Happy August, y’all!! August??!! Already?? Yeah…
Psalm 79
The temple has been destroyed and Jerusalem is in ruins. The Israelites were taken into exile to Babylon in 587 BC; this psalm could very possibly have been written from Babylon during that exile.
A couple of items to note. There are a number of verses in this psalm where the writer calls for vengeance to be delivered to Israel’s enemies (vv. 6, 10, 12), but God did not answer that request. In fact, Babylon was never defeated by Israel; instead in a major reversal, the Israelites were allowed to return home peacefully during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. God is not a god of revenge. As I said yesterday, He will act in His time.
Another verse; Do not remember against us our former iniquities… (v. 8a, ESV). The NASB translates “former iniquities” as “the iniquities of our forefathers”. That NASB translation is what struck me. The psalmist seems to be saying that he and his contemporaries are innocent, it was their ancestors who sinned and brought on this great desolation. No doubt we can learn from both translations. We have inherited the benefits and the costs from those who have gone before us, but we are also responsible for all that we have done in our own lives. We should never blame others for our present circumstances. God knows where we are. We need to move on: Your will be done!” Wait and pray. Pray and wait.
Good point, Fred, about our forebears. They sinned but that doesn’t make us innocent. One thought that came to mind is that this psalm was written about Israel, God’s people. But ever since the resurrection, God’s people means the church, a kingdom not a nation per se. So reading this putting in “your church” for where you would read “Israel” makes for a different perspective. Our church forebears have sinned throughout our existence (e.g., the Crusades, the Inquisition, etc., etc.), but that doesn’t make us, the church today, innocent of sins of omission and commission of loving God and neighbor. I read this as a group lamentation about our group sins, not as an individual.