A Study in Psalms - Psalm 79

The beginning night by talking about a a New York Times article

and the journalist was out Alex Stone, and he tells a story

about how the executives at the Houston airport were faced with

lots and lots of complaints about long waits at the baggage

claim. Have you ever been there?

Calcutta, India. You'd wait two hours, but

apparently 8 minutes at Houston's.

A long time, but they they had so many complaints about the

wait time at baggage claim at Houston airport that they hired

consultants. And so the first thing they did

was they hired a bunch more baggage handlers and that

reduced the wait time to an industry beating average of 8

minutes to wait for your luggage.

But the complaints continued. So it made no sense.

So until the executive discovered that on the average

passengers took only one minute when they got off their plane to

walk the baggage claim and there they would sit and wait for

678910 minutes. And that was the reason for the

complaints. The walk time was not the

problem, it was the remaining 7 empty minutes of staring at that

baggage carousel waiting for your bags that was driving

people crazy and causing them to complain.

So, in a burst of innovation, the executives move the arrival

gates farther away from the baggage claim.

Passengers now had to walk much farther to get their bags, but

often when they arrived, the bags were waiting for them.

Problem solved. The complaints went down South.

In the same article, Stone interviewed and Massachusetts

Institute of Technology somebody named Richard Larson, who is

apparently the world's leading expert on waiting in lines.

I didn't know there was such a person to discover.

The psychology behind the waiting and what happened at the

Houston airport makes a perfect illustration, said Richard

Larson. The length of our weight is not

as important as what we're doing while we wait.

Often the psychology of queuing is more important than the

statistics of waiting itself. Essentially, we tolerate

occupied time. For example, walking to the

baggage claim is OK, but unoccupied time?

Sitting at the baggage claim, waiting.

That's where we have the problem.

Give us something to do while we wait, and the wait becomes

endurable. That is why so often waiting on

God feels like unoccupied time. We wait, but what's really

happening up there in heaven? What's going on?

Is God actually doing anything? Waiting on God implies that we

need to develop a new perspective of what God is doing

and what we can do while we wait on Him.

Tonight's Psalm gives us a new perspective of what to do while

we wait. You know, when we pray, of

course, God can answer three ways, yes, no, and wait.

And it's usually the third category of waiting that can be

very, very hard for us. Our psalmist tonight, he may

have had to wait 70 years. He probably was dead before the

prayers were actually answered in many cases.

So let's read Psalm 79 if you haven't turned there.

Psalm 79 follows Psalm 78, which is the second longest Psalm in

the Psalter with 72 verses. But tonight our Psalm only has

13 verses. Psalm 79 says a Psalm of ASAP.

Oh God, the nations have come into your inheritance.

They have defiled your holy temple.

They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of

the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts

of the earth. They have poured out their blood

like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury

them. We have become a taunt to our

neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.

How long, O Lord, will you be angry forever Will your jealousy

burn like fire? Pour out your anger on the

nations that do not know you and on the kingdoms that do not call

upon your name, for they have devoured Jacob and laid waste

his inhabitation. Do not remember against us our

former iniquities. Let your compassions come

speedily to us, for we are brought very low.

Help us so, God of our salvation, for the glory of Your

name deliver us and atone for our sins for Your name's sake.

Why should the nation say, where is their God?

Let the avenging and the outpouring blood of Your

servants be known among the nations before our eyes.

Let the groans of the prisoners come before You, according to

your great power. Preserve those doomed to die.

Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors, the taunts with

which they have taunted you, O Lord.

But we, your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give

thanks to you forever. From generation to generation

will recount your praise. Father in heaven, thank you for

this Psalm tonight. May we leave here tonight

knowing more of You, understanding that sometimes you

make us wait and that we can never completely understand what

you're doing up there in heaven in Jesus name, Amen.

The title of our Psalm is how long, O Lord.

It's actually a very common theme in the Psalms.

Psalm 6 verse 3 says, and my soul is greatly dismayed, but

Psalms 6:3

you, O Yahweh, how long? And then of course, you've got

the the other Psalm that's called the how long Psalm, Psalm

13. Tom Mason preached a message on

this in 2000 and four times in the first verses it says, How

long will Yahweh? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long shall I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my

heart all day? How long will the enemy exalt

over me? Psalm 3517 says Lord, how long

will you look on? And then Psalm 74, Ken says, how

long, O God, will the adversary reproach?

Will the enemy spurn your name forever?

Psalm. And of course Psalm 79 five,

which we just read. Psalm 80 verse 4 says, O Yahweh

Psalms 80:4

of hosts, how long? Psalm 82 two, how long will you

judge the unrighteous? Psalm 8946 how long O Yahweh

will you hide yourself forever? Psalm 90 verse 13 says return O

Psalms 90:13

Yahweh, how long will it be? And lastly Psalm 94 verse 3 says

Psalms 94:3

how long shall the wicked, O Yahweh, how long shall the

wicked exalt? So there are lots of Psalms that

deal with waiting on the Lord. We have a superscription above

your Psalm 79 which just says a Psalm of ASAP.

We know that ASAP wrote 12 Psalms.

