An Asaphic Psalm.
No one knows when this psalm was written, but it is ascribed to Asaph, David’s choir director.
God stands in the Divine Council
He judges among the gods.
These two verses claim that this psalm is being written from the perspective of Heaven. This is an image of God that is used many times. God is in the center of heaven and all the other gods are around him, taking their instruction from Him and He is determining whether their work is good or bad. This image is also found in Job 1, Isaiah 6, I Kings 22, Zechariah 3 and Revelation 4.
Many people have a hard time accepting the term “gods” in the Bible, unless one is speaking of idols. But the Bible often uses the term “gods” to mean the spiritual powers that are in submission to God Most High. God is not the only powerful spiritual being in heaven, there are also angels, demons, archangels, cherubim, seraphim and national gods. Sometimes these are called “the sons of God” (such as in Job) and sometimes just “gods” (as in Deuteronomy). This does not take away from God’s glory, for God is the one called “God Most High.” What is He most high over? Over the other gods, of course. Yahweh is always the ruler over the gods.
Satan is one of the lesser gods, as well as Michael and Gabriel. So is Marduk (a national god) and possibly Baal/Zeus (warrior gods, really the same god), as well as Venus (goddess of erotic love) and Mars (god of war). There are gods over each nation in the world—Britain, the U.S., Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, France and Russia. Each god actually partly determines the character of each nation. There are also gods over churches. All of these gods are powerful and can effect the world in powerful ways. Their movements are the politics behind politics and the power behind the powers. And God is in charge of them all.
"How long will you judge unjustly
And show favor to the wicked?
Vindicate the needy and fatherless;
Give justice to the lowly and poor.
Rescue the weak and needy
Deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
They do not know nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness.
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.”How does the Most High judge the gods? How does He determine if they are acting well on earth or not? This is a surprise to many involved in theology. It is not based on their show of worship, nor on how they respond to Zion. Rather, God is looking at one thing, especially for the gods of nations—how do they treat their poor? Do the poor get justice in their lands? Are the needy oppressed, abused, blamed for their poverty? Are the poor forced to cry out to God Most High for the only real justice they will receive?
From the perspective of God Most High, the gods are there to make sure that the human rulers treat the poor with equity and justice. That they are given opportunities for charity and love. That they are saved from oppression when oppression overtakes them.
God rebukes the gods because that is not the situation. And it never has been. Never has there been a nation that treated the poor with the same justice and mercy that they treat the wealthy and important. Never has there been a nation that would give the poor the benefit of the doubt. Never has there been a time in which the poor did not need to depend on God Most High for justice.
“I had thought you to be gods
And all of you to be sons of the Most High
But you will all die like mortals
And fall like any prince."
Arise, O God, bring justice to the earth!
For all the nations are Your possession.
So what happens to the gods? How can God punish them? Frankly, his punishment is harsh. Because they refuse to help the poor, because they allow the governments of the earth to oppress the poor and treat them inequitably, then God will kill them. He says, “You think you are immortal. You think nothing can happen to you. But I can kill you, and I will. Your days are numbered, because you refuse to fulfill my most basic command of all leaders—help the poor, support the needy.” The final cry is for God to bring his justice to earth—to take over the justice system.
To be truly divine is to assist those who are needy. If the gods do not act divine, then God Most High will raise up people who do act with divinity and justice.
If this is true for the gods on high, it is certainly true for the nations of the earth, the leaders of the nations and the leaders of the church. If the leaders of any group refuse to assist the poor, they will be taken from their lofty position and destroyed. Every single leader will be judged according to this standard.
• “Did you use your wealth for frivolous living or for the needy?”
• “Did you give more leniency to the wealthy and popular than you did for the poor?”
• “In your warfare, did you harm the innocent poor because they were expendable?”
• “In your church, did you treat the homeless and mentally ill and poor as second-class citizens? Were they excluded because you considered money to be the means of entrance to fellowship? Were people unable to fellowship in restaurants and movies with you because they couldn’t afford it? Were the poor not welcome because they weren’t the same as the rest of you?”
• “In your schools, did you give fewer opportunities to have knowledge to the poor than to the wealthy of society?”
• “In your employment, do you give the poor equal opportunities for employment, even if they haven’t showered, don’t have experience or can’t work a full time job? Are they given short term employment by the wealthy who need clean up or help in their homes?”
