Slices
Prepare
Slowly repeat these words from Psalm 16: ‘Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure’ (Psalm 16:5).
Bible passage
For the director of music. To the tune of ‘The Lilies of the Covenant’. Of Asaph. A psalm.
1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.
3 Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
4 How long, Lord God Almighty,
will your anger smoulder
against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbours,
and our enemies mock us.
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.
12 Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage it,
and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty!
Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
15 the root your right hand has planted,
the son you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
at your rebuke your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.
19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
Explore
When it comes to prayer, God prefers a vat of honesty to a veneer of holiness. In this psalm the Asaphite worship leaders in Jerusalem hurl their frustrations and confusion to God. Don’t you remember that we are your people (v 1)? Surely you can recall that you saved us from Egypt and planted us in a new land? All the world saw how you caused us to grow and prosper! So how come you’ve given up on us (v 12)? How long will you ignore our prayers and make us feel bitter and ridiculed (v 6)?
The feelings run deep. The context is the loss of the Northern tribes of Israel (v 2) to Assyrian invasion around 735 bc. The worshippers down south in Jerusalem are shocked at the humiliating desolation of God’s own people (v 16).
As we in the western world witness the steady decline in the size, health and influence of the Christian church, are we similarly moved? Can we share in the honest cries of the Asaphites: Restore us (vs 3,7,19)! Wake up and save us (v 2)! Return to us: watch over us and smile on us again (vs 14,19)!
Respond
Find a symbol of your nation: perhaps a flag, map or object that sums up your national culture. Hold it before God and pray for the strengthening of God’s people in your land.
Deeper Bible study
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?’1
The very fact that God is the Shepherd of Israel is enough to guarantee her security (v 1). This is the Good Shepherd of whom David speaks in Psalm 23. Under his loving care, everything the people required to be a prosperous nation at peace with itself and with their neighbours was richly provided for them. That was the previous enviable state for which the psalmist now pines (vs 3,7,14). The mention of Ephraim and Manasseh in verse 2 would seem to indicate that it is the northern kingdom that is in question here, perhaps when it was under the yoke of the Assyrians.
How did it come to this? Sadly, Israel demonstrated time and again that it had failed to learn its lesson from the fate of Nadab and Abihu on the consequences of disobedience. This was especially true of the northern kingdom under its unbroken succession of godless kings. The people rebelled against the God of their salvation and he abandoned them just as they had been warned in the Law given to them by Moses. Therefore they were destroyed by other nations, for whom they were meant to model God’s grace and favour in a lost world (vs 12,13).2
We too must take the same lesson to heart. In the Lord Jesus Christ we have blessings which are the envy of the watching world.3 Our conduct, however, is not always in keeping with what we know and proclaim. Mahatma Gandhi of India once explained to the Christian missionary, Dr E Stanley Jones: ‘Oh, I don’t reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It is just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ.’4 How sad!
Paul enjoined other believers to imitate him, just as he imitated Christ.5 Pray from now on to be able to say the same.
1 Ps 130:3 2 Compare Gen 22:18 3 Matt 5:16 4 Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang, ‘Gandhi’s message to Christians’ in Africa needs Gandhi!, Prabhat Prakashan, 2020 5 1 Cor 11:1
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Exodus 9,10; Matthew 21
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for the volunteer team leaders of Northern Ireland’s camps and missions. There are 10 to 15 newly appointed team leaders; please pray for them as they embark on a new leadership journey. Remember all the team leaders as they prepare for next summer asking that their dreams and plans will be God inspired and fruitful for his kingdom.