Psalm 50 and then Psalm 73 through 83, we know he's the

worship leader in the Temple. He may not be one person, He

might be a series of Aesop's who passed down the worship leader

in the temple, but it's very interesting that he wrote 12

Psalms and three of them Psalm 74, the Psalm.

Tonight we're going to look at Psalm 79 and Psalm 80 are all

about the destruction of the temple.

It obviously left a very painful mark on ASAP when he saw the

temple destroyed to write 3 psalms about it.

So the type of Psalm that we're looking at tonight, it's a

lament Psalm, but it's not an individual lament.

It's a community Lamb. The whole community, the whole

nation of Israel is lamenting what ASAP is saying here.

You have an outline, I hope. And there are five types of

prayers there. A prayer of lamentation, verses

one to four prayer restoration, verses 5 to 8, a prayer for

glorification, verse 9, pray for vengeance, verses 11:50, and a

prayer of adoration. Lastly, verse 13, let's look at

point #1A prayer of lamentation. And I've got 3 sub points there.

The situation is desolate. We'll look at that number sub

point number one in verse one. It just says, oh God, the

nations have come into your sanctuary.

They have defiled Your holy temple.

They have laid Jerusalem in rooms.

So from the opening verse of Psalm 79, it appears that the

historical context for this Psalm is the time of the

Babylonian invasion and the destruction of the temple in 587

BC. You know, as the Kingdom of

Judah declined, their kings and their leaders became less and

less devoted to the Lord. There, you know, there were a

few godly kings like ASA, Josiah, Joash, Hezekiah.

But foreign alliances, idolatry, unbelief combined to weaken the

Kingdom and ripen it for judgment.

The sins of the fathers accumulated until God could hold

back his wrath no longer. So God sent Nebuchadnezzar and

the Babylonian army to destroy Jerusalem.

What's great about Psalm 79 is we have an historical account

with his Psalms. You know, David, there are 14

Psalms about David's fleeing Saul and David's trials.

So it's always great when you can read the Psalm and then go

to 1st and Second Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings and read about it.

But it's what really interesting that the Holy Spirit records the

destruction of Jerusalem not once, not twice, not three

times, but four times in Scripture, in Second Kings 25,

in Second Chronicles 36, and in Jeremiah twice, Jeremiah 39, one

to 10, and then the whole chapter of Jeremiah 52.

So God is what when He says something four times, it's

really important that we look at it.

But I want to read tonight not from those four accounts.

I want to read to you Lamentations chapter 1, verses 1

Lamentations 1:1–11

to 11. You know, if there was a book of

the Bible that would that you can make a horror movie about,

it would be Lamentations. Have you read Lamentations?

You got to have APG rating or an MA rating with that.

It's brutal, it's dark, it's dreary.

So let's look at Lamentations chapter one, OK.

In the Septuagint, the New Testament Greek version written

maybe 200 years before Christ, it says that they're they have a

they have a written before the lamentation.

It says, and it came to pass after Israel had been carried

away captive and Jerusalem had become desolate, that Jeremiah

sat weeping and lamentated with this lamentation over Jerusalem

and said, OK, our Bible doesn't say that, but the Septuagint

does. But Lamentations chapter one,

verse 1 to 11 will read. It says how lonely sits the city

that was full of people. How like a widow has she become.

She who was great among the nations, she was a Princess

among the provinces, has become a slave.

She weeps bitterly in the night with tears on her cheeks.

Among all her lovers she has known to comfort her.

All her friends have dealt treacherously with her.

They have become her enemies. Judah has gone into exile

because of affliction and hard servitude.

She dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting

place. Her pursuers have all overtaken

her in the midst of her distress. the Rose to Zion

mourn, for none come to the festival.

All her gates are desolate. Her priest groan.

Her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers

bitterly. Her foes have become the head.

Her enemies prosper because the Lord has afflicted her for the

multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone away

captive before the foe. From the daughter of Zion all

Her Majesty has departed. Her Princess have become like

deer that find no pastor. They fled without strength

before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembers the days of

her affliction and wanderings, all the precious things that

were hers. From days of old, when her

people fell into the hand of the foe and there was none to help

her. Her foes gloated over her.

They mocked at her downfall. Jerusalem sinned grievously.

Therefore she became filthy. All who honored her despise her,

for they have seen her nakedness.

She herself groans and turns her face away.

Her uncleanliness was in her skirts.

She took no thought of the future.

Therefore her fall is terrible. She has no comforter.

Oh, Lord, behold my affliction for the enemy as triumph.

The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious

things, for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary.

Those whom you forbade to enter your congregation, all our

people grown as they search for bread, they trade their

treasures for food to revive their strength.

Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised.

And we could go on and read chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4

and chapter 5. And it just gets worse and

worse. But the, the, the, the situation

is absolutely desolate there. The extent of the, the

destruction was devastating. Remember, this was the third

time that Nebuchadnezzar had come and waged war against

Jerusalem, and this time it took him over 2 1/2 years to conquer

Jerusalem. So when they did break the walls

down, they burned every building, they burned the

temple, they destroyed everything, and they slaughtered

most of the people. The people that were were

slaughtered. The temple was defiled and

burned to the ground, and the holy city of Jerusalem was

destroyed and left in rooms. Some point B, verses 2 and

three, the Saints are dead. It says in verse two to three

they give in your bodies to the servants, to the birds of the

heaven for food, the flesh of your faithful, to the beasts of

the earth. Blood was poured out like water.