• “In your charity distribution, did you give the poor good, nutritious food, good clothing to help them in the weather, or did you give them the items that weren’t good enough for those who could afford it?”
• “In your stores, was the cheapest food the garbage that no one could live off of, or the staples that everyone needs to live?”
• “In cheap housing, is that offered to the poorest of the poor, or only to those who could afford the medium-range prices?”
• “In the value system of your society, are the poor assumed to be immoral, simply because they were poor? Are the poor questioned and doubted when no one else would be? Is there theology that teaches that the poor are less spiritual? Is the poor of one’s family shunted aside and rejected? Does no one want to see them, simply because everyone feels so guilty just looking at them?”
If the poor are treated badly, then it is God himself that will judge. He alone defends them and will support them. And God will question each one of us according to how we treated those poorer than us. Let us pray we have a good answer. (Exodus 23:23; Matt 25:31-46; Proverbs 19:17)
Friday, April 11, 2008
When The Worst Happens-- Psalm 79
An Asaphic Psalm
Although this psalm is stated to be of Asaph, the music leader of David, it was clearly written after 586BC, 400 years after David, because it is about the destruction of God’s temple which hadn’t been built at the time of David.
O God, the nations have entered your possession
They have defiled your Holy Temple
They have laid Jerusalem in heaps
They have given the corpses of your servants for food to the birds of heavens
The flesh of Your faithful to the beasts of the earth
Their blood was spilled like water around Jerusalem
With none to bury them
We have become a taunt to our neighbors
Mockery and derision of those around us.
This is a bitter description of the destruction of Jerusalem, only to be exceeded by the book of Lamentations. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, brought his armies and surrounded the city. He starved them out, so that even mothers ate their babies. When the gates of Jerusalem finally fell, out of anger for them not allowing him in, he slaughtered the people and completely destroyed the temple of Yahweh. The walls of the city, once used for protection, were dismantled. The bodies of the dead were left out in the open, not allowed to be buried for their shame. All the nations around Israel, who had not yet faced the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar, mocked Judah and Jerusalem because they claimed that the gods had forsaken them, but since they were still standing, they must be more holy, more righteous.
How long, O Yahweh?
Will You be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
Pour your wrath out upon the nations that do not know You
And upon the kingdoms who do not invoke Your name
For they have devoured Jacob
And laid waste his home
The psalmist understands God’s anger. He appreciates the fact that he and his forebears have sinned before God, by worshipping other gods and by acting impurely before God. But he just needs to say, “God, but really? Shouldn’t you really be mad at them, at Babylon and the nations that mock us? They are the ones who destroyed your temple, not us. They are the ones who destroyed your people, not us.” But the psalmist fails to look at the situation from God’s perspective (which we are told in Ezekiel 36). It was God’s people who defiled the temple, who made it impure and unacceptable to worship in. Thus, it had to be destroyed, and God used Babylon as his tool for this (as God says in Habakkuk 1).
Do not recall our former wrongs against us
Let your compassion come quickly to meet us
For we are brought very low
Help us, O God our deliverer, because of the glory of Your name
And save us and forgive our sins for the sake of your name
Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?"
Let the revenge for the spilled blood of your servants
Become known among the nations before our eyes.
Now the psalmist is asking for forgiveness. He is claiming, “Haven’t we suffered enough for our sins? Look at our humiliation and decide for yourself, if that is enough.” Then the psalmist has another, more powerful argument to releasing them from their slavery. “God, you know that this looks bad for you, too. After all, your reputation as a powerful God is at stake here. All the other nations will say that you are a wimpy God and unworthy of fear or worship. So restore us and avenge us from our enemies and Your reputation will be strengthened.”
Let the groans of the prisoner come before You
According to the greatness of Your power, free those slated for death
And return to our neighbors seven-fold into their bosom
The reproach with which they have reproached You, O Yahweh
Then we-- Your people, the sheep of Your pasture-- will praise You forever.
To all generations we will tell of your praise
Finally, the psalmist just points to the suffering of God’s people, and relies on God’s compassion. He points to their slavery, to their death sentence, to their imprisonment. And he claims that this is all the fault of the Babylonians and their hatred of God. Therefore, the psalmