Holston Daily Devotional December 1, 2020

Focus Scripture

Psalm 79A psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
    they have defiled your holy temple,
    they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 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.
3 They have poured out blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
    of scorn and derision to those around us.

5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
    How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
    that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
    that do not call on your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob
    and devastated his homeland.

8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
    may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
    for we are in desperate need.
9 Help us, God our Savior,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
    for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”

Before our eyes, make known among the nations
    that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times
    the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
    will praise you forever;
from generation to generation
    we will proclaim your praise.

Devotion

I don’t think I have had such a depressing group of passages strung together in all of the devotional assignments I have been given in the past. All of them seem to be about doom and gloom, calamities galore, judgment being displayed before the eyes of the writers, and cries for God to wreak havoc upon the enemies and adversaries of God’s people.

Wow, just like Facebook and Twitter.

Seriously, though, there is one verse that does touch upon our lives today: “How long, O Lord?” (Psalm 79:5a). When we are going through hard times, when it seems that we face one problem after another, when the straw that broke the camel’s back comes in BOGO packages, we cry out “How long?” The problem with this question is that there is no clear answer.

Later in this Psalm the author acknowledges that the nation has fallen away from obedience to the Lord’s commands. That there are ancestral sins for which they are not guilty, and for which they request absolution from blame. Their need is for mercy (and not judgement). The final request for deliverance from trouble and vengeance on adversaries comes with a promise that “then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.” Psalm 79:13 (NIV)

Perhaps what we need to get from these passages is the assurance that God is in ultimate control, that even the horrible things that are happening will be used by Him to bring the fullness of the Kingdom of God into greater reality on the earth and in our lives. And wherever we are in our struggles, to make sure we are walking in holiness and purity before God.

Had they not gone into captivity in Babylon, they would not have become committed to One God to the point of being willing to die rather than worship other Gods. Our songs of victory can come only after we have gone through the battle.

How long? Until God’s purpose is complete.