So even in death there was no closure for the shame and

destruction. The dead bodies were for the

food for birds. The flesh, the beasts of the

earth would eat it. It says blood was poured out

like water, but what a statement that is.

And there was no burial. We mentioned in the last few

Psalms that in if you did not bury the body, that was

considered a very, very desecrating thing when bodies

weren't buried. There just wasn't anybody to

bury the bodies. You know, when we look at the

last in Jeremiah 52 verses 28 to 31, it tells us that only 745

Jeremiah 52:28–31

people went in exile. And then if you take the X, the

597 BC, it said 832 people were taken including Ezekiel.

And then if you look at six O 5 BC, over 3000 people were taken

including Daniel. So if you add up those 3

numbers, it comes to about 4600 people that were taken captive.

But Second Kings chapter 24 says 10,000 people were taken

2 Kings 24 · chapter mention

captive. So trying to reconcile how many

people were actually taken a lie back to Babylon his heart.

It could be Judah was 4600 and all Israel was 10,000.

Don't know. But the point I want to make is

very few people were taken captive.

Most people were killed or they died of starvation before

Nebuchadnezzar even broke through the walls.

Estimates of Jerusalem's population or anywhere from

75,000 people to 345,000 people. So not a lot of people were

taken captive. Most people were killed.

The righteous with the unrighteous at some Point C The

survivors are despised. So just a few people that lived

were taken captive, probably mostly young like Daniel and

Ezekiel, young men, young girls to be slaves.

Only the poorest of the land were left.

The captives that were left were object of reproach and scorn.

And we recently we looked at another Psalm.

We read that Psalm 137, that really dark Psalm that says when

the captives were by the waters of Babylon, there we sat down

and wept, when we remembered Zion on the willows there we

hung our liars. For there are captors required

us songs, and our tormentors mercing sing us the songs of

Zion. So even if you lived, you're

probably were a slave and you were tormented, you were

tortured, you were taken back to Babylon.

So what do we learn from this first 4 verses?

Why was this wrath poured out? Why don't we go back to the

beginning and think about it for a minute?

You know, if you had time tonight, which we don't, to read

Deuteronomy 28. Have you read Deuteronomy 28?

It's quite an interesting chapter.

The 1st 14 verses are all about blessings for obedience.

If you will obey, God will bless you, your crops, your family,

your cows, everything. 14 verses on blessings, but then the next

54 verses are about curses for disobedience.

That's why I can't read it tonight.

It's a long, long chapter, but those 54 verses for disobedience

list the horrors that we read in Lamentations that if you disobey

me and follow idolatry and all those sins, I'm going to do

these things to you. So Israel was warned in

Deuteronomy 28 even before they entered the promised land.

And then you go to, by the way, it says in verse 45 of

Deuteronomy 28 because you did not obey the voice of the Lord

your God. So they were warned by Moses in

Deuteronomy. Then you go to Joshua and that

last chapter and you all know that wonderful verse.

Joshua 2415 says Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in

sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods of your

father's serve beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the

Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes

to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether

the gods of your father's served in the region beyond the river,

or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.

But As for me in my house, we will serve the Lord.

And then the people respond, in Joshua 24, verse 18, we also

Joshua 24:18

will serve the Lord, and then verse 21, but we will serve the

Lord. And in verse 24, the Lord our

God, we will serve and obey his voice.

And Israel did obey. They obeyed all the days of

Joshua and the elders that outlive Joshua.

But then you know what's the next book after Joshua judges.

And in judges they would begin to obey.

Then they would serve the idols of the Four Nations.

God would let nations conquer them and put them in slavery.

Then they would repent. God would raise up a judge who

would deliver them. And you had cycle after cycle,

judge after judge. And then Israel had Saul as

king. He was not a good king, but he

was followed by two pretty good kings, David and Solomon,

although Solomon did not finish well.

And then we had the split Kingdom.

Judah had 20 kings, 8 of them were good.

So that leaves 12 that were bad. Israel had 20 kings, the

southern king, the northern Kingdom and all of them were

bad. The consequences for Israel's

sin was Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple was burned to the

ground, people were either taken captive or slaughtered and

reminds me of what Nahum said in Nahum chapter one verse 3.

The Lord is slow to anger and in great power, and the Lord will

by no means clear the guilty. He was a patient, kind,

compassionate God who brought in the promised land, but they

rejected him and God judged Israel.

