Depths Of Dependence From Depths Of Despair
BRD REFLECTIONS
2 Corinthians 1; 2:1-11 and Psalm 79 (NIV)
(Mabel Tay, Steward, LCEC)
READ:
Psalm 79 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
Psalm 79 is a vivid portrayal of the harrowing condition that God’s people were in and an anguished plea to God for relief. The occasion is thought to be the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian armies in 587 BC.
The psalmist laments that invading heathen nations have razed Jerusalem to the ground, defiled the holy temple and massacred God’s people (v1-4). Besides citing their desperate need when requesting God’s mercy, the psalmist appeals to an interest in upholding God’s reputation (v9-10).
The psalmist identifies the aggressors as nations which have not acknowledged God (v6) and calls for God to punish them to avenge the blood of His people and pay back the contempt they have shown Him (v10,12). This is ironic, for the psalmist admits his own nation’s sin of defiance and insubordination to be the cause of Judah’s punishment and present afflictions, leading him to plead with God for forgiveness (v8-9).
Critically, the psalmist has equated the affront to Judah as an affront to God Himself. Throughout, he refers to his people as being of God’s. At his conclusion, there is again an emphatic proclamation of the status of God’s people, being “[His] people, the sheep of [His] pasture,” and promises of enduring praise from them (v13).
APPLY:
Sin has consequences
Before the siege, God’s people were repeatedly warned of their wrongdoing but did not repent. Rendered pitiful and powerless, they could do nothing but cry to Him for help. I am warned that my God is a God of justice and righteous anger, and that consequences flow from disobedience. Rebellion need not come in the form of constructed idols or child sacrifices to Molek; there are numerous acts of implicit rebellion that I could be committing against God every day. I should not wait for a drastic and sorrowful wake-up call before I obey God.
As God’s child, I can always depend on Him with hope and confidence
Psalm 79 reveals a deep dependence on God and an intense yearning for a time when His people would again praise Him with renewed hearts. In time, this prayer would be answered and restoration would follow.
Tragic circumstances may cause people to lose faith in God, but in recognising the special relationship that his people had with God, the psalmist’s faith held firm. He confidently, almost presumptuously, assumes that whoever attacks them, as God’s chosen people, also attacks God.
Interestingly, this leads him to petition for vastly differing outcomes for the similar sin – mercy for Judah and seven-fold judgment for the heathen nations. I am thus reminded that my salvation comes not from my absence of wrongdoing, but from my identity as God’s child, allowing me to lay claim to a righteousness that is by faith from first to last.
What a privilege it is to possess such a relationship with God! Reading this psalm, I am freshly amazed at God’s grace, that even in the dire depths of despair, arising from my own sin no less, His Word tells me that I may (and, indeed, must) call with hope and confidence on Him who is more than able and willing to rescue me, so long as I cling to Him.
DO:
I will prayerfully reflect on my actions daily and own my failures. I will ask God to work my conscience and cultivate a repentant heart in me, towards full obedience to Him.
I will take time to be quiet and intimate with God and remain dependent and assured in my special relationship with Him.
PRAY:
Dear God, Father, I am Yours, and You are mine. Thank You for loving me as the apple of Your eye. In hard times, hear my cry. And may I praise and obey You all the days of my life. Amen.
