“O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.”Psalm 79:1 ESV
Reflection: why are we asking God to rescue us, to save us, out of difficult situations?
We all go through difficult situations and times in our lives; jobs, finances, relationships, health, or whatever it might be. But as God’s people we can and we should cry out to Him. I mean, truly cry out, pour out our hearts to Him about our situation, holding nothing back. We see examples of this again and again throughout the Bible. But, have you thought about for what purpose? Clearly, none of us want to suffer or go through difficult things. We want sunny days on the beach without a care in the world, so to speak. None of us like being poor, sick, conflicts, or difficulties of any kind. But, if God frees us out of the trouble we are in, then what? What’s the point? Just to ease our suffering?
Let’s look at a couple of examples. As we read the accounts of Jesus’ prayers, we will see something very interesting, very important that we need to meditate on. In the garden of Gethsemane, He poured out His heart to His Father. Now remember where His prayer ended up, not for the burden to be removed, but for the will of God to be done. His mindset was on the glory of God to be revealed. We see this leading up to the crucifixion. “Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”” John 12:23-28 NIV
In Psalms 79, we read of a very similar mindset. The situation for the people of Israel at the time was of great suffering. “O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble. They have left the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild. They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead. We are objects of contempt to our neighbors, of scorn and derision to those around us.”Psalms 79:1-4 NIV. And Asaph is asking God to intervene, “How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name; for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.” Psalms 79:5-7 NIV.
But then Asaph demonstrates what is truly in his heart, “Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need. Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.” Psalms 79:8-9 NIV. Did you see it? The changed mindset? This wasn’t a selfish prayer just to be saved from, or freed from suffering. No, similar to the prayer of Jesus, it was about
the glory of God, the glory of His name.
That is just so amazing to think about. Because I am afraid that often my prayers are inwardly focused, to better my situation, as opposed to how my situation can be used for the glory of God, whatever the outcome is. Our good Father God doesn’t want to see us suffer, of course. But in reality, we are in a fallen world, in a battle between good and evil. And the bigger picture of what is going on is not just about our difficulties, but about our salvation, the salvation of many souls, and our journey through this world. Asaph therefore ends by saying “Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.”Psalms 79:13 NIV. Notice that Asaph promises that the work of the Lord will not be forgotten, as we looked at in Psalms 78, but “from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.” Proclaim how God intervened and rescued us.
Are you going through difficult times right now?
Read and meditate on Psalms 79, then pray with Asaph “Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.” Psalms 79:9 NIV And if you see His hand at work, write it down so that you, and your children, can praise His name forever.