Let's look at subpoint to a prayer for restoration and we've

got 3 sub points there. And #1 God restain your anger

toward us. And there I want to he says, how

long will you be angry? The first part of verse 5, And

how long will you be jealous? How long will you be angry and

how long will you be jealous? In verse 5, verse one began

began with the lament crying, how God, Oh God, I'm sorry, Oh

God. Now in verse 5, ASAP says as he

prays, Oh Lord, O Elohim, the first searching question or the

first question we have in the Psalm is how long, O Lord, will

you be angry forever? It's a cry from a wounded

person. Can't imagine the horrors that

ASAP has seen. Would assume that ASAP was

captive. ASAP probably was taken to

Babylonian, but he saw the slaughter.

He saw the temple desecrated. He saw Jerusalem burned.

And what he doesn't know is that the sentence is going to be 70

years. But he knows God is angry and he

knows God must punish sins. But the people here are

suffering greatly, and he describes God's anger here as a

consuming fire when he says the next point.

How long will you be jealous? How will your jealous?

Will your jealousy burn like fire?

Imagine when he wrote this that Jerusalem is just on fire

because they burned every building to the ground.

Now can God really be jealous? This doesn't refer to jealousy

like you and me. A boy is jealous when his girl

leaves him or takes another boyfriend.

But this is a fervent zeal of God.

It's it's jealousy exclusive to God that we don't have.

God's jealousy is often linked to his desire for exclusive

worship and his rejection of idolatry.

Exodus 25 says you shall not bow down to them or serve them, for

I the Lord your God am a jealous God.

Isaiah 42 says 42. Verse 8 says I am the Lord.

That is my name, my glory I give to no other nor my praise to

carved idols and Deuteronomy 424 says for the Lord your God is a

consuming fire, a jealous God. God was jealous for his people.

He made a covenant with them, but they'll disobey them.

So ASAP is asking how long Father, how long and in some

point be God release your wrath toward them.

ASAP turns from looking at the people of Israel toward his

enemies and he he says there in verses 6 and seven.

And by the way, Jeremiah quotes Psalm 79 verses 6 and seven in

Psalms 79:6

Jeremiah 10 verse 25 S Jeremiah had a copy of this Psalm.

Jeremiah 10:25

So he says, pour out your anger on the nations that don't know

you and the kingdoms that do not call upon your name, for they

have devoured Jacob and laid waste to his have a nation.

So what ace up saying here is they've defiled you God, and

he's saying shouldn't your wrath fall on the nations that don't

know you? They've devoured us, they've

devoured your people, they slaughtered the righteous with

the unrighteous, and they've destroyed us.

Let me just read 3 verses from the account of the destruction

of Jerusalem in Second Kings chapter 25, which is one of the

2 Kings 25 · chapter mention

four accounts of the destruction of Jerusalem.

And it says in the 5th month, on the 7th day of the month, that

was the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzarion, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of

the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and he burned the

House of the Lord and the King's house and all the houses of

Jerusalem. Every great house he burned

down, and all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the

captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

You know, it's interesting that here in verses 6 and seven, He

asked God to pour out his anger and God would, but it would be

many, many years later. It would be in 539 BC, October

12th. And you know the story from

Daniel chapter 5, right? In one night, Cyrus the Persian

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

conquered Babylon in one night. So God did judge Babylon, but it

would be many, many, many years later down the road.

Let's look at some point. See God renew your mercy toward

us. Verse 8, two things here.

He asked God to pardon them and he asked God to pity them.

He asked God to pardon him. My Bible says do not remember

against us our former iniquities.

Your NSAB translation says do not remember the iniquities of

our against our forefathers. The NIV says do not hold against

us the sins of the past generation and the LSV says do

not remember our former iniquities.

ASAP would write 12 Psalms as I mentioned, and I'm pretty sure

he was a godly man to write those 12 psalms.

After all, he led the worship of the temple.

He knew proper worship. He knew right worship and wrong

worship. And yet here he prays for some

confession of sin that God would not remember their sins.

God is holy and He knows that we are not.

ASAP asked how long, O Lord? He didn't ask why has all this

happened, he asked how long. O Lord, he knows why it has

happened because he knows the sins of his father's, his

grandfather's. So I just assumed that ASAP

being the worship leader was a very righteous man.

So he doesn't hesitate to say us.

He knows that he is a sinful nation.

And when I thought of that, it reminded me of a message I

preached many years ago on Daniel Chapter 9.

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

I'd love to study the prayer, the great prayers of the Bible.

You know, if you ever Nehemiah chapter 1 and Daniel 9, there's

Nehemiah 1 · chapter mention

just David, Saul, there's just but Daniel 9 verse 4 to 14.

Daniel 9:4–14

Now you think of Daniel, remember Daniel chapter 6.

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

They could find no fault in Daniel, remember?

So they had to do what? They had to pass a law to get

Daniel to disobey the law, not to pray.

And he prayed. So Daniel was a very, very

righteous man. But in Daniel Chapter 9, you can

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

turn there. I can read it for you, Daniel 9

Daniel 9:4

verse 4. Listen to Daniel's prayer and it

says, I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying,

Oh Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and

steadfast love with those who love Him and keep his

commandments. We have sinned and done wrong

and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from Your

commandments and rules. We have not listened to your

servants, the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our

princesses, our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us belongs

open shame, as at this day to the men of Judah, to the

inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near

and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have

driven them because of the treachery they have committed

against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open

shame to our kings and to our princesses and to our fathers,

because we have sinned against you.

To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have

rebelled against you and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord

our God by walking in His laws which He set before us by His

servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your

law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice and the curse

and oath that are written in the law of Moses.

The servant of God have been poured out on us because we have

sinned against Him. He has confirmed His words which

He spoke against us and against our rulers who have ruled us, by

bringing upon us a great calamity.

For under the whole heaven has not been done anything like

which has been done against Jerusalem, as it is written in

the law of Moses. All this calamity has come upon

us, yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord God,

turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth.

Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has

brought it upon us. For the Lord our God is

righteous, and all the works that he has done, and we have

not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord God, who brought

your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and a

made a name for yourself, as it is this day.

We have sinned, we have done wickedly.

Now, if you're to count all the we's, I think there's nine of

them, all the US's, that's seven of them.

So do we, do you pray like that? Do we pray like that?

Do you ask God to forgive the sins of the United States of

America? I think most of us just pray for

our sins, right? Father, forgive me for what I

did today. But when you think of it, is

there a more wicked nation on the country, on the in the

earth, in the United States of America, we literally export

wickedness. Now, I know the Trump

administration has cut back, but when I was in Myanmar, I would

drive by the US embassy and the US consulate there and they

would have the pride flag up. Not only that it wouldn't be up

for a month, it'd be up for half a year.

But they would also host seminars for LBGQ.

So your tax dollars were going to Myanmar to promote a

homosexual, lesbian lifestyle and transgender and all that

when this is a very devout Buddhist country.

So maybe we ought to pray for the sins of our country, the

abortions, the same sex marriages, the transgenderism,

all of them in defiance of our holy God and his written word.

You know, someday, like what happened to Israel, God is going

to pour out his wrath on the United States of America.

Lord willing, we won't be here. We'll be in heaven with the

rapture. But I love Habakkuk chapter 3,

Habakkuk 3:2

verse 2. And Habakkuk heard the story

that Babylon was going to come. And he says, O Lord, in verse

two, I've heard the report of you and your work.

O Lord, do I fear in the midst of your years, revive it.

In the midst of years make it known.

And the last four words he says in wrath, remember mercy.

That's what I pray for the United States of America,

because the wrath of God is going to be poured out on this

wicked nation. But right now God is withholding

that wrath. God is compassion and patient,

not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to

repentance. But someday that wrath will be

poured out. So I pray in wrath.

Remember mercy. Do you pray like that?

The psalmist does. Let's move on after he says

pardon us in verse 8, the last part of eight be he says pity

us. He says let your compassion.

It's a plural. He's plural here, not singular.

Come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.

ASAP is about as low as he can go.

He's about as discouraged, depressed as he can go.

And so he just makes a desperate plea and he calls upon that

God's mercy would come before it's too late, that all of God's

people will be wiped out. Lamentations 322 says the

steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.

His mercies never come to an end.

He cries out for love and the compassion and mercy of God.

Let's move on to point #3A prayer for glorification verse

9. So ASAP begins with a lament in

verse one, Oh God, which is Elohim.

ASAP then begins praying in verse 50.

Lord, that's Yahweh. ASAP continues praying here in

verse 90. God, that's Elohim.

And there's a couple sub points here.

Deliver us for your glorious name.

Pardon us for your name's sake. So he says in the beginning of

verse nine. Help us, O God, of our

salvation, for the glory of your name.

ASAP is appealing to the greatest motivation of all.

He's asking God to act for the namesake of his own glory.

He prayed that God would guard the greatness of his name in the

world, G Campbell Morgan said of this verse.

ASAP had a passion for the glory of the divine Name, one

commentator said in this Psalm. All that God does, he does

primarily to preserve, pursue, and promote His own glory.

This is the highest end and the chief ambition that stir the

passion of God's own heart, namely, the magnification of His

own most holy Name. Here is the supreme good for

which God acts, the promotion of His own honor.

If this is the loftiest pursuit of God, then so it must be for

man. All people must live for what is

greater than themselves if there are to be elevated to experience

life as God proposes. Many that live for the greatness

of God, or they merely exist. This is the highest goal and the

most honorable aim of man, the passionate pursuit of the glory

of God. I'm I read Isaiah 42 eight verse

earlier. I am the Lord that is my name,

my glory. I give to no other nor my praise

to carve idols in all situations we ought to pursue the glory of

God ASAP is hoping for a miraculous intervention here.

It's not going to come, but he's going to pray for it.

Matthew 69 when we begin the Lord's Prayer, it says our

Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name.

The question for today is have we or have you made God's glory

number one priority in your life?

I think it was last year we had a men's Bible study on a Monday

night and Lance was talking about that verse that you all

know, 1st Corinthians 1031. Everybody knows that verse.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the

glory of God. And Lance mentioned driving and

that hit me like a cat, a ton of rocks.

Like really no. But the more I thought about it,

he's right. Driving.

I, I, I get in my car and I pray, father give me a safe

drive as I take my daughter tests at the school to safe

drive going home. I pray because it's crazy out

there. But I never thought about it

before. It says whatever you do, do for

the glory of God. And that kind of changed my

perspective. I think I finally understood

that verse. First Corinthians 1031.

