Prayer: Father, there are times we are sad, melancholy, or grieving a loss in our lives. It is at these moments that I need You. I need to receive a touch of Your comfort and presence. Amen.
Reading: Psalm 79 key: 1-4
God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance,
defiled Your holy Temple,
and reduced Jerusalem to ruins.
2 They gave the carcasses of Your servants as food to the birds of the skies,
the flesh of Your kedoshim to the beasts of the earth.
3 They poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
a scorn and derision to those around us.
Attention: There were two key times in Israel’s history when neighboring countries took them into exile and captivity. The first invasion took place around 720 BC by the Assyrians and involved the Northern Kingdom. The second invasion occurred about 586 BC at the hand of the Babylonians who tore down and desecrated the Temple. The first invasion/exile stopped short of Jerusalem located in Judah and involved the Hebrew tribes north of Judah.
So, the psalmist who wrote today’s reading is referencing his lament for the Babylonian invasion. His lament or grief is deep. Notice the language he uses about the Temple being reduced to “ruins,” the bodies of those slaughtered were left “to the birds of the skies… there was no one to bury them.” A gruesome picture is described by the psalmist. He even documents the derision and scorn they suffered by the taunting of neighboring nations who witnessed their disgrace.
Who was disgraced more than Adonai, whom they claimed to serve? The invasion had come as a corrective measure of God’s grace. It cost many their lives, others experienced loss and separation of families, and to a nation they lost the symbol of God’s presence and blessing. When a conquering nation took exiles, they took the healthiest, brightest, and best. This is the story of Daniel and his friends. They left behind the weakest, frailest, and the most vulnerable.
The psalmist appeals for “help…for the sake of the glory of Your name.” God was looking for a contrite heart. He is willing to forgive but it comes with a price, repentance. He was tired of sacrifices with no repentance. The nation of Israel had forsaken Him and chased after other gods. Restoration came along with rebuilding of the temple, but it took a while. It took a generation of time and change, just like it did in the wilderness.
Our nation, our churches, our educational institutions, are all experiencing a similar shaking, an orchestrated invasion by other nations. It is a spiritual war being played out on earth. I encourage you to draw closer to God than at any time in your life. May we be one voice in repenting to Adonai. May we course correct and not require an invasion of our country. Let us be like the city of Nineveh who repented at God’s warning thru Jonah.
Action: I will heed the prophet’s warnings to our nation and repent in hopes of staying God’s hand and healing our nation.
Yield: Repentance is yielding to God of my rights to do as I please.
Engage: When I repent, my attitude and my heart are changed.
Relationship: Repentance is the first step to a full relationship with God.
Prayer: Father, You have course corrected me and I thank You. We must be course corrected individually for our nation to receive healing. May repentance start with me. Amen.
Memory Verse: 2 Chronicles 7: 12-14
12 So although I wrote to you, I wrote not for the sake of the wrongdoer or for the sake of the one who was wronged, but to make known to you your diligence for us in the sight of God. 13 For this reason we have been encouraged.
Besides our own encouragement, we rejoiced even more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. 14 For if I have boasted some to him about you, I was not put to shame. But as we spoke all things truthfully to you, so also our boasting to Titus has proved to be the truth.
Music Video: I Repent – Steve Green with Lyrics