You Can Read the Bible

We begin today with another disturbing image of a battered people: O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins…How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? Listen for multiple instances of this question “How long, O LORD?” today.

This feeling of rejection and despair fills the first two Psalms and receives an answer, interestingly, in the third. Typically in the Psalms we’ve seen two types of speech: either the writer speaks directly to the LORD, or he speaks to His fellow worshippers. The writer of Psalm 81 diverges from this pattern and inserts the LORD’s words to Israel into the Psalm. It reads like a verse from the prophets: Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to Me! There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. This too is worship, at a time when the LORD grieves that My people did not listen to My voice; Israel would not submit to Me…

In Psalm 82 the writer has a message to the worshippers of those foreign gods: God has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods He holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?” These gods have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. And finally, he welcomes the LORD’s inevitable triumph: Arise, O God, judge the earth; for You shall inherit all the nations!

Psalm 83 is again a prayer born of distress, as the nations surrounding Israel have conspired to wipe them out as a nation, and have invited Assyria to join the party. Psalm 84 stands out for its celebration of the LORD’s goodness, but still maintains the posture of petition. And listen to the vision of restoration in Psalm 85: Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.

Our verse for this week is 2 Timothy 3:16: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

Psalms 79 through 85. Now let’s read it!

Psalms 79 - 85

A Psalm by Asaph. God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps. They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth. They have shed their blood like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them. We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us. How long, Jehovah? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out your wrath on the nations that don't know you, on the kingdoms that don't call on your name, for they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland. Don't hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need. Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake. Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants' blood is being poured out. Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you. According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death. Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord. So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations. For the Chief Musician. To the tune of "The Lilies of the Covenant." A Psalm by Asaph. Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit above the cherubim, shine out. Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up your might! Come to save us! Turn us again, God. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved. Jehovah God of Armies, how long will you be angry against the prayer of your people? You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in large measure. You make us a source of contention to our neighbors. Our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, God of Armies. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved. You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and planted it. You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root, and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shadow. Its boughs were like God's cedars. It sent out its branches to the sea, its shoots to the River. Why have you broken down its walls, so that all those who pass by the way pluck it? The boar out of the wood ravages it. The wild animals of the field feed on it. Turn again, we beg you, God of Armies. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vine, the stock which your right hand planted, the branch that you made strong for yourself. It's burned with fire. It's cut down. They perish at your rebuke. Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, on the son of man whom you made strong for yourself. So we will not turn away from you. Revive us, and we will call on your name. Turn us again, Jehovah God of Armies. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved. For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. By Asaph. Sing aloud to God, our strength! Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob! Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine, the pleasant lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. He appointed it in Joseph for a covenant, when he went out over the land of Egypt, I heard a language that I didn't know. "I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were freed from the basket. You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah." Selah. "Hear, my people, and I will testify to you, Israel, if you would listen to me! There shall be no strange god in you, neither shall you worship any foreign god. I am Jehovah, your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people didn't listen to my voice. Israel desired none of me. So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts, that they might walk in their own counsels. Oh that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their adversaries. The haters of Jehovah would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat. I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock." A Psalm by Asaph. God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods. "How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?" Selah. "Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked." They don't know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, "You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High. Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers." Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations. A song. A Psalm by Asaph. God, don't keep silent. Don't keep silent, and don't be still, God. For, behold, your enemies are stirred up. Those who hate you have lifted up their heads. They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones. "Come," they say, "let's destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more." For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance against you. The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot. Selah. Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon; who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, "Let's take possession of God's pasture lands." My God, make them like tumbleweed, like chaff before the wind. As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets the mountains on fire, so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm. Fill their faces with confusion, that they may seek your name, Jehovah. Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish; that they may know that you alone, whose name is Jehovah, are the Most High over all the earth. For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. How lovely are your dwellings, Jehovah of Armies! My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Jehovah. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, near your altars, Jehovah of Armies, my King, and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are always praising you. Selah. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage. Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength. Every one of them appears before God in Zion. Jehovah, God of Armies, hear my prayer. Listen, God of Jacob. Selah. Behold, God our shield, look at the face of your anointed. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield. Jehovah will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly. Jehovah of Armies, blessed is the man who trusts in you. For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. Jehovah, you have been favorable to your land. You have restored the fortunes of Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity of your people. You have covered all their sin. Selah. You have taken away all your wrath. You have turned from the fierceness of your anger. Turn us, God of our salvation, and cause your indignation toward us to cease. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations? Won't you revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your loving kindness, Jehovah. Grant us your salvation. I will hear what God, Jehovah, will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, his saints; but let them not turn again to folly. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven. Yes, Jehovah will give that which is good. Our land will yield its increase. Righteousness goes before him, and prepares the way for his steps.

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