It's not just eating and drinking.

It's whatever you do all day, all night.

We are to do for the glory of God, including driving.

So he says #1 deliver us for your glorious name.

And then the last part of verse 9, he says, pardon us for your

name's sake. He says deliver us and atone for

our sins. Why?

For your name's sake, maybe your translation says forgive our

sins. You know, here we have the word

atone and we spent a lot of time talking about that word last

week. When we look at Psalm 65 and we

said three times it's mentioned in Psalms, Psalm 65, you atone

for our transgressions, Psalm 7838.

Yet he being compassionate atone for an iniquity and did not

destroy him. And I mentioned last week the

word atone just means to cover, to wipe out.

But think about it. Here's ASAP.

If the temple's destroyed sacrifices could no longer be

made at the temple, right? So how will Israel make

atonement for sins? How will they cover those sins

if sins were really going to be atone for God had to provide a

better sacrifice, right? And Isaiah 53, verses 5 and 6

Isaiah 53:5

prophesied 700 years before the Messiah would come, says, But he

was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.

And but, and with his wounds we are healed all.

We like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned away everyone his

own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Let's look at #4 a prayer of vengeance.

I could have titled it a prayer of imprecatory verses 11:50,

because that's kind of what we have here. 3 sub points here.

Silence our enemies, save the prisoners and sevenfold their

taunts. So some point #1 silence your

enemies. Verse 10, it just says, why

should the nation say, where's their God?

Here we have the second question in the Psalm, the second

searching question in the Psalm. Where's their God?

So in Israel's time, you probably know that when in one

nation defeated another nation, it was proof to the victorious

nation that their gods were stronger than the enemy gods.

So the Babylonians are taunting the Jews here by asking, where

is your God? He's non existent is what

they're saying. At least it's what they're

implying. These two half verses are

technically an imprecatory prayer.

Now you could also include verse 6 where it says pour out your

wrath upon the nation's. And we have talked about

imprecatory prayers a lot. If you remember last year we

looked at Psalm 58 and mentioned an entire Psalm about

imprecatory prayers. I hope you remember that.

And every once in a while in the Psalms that we've looked at,

there's a verse here. And usually it begins with let

him do this, Let God do this. So, you know, I think you may,

I've talked a lot about imprecatory prayers.

But you know, and I mentioned that every day when I pray, I

pray to imprecatory prayers. One, that God would destroy

Hamas and that the reigning hostages would be released.

And the second is that God would destroy the five Myanmar or

Bernie's generals who are destroying the land of Myanmar.

You know, I'm not asking God, I'm asking God.

God, if it's your will, pour out your wrath now get those

hostages released, judge the wickedness of those wicked

nations, knowing that God will pour out his wrath later.

But there's nothing wrong that we can't pray in preparatory

prayers against those wicked nations of the world.

So so he's praying that God would judge those nations.

He says there. In the in the next part there

verse 10, let the avenging of the out poured blood of your

servants be known among the nations before our eyes.

This is the second time, verse 3 and verse 10 that ASAP has

mentioned the outpouring of the blood.

That's how great the slaughter was.

The slaughter was great. So Ace AP's asking here.

God, we want the world to see your vengeance upon these wicked

nations. We want you to display your

power to destroy these nations should you choose to avenge

them. And I mentioned before that God

would destroy Babylon, but it would be many, many years down

the road. Next, say the prisoners, verse

11. He says, let the groans of the

prisoners come before you, according to great power,

preserve those doomed to die. So the one he's suffering, Asaph

is suffering here, but he includes a plea to save the

prisoners. Like I pray for the hostages

that are being held by Hamas because many of these prisoners

here would face execution. Like then I mentioned they only

took a few 1000 back to Babylon. Most of the people, thousands

upon thousands, maybe 300,000 people were slaughtered.

So this is the same kind of prayer that we we can make

today. And then verse 12, sevenfold,

they're taunts, He says return sevenfold into the lap of our

neighbors. That's the wicked nations, the

taunts which we have, Taun you, O Lord.

Now the number sevenfold here in this verse is a concept from

Leviticus 26. If you go to Leviticus 26, don't

turn there. Now verses 21 to 28, God says I

will punish Israel sevenfold for their sins, for breaking my

covenant. OK, So here Aceps ask God to

punish Babylon sevenfold for their sins.

After witnessing what Babylon did to the Jews, the temple and

Jerusalem, how could ASAP not cry out for God to give

retribution to them? So ASAP began with a lament in

verse one. Oh God.

He began then prayed in verse 50.

Lord. He continues praying in verse

90, God. And now he ends verse 12 with Oh

Lord. And then our last point tonight,

verse 5, a prayer of adoration, Psalm, verse 13.

You know, almost every single Psalm of the 150 psalms, almost

all of them end with praise or at least some type of adoration

or some type of Thanksgiving. There are a few Psalm 88, Psalm

137 that just ended abruptly. But like most Psalms are Psalm

after 12 verses ends the last verse, verse 13, with a prayer

of adoration. And it's interesting that what

ASAP's been through, what his eyes have seen, what his body

has felt, maybe his relatives were taken, maybe his children

were taken. You know, maybe his wife was

slaughtered. We don't know exactly.

