Slices
Prepare
Do you feel discouraged when the church or the Christian faith is ridiculed or attacked? It’s fine to share that sadness with God in prayer, just like the psalm writer did.
Bible passage
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbours,
of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry for ever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
9 Help us, God our Saviour,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say,
‘Where is their God?’
Before our eyes, make known among the nations
that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbours seven times
the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will praise you for ever;
from generation to generation
we will proclaim your praise.
Explore
In the western world – though perhaps not in many South American and Asian countries where it’s growing – the Christian faith is often represented in the media as a spent force. Christians feel irrelevant and misunderstood.
The sense of siege mentality in this psalm of lament easily strikes a chord: ‘We’ve been attacked, abused… we’ve become a joke… so, where are you, God? Don’t you care about your reputation enough to defend us against those who are mistreating us?’
Though some can identify with that sense of being under threat, the call for vengeance (vs 6,10) doesn’t, of course, sit easily with us today.
Yet there’s another theme in this psalm that links it with our Luke readings this week. The psalm writer is distraught over the desecration of the Temple, the destruction of the land, and urgently wants God’s honour restored and respected among unbelievers. We’ve seen how Jesus too is concerned for the reputation of God within the Temple and among those who say they are his. Do we feel similar distress when God is ridiculed and demeaned?
Respond
Use these words from David’s prayer at Solomon’s coronation to raise God to his rightful place in your heart: ‘Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours’ (1 Chronicles 29:11).
Deeper Bible study
‘I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’1
This psalm is a lament: a song pleading for God’s intervention. The setting is exilic: the Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, devastating Israel (v 1). The psalm moves from a vivid description of their plight to an appeal for vengeance, repentance, another request for retribution – and, lastly, praise.
The first picture is of a nation destroyed by war; as many have experienced (vs 1–4). In verse 5, the psalmist cries out, ‘How long, Lord?’ He pleads for God to intervene and bring restoration (vs 5,6). In verse 8, he shifts to repentance, asking God to show mercy and to forget the nation’s former sins. He knows who God is: ‘our Saviour’ (v 9). Amen! Knowing this, he calls out to God to help those left behind after the Exile. After asking God why the nations question his existence (v 10) – has anything changed today? – he yearns for God’s sevenfold vengeance on these nations.2 Knowing that God is their Shepherd,3 he promises to praise him for ever (v 13).
Today, across God’s world, people gather to be God’s people: to remember, lament, love, praise and hear the Word. Many Western churches are in a sorry state: almost empty, ageing and declining – perhaps to become museums or restaurants. We have become a taunt to our neighbours (v 4). We yearn for God’s renewal – ‘how long, Lord?’ Knowing that Jesus is returning to judge the nations, we no longer need to cry out for the destruction of the ungodly: that is assured (though God wants all to repent).4 We can take our cue from this psalm, especially verses 8 and 9, pleading for God to meet us with compassion to forgive and renew us. We do so trusting that God will build his church! So, let us give thanks and praise to our Shepherd-King for ever.
Pray the psalm. Lament our state. Ask for forgiveness, deliverance. Bless our enemies. Pray for renewal. End with praise.
1 Matt 16:18, ESV 2 Cf Gen 4:15; Lev 26:18; Prov 6:31 3 Cf Ps 23:1 4 2 Pet 3:9
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Hosea 3–6; Revelation 1
Pray for Scripture Union
This week, all of the Scripture Union prayers relate to this article.
Rooted gets its name from Ephesians 3:17–19. Read this verse and use it as a prayer for all the young people you know.
