, the Biden administration was aware of what’s happening on the ground here,” Texas State Senator Juan Hinojosa told ‘The Hill’ on Sunday. “The Border Patrol is overwhelmed, they’re throwing their hands up because they don’t know what to do.”
…
“A mass incursion into the country by people who should not be here is happening on an hourly basis, getting worse by the minute,” Trump wrote. … [End of Article]
Well, the heathen are pouring into our country once again (not that they were ever totally stopped).
Psalm 79
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 “O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. 2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. 3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them. 4 We are become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
5 How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire? 6 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. 7 For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
8 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low. 9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake. 10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed. 11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die; 12 And render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.” – Ps. 79
Psalm 79 is a prayer of complaint, closely parallel to Psalm 74 [already covered in a previous sermon], and like that psalm, is referring to the time of the Babylonian conquest. It shows us the Holy Land occupied by the heathen, the temple desecrated, Jerusalem laid in ruins, the special servants of God put to death, and the whole nation of Israelites become an object of scorn to their neighbors.
The same national agony that was the theme of Psalm 74, found the sad strains of this psalm from the singer’s (Asaph) heart. There (Ps. 74), the profanation of the Temple, and here (Ps. 79), the destruction of the city is more prominent. There, the dishonor to God, and here, the distresses of His people are revealed. Consequently, confession of sin is more appropriate here, and prayers for pardon blend with those for deliverance. Nevertheless, the tone of both psalms is the same:
- The question, “How long?” (Ps. 74:10; Ps. 79:5)
- The desecration of the Temple (Ps. 74:3; Ps. 74:7; Ps. 79:1)
- The giving over to wild beasts (Ps. 74:19; Ps. 79:2)
- The reproach of God (Ps. 74:10; Ps. 74:18; Ps. 74:22; Ps. 79:12)
- The comparison of Israel to a flock (Ps. 74:1; Ps. 79:13)
Profane Intruders in Sacred Places
The holy nation, Jacob/Israel, both its temple (Church) and the city (State), were polluted by the heathen (Ps. 79:1). This is an illustration of what has taken place in our day: the nation/race has been mixed; the church is corrupted and has no power; and the center of government is corrupt and dishonest.
“For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance” (Deut. 32:9). Jesus Christ has redeemed this people. “…The Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). You are not your own; you are bought with a price (I Cor. 16:19-20). We are God’s “temple.” What intruders have defiled and desecrated this temple? Worldliness, carnality, selfishness, impurity, non-Israel races: “whited sepulchres” (Matt. 23:27) in the words of Matthew; or “a cage of every unclean and hateful bird” (Rev. 18:2) in the words of John the revelator.
God dwells in His “temple” by His Spirit. Desecrating intruders have entered into it, in the form of:
1. Ritualism: forms, ceremonies, genuflections, pictures, and symbols, instead of the worship of God “in spirit and in truth.” Superstition instead of faith; and sacraments instead of the living, personal Savior.
2. Rationalism: human philosophies instead of the Gospel of Christ, and self-culture instead of the regenerating, sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit of God.
3. Religionism: men who appear righteous, but in whose soul an imaginary creed has usurped the place of our Lord; and has desecrated the church. They are theologians, not Christians. They trust in some ecclesiastical system that has usurped the Almighty; they are more devoted to “the church,” or to “our denomination,” than to the Lord God of Israel. In contrast, the Christian spirit is not self-seeking, but rather, self-sacrificing.
Praying Against National Enemies
One difficulty in the Book of Psalms, are the passages that seem to be invocations of wrath on personal enemies. Many feel this to be wholly contrary to the spirit of Christianity. They will quote statements by our Lord such as, “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, turn the other cheek” and Paul’s, “If thine enemy hunger, feed him: if he thirst, give him drink” and “heap coals of fire on their heads.” These sentiments are directed toward our racial brethren who happen to have a personal vendetta to settle. Our goal, as Christians, is to reach them for Christ. Therefore, we may go “the extra mile” for them only, not to those who are avowed enemies of our race and nation. In the case with this psalm, it is manifest to be on a national level (v. 1, 6, 7, 10, and 12) rather than on a personal level.
The psalmists were wise in this, that when they felt disagreeably towards their folk, they told God,and not their neighbors. It is also pointed out that most, if not all, the imprecatory psalms represent official rather than personal feelings; and a king or governor may pray against the national enemies, as Hezekiah properly prayed against the Assyrians. From a person acting officially, we presume that the element of temper is excluded. The mischief done by the invaders was distinctly national: the desecration of the temple, the reduction of the city to a heap of ruins, the captivity of multitudes and the dead. Prayer for the turning of God’s judgments on the nation’s enemies could not be regarded as improper, because exactly this God had done over and over again. What God would do, it could not be wrong to ask him to do. And seeing God says, “Avenge not yourselves;” “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord;” it may even be regarded as an act of virtue to restrain our vengeance, and commit our imprecations to the Lord. The following thoughts will illustrate.
- It is better to pray against our enemies than to fight against them.
- When we pray we commit all the times and ways of judgment on them to the infinitely wise Lord.
- If we pray about persons (enemy or not), we soon begin to change our feelings towards them.
Prayer for Deliverance
The Psalmist urges his petition with powerful pleas. On three grounds, he prays.
1. He pleads the greatness and urgency of the people’s need; “We are brought very low” (v. 8). Their affliction and helplessness was an appeal to His pity. Many were killed; their condition was deplorable; if He did not quickly come to their aid, they would be wiped out.
2. He pleads, “For the glory of Thy name; … for Thy name’s sake” (v. 9). Since they were His redeemed people, God’s honor was involved in the question of their salvation or their destruction. There is no plea so mighty with God as that of His own honor, when it is sincerely urged. If He left them to perish, the heathen would say that He could not or would not save them. If He delivered them, they would be silenced, and His name and reputation would be both preserved and feared.
3. He pleads because of their close relation to God. “We, Your people and sheep…” (v. 13).They are nourished, cared for, and led by Him. The Lord will not abandon His own children. “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps. 23:1). Jesus Christ is the good Shepherd and the Kinsman Redeemer. No other race can possibly qualify for such treatment from our God.
The great mercies (v. 8) that God’s people have are for His name’s sake: they have pardon of sin for His name’s sake (Ps. 25:11; I Jn. 2:12); they have Him leading in the “paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Ps. 23:3); and the quickening (or revival) of their dull hearts for His name’s sake (Ps. 143:11). Though His people offend Him often, yet He forsakes them not, for His name’s sake.
“So we Thy people and sheep of Thy pasture will give Thee thanks for ever: we will show forth Thy praise to all generations” (v. 13). In this verse is a devout resolution of:
- Confidence: With assured faith, they looked forward to the salvation of God. They anticipate deliverance and blessing.
- Gratitude: With thankful hearts, they would ascribe to Him the praise and glory of their redemption; and they would tell the story of His wondrous acts to their posterity, who also shall give thanks.
- Service: It is implied that they would no longer turn aside from God’s ways, but would serve Him with glad and grateful hearts.
Conclusion
What does God do for mankind, and how does man react in return? Let us compare the two.
Looking back at this psalm and the history of Israel, we see that God cast out the heathen and provided dwelling-places for His people; His people, in turn, allowed others to defile His nation. God gave to His people the heritage of the temple; His people, because of their sins, admitted the heathen in to destroy both the temple and the capital city.
Not a very good record, is it? The record of mankind without God is a dismal failure in both the Church and the State. Moreover, the contrast of what God does and how man acts may be compared thusly:
- God’s goodness vs. man’s ingratitude. God gave the descendants of Israel America, “a light on a hill,” now a nation far from its Christian founding under the Mayflower Compact. That nation is now very close to a Godless communist state under globalist domination.
- God’s faithfulness vs. man’s betrayal. God gave the west a remnant church for guidance in Christian living and success. The church was betrayed by greedy men for a mess of pottage. It then was taken over by jewish fables.
- God’s conquering power vs. man’s cowardly weakness. God’s providence decreed that the tribes of Israel would conquer and dominate the west for the glory of His kingdom. Traitors to America refused to take their vows serious enough to defend the constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Republicans sided with Democrats; Judges refused to hear Cases regarding vote fraud; and, even vice-president Pence refused to use his authority to send votes back to certain States for re-certification.
Jeremiah 3:12, “Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.”
“Remember Not, O God” (Psalm 79:8-13); 1912 Psalter
1 Remember not, O God,
the sins of long ago;
in tender mercy visit us,
distressed and humbled low.
2 O Lord, our Savior, help,
and glorify your name;
deliver us from all our sins
and take away our shame.
3 In your compassion hear
your pris'ner's plaintive sigh,
and in the greatness of your pow'r
save those about to die.
4 Then, safe within your fold,
we will exalt your name;
our thankful hearts with songs of joy
your goodness will proclaim.