But ASAP can still give praise. He can still give thanks to God

here in verse 13. This is a powerful lesson for

all of us. You know, I don't know what

tragedy you've had. I don't know what illness you

had or maybe going through, maybe the loss of a job, maybe

what family troubles are going on.

And we pray and we ask the Lord, how long, O Lord, do I have to

go through this ordeal? But while you wait, we need to

give him two things. We need to give thanks forever

and we need to give praise fervently.

Verse 13, the first part says, But we your people, the sheep of

your pasture, we'll give thanks to you forever.

ASAP's prayer of restoration wasn't answered.

Jerusalem was still in ruins. ASAP's prayer of glorification

wasn't answered. Help did not come.

ASAP's prayer of vengeance wasn't answered for maybe 70

years or many years. Yet ASAP could still trust the

Lord and give thanks to the Lord.

Why? Well, he says right there, we

are the sheep of your pasture. So if you're in Psalm 79, look

at verse 13 and I've underlined verse 13.

I underline or I circle the sheep of your pasture.

OK, underline that. Now go down to the next Psalm,

Psalm 80, verse one. And what's it say?

Give here, O Shepherd of Israel, we are the sheep of his pasture

and God is a shepherd and God knows what he's doing, even

though we don't understand him, though we cry out so ASAP knows

that we are the sheep of the pasture, but that the shepherd

of Israel is God. And Psalm 79, God's going to

shepherd his people forever. God is always our Good Shepherd.

You know how bad things were, Habakkuk, that wonderful little

book. When you come to the very end,

God tells he's going to destroy Israel, Jerusalem, He's going to

use the Babylonian army. There's this debate between

Habakkuk and God. Finally, in the end of chapter

3, Habakkuk says though the fig tree should not blossom, nor

fruit beyond the vines, the produce of the olives fails and

the fields produce no food. The flock be cut off from the

fold and there be no herds in the stalls.

That's six different animals or foods he mentions in verse 18.

He says, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

God the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like deer.

He makes me tread in high places.

So ASAP in Psalm 7913 could give thanks.

Habakkuk in Habakkuk 13, knowing the horror of what was going to

happen would still give thanks and joy.

Psalm 7720 says you led your people like a flock by the hand

of Moses and Aaron. God shepherd his people by the

hand of Moses and Aaron during the Exodus and of court in the

New Testament. This theme is greatly expanded

in the book of John, and we're going to look at that book on

Sundays in just a few months. But John 1011, Jesus says I am

the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his

life for his sheep. And in Hebrews 1320 it says now

the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord

Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of eternal

covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do,

His will working in us that which is pleasing his sight

through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen. So the children of Israel were

God's sheep and we believers in Jesus Christ or Jesus sheep.

So we need to give thanks forever like ASAP.

Then the last line of verse 13 says from generation to

generation, we'll recount all your praise.

We need to give praise fervently no matter what the trial, the

suffering. The problem is ASAP is

undergoing the worst crisis in his life.

But he still, as the worship leader in the temple, was

committed to praise God. And I believe he probably went

to Babylon and would continue to lead worship to the to the

people that were taken there. Now we need to, he was committed

to praise God, not for the things that God gave him, not

for the things that God did, but just simply because God, who who

he is, deserves our worship. He would be committed to teach

his children, his grandchildren how to praise the Lord.

So in closing tonight, what could we take away from this

Psalm? Many things, but I'll give you 3

things. And #1 we mentioned it.

The wrath of God is coming. It's coming upon this nation,

the United States of America, it's coming upon the world.

And it could happen any day. If you've been with us in our

study of First Thessalonians, chapter 5, in our Psalm, Israel

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

was warned again and again and again of the consequences for

for failing to obey God. And this Psalm is another

warning for those who refuse to repent and put their faith and

trust in Jesus Christ. And Second Peter chapter 2,

verses 49, write that down. We have another strong warning,

and I'll read it if you want to turn there, but I'll read it.

It says in second Peter chapter 2, verses 4.

2 Peter 2:4

For if God did not spare angels, that's number one example, when

they sin, but cast them into hell and committed them to

chains of gloomy darkness, to be kept until the judgment.

If he did not spare the ancient world, that's example #2 but

preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness with seven others,

when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, If by

turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, that's the third

example to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them

an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.

So I could go on and read and read, but he gives 3 examples

there that were worn. The angels.

These are wicked angels, the ancient world and the time of

Noah, and of course Sodom and Gomorrah that God was going to

judge him. But most of the world ignores

that warning. But you know, our our families,

our relatives, even our church, our country, our world has

received warning after warning from sacred Scripture.

And our God is a God of love, a God of great compassion.

And as I mentioned earlier, his desires that no one should

perish. If you if you were to go to the

next chapter in the second Peter verse 9 says the Lord is not

slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is

patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that

all should reach repentance. But God must and will punish

sin. Romans 623 says the wages of sin

is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life.

So wrath is coming and we need to tell the world that number 2.

I think the glory of his name. I know you know that we are not

to take the name of the Lord in vain or Hollywood movies take it

repeatedly and people are always, you know, the people who

don't believe in God use his name as a curse word.

But one commentator said that a similar supreme passion for

God's glory should saturate the heart and focus the prayers of

every believer. There must be a seeking first

the Kingdom of God by every child of God before there should

be a pursuit of earthly things. You know that verse, Matthew 633

seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And it says in whatever the believer does in every activity,

including driving, and that's first Corinthians 1031.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for

the glory of God. This is God's own chief pursuit

is His glory. And so it should be with

believers. The greatest appeal to God in

prayer should always be the advancement of his name and the

spread of fame among the unbelieving nations.

So I take that apart away. And then #3 maybe you feel

abandoned by God. Maybe you're struggling like

ASAP was. Are you like, are you a believer

like ASAP asking the question, How long, O Lord?

Now remember when we studied Psalm 5, which was all about

prayer? Also, I said, if you're

struggling and you don't know what's going on, make sure

number one, you are a believer in Jesus Christ and #2 make sure

there is no sin in your life that would cause not to hear

your prayers. OK?

But if you have Jesus Christ in your heart and you don't know of

any sin, maybe you've cried out to God and you said how long, O

Lord, for this trial? How long?

Maybe you feel abandoned by God. There's nothing more difficult

maybe when God is silent. OK, but what should you do?

Well, you should do what ASAP does.

Take your complaints to God in prayer.

Cry out. You can complain to God.

Not complaints about normal complaints, but complaints about

God. Why aren't you judging the

abortion clinics in California? Why aren't you dealing with this

transgender? Why don't you send Jesus today

and then pour out your wrath in this wicked nation?

We can go to God in prayer. God's not offended by our

questions, especially when we're transparent like ASAP.

But while you're crying out to God and saying how long you need

to be in the fellowship of believers, OK, don't stay away

from church. That's exactly what Satan wants

you to do. He, he wants you as you're going

through this trial, as you're going through his persecution,

as you're going through the suffering.

He wants you to be down and out, not to read your Bible, not to

pray, and not to be in church. But this is the exact place you

need to be first Peter, which is all about suffering first Peter

412 says, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial

when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange

or happening to you. And then the next verse, verse

13 says, But rejoice in so far as you share in Christ's

sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his

glory is revealed. The trial is small compared to

the glory that we will see when we're in heaven.

So you need to be in the worship service.

You need to be singing praise songs like the worship leader

ASAP would do. When you sing songs of praise to

God, even when your hearts are hurting, when it seems like God

is silent and you feel abandoned, songs of praise clear

our hearts and remind us that God has not abandoned us.

And then another thing, as you're suffering, as you're

struggling, serve the Lord. Take time to minister to others

because that gets your mind off your trial, off your suffering.

So those are just three takeaways I have from Psalm 79.

Wrath is coming. We need to do all we can do for

the glory of God. And if by chance you're feeling

abandoned and wondering why God isn't answering your prayers,

search your hearts and and just continue to worship, continue to

wait. That's what ASAP did.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for Psalm 79.

Thank you that we know the historical account of this

Psalm. Thank you for this brother ASAP.

You don't know a lot about him, Lord, but I believe he was a

godly man and I believe he suffered tremendously.

But Father, he, he, he knows like we know that you're a holy,

holy God and you will judge sin because you're a righteous God

and you must punish sins to it, to it for your justice.

So Father God, we know that wrath is coming.

So we pray for our relatives today.

I know when the CCC prayer letter, there's at least 25

people in our church asking for prayer for the relatives.

And so, Father, we do pray for all our relatives that don't

know Jesus Christ, that we would have another opportunity to

share with them that the wrath of God will be poured out and

punished. And you, they do not want to be

here when the rapture comes and we're in heaven because this

tribulation, this world will be even much more worse than it is.

So Father, we pray for the salvation of our loved ones who

perhaps grew up in this church, who wandered away.

And Father, I just pray for another opportunities to share

with them the love of Christ and the consequences of rejecting

him. And Father, we pray for Christ

Community Church that you would use it as a light of salvation

for W Camino, Baldwin Park, Irwindale, that the word of God

would be preached here that would cause salvation to come to

many people. And for us who have salvation

for sanctification, Father, help us to honor your name, not just

with our lips by not cursing, but in whatever we do, wherever

we do, at work, at home, whether we're a housewife, whether we're

a teacher, whether we drive, whether we're anywhere.

May we glorify your holy and great and awesome and mighty

name, Father. May we lift up anybody who's

struggling today, anybody who's suffering, anybody who like ASAP

says, how long, O Lord, how long must I wait?

Father, we love the answer of prayer when it's yes, We don't

really like it when it's no, but we appreciate their abruptness.

But help those who are struggling through whatever

situation would be. And they might be saying how

long, O Lord, that they would, that they would pass the test,

that they would survive the trial, that they would persevere

as we are as Christians. And we pray that for us, for

those of us who aren't suffering, that we can come

alongside those who are and help them.

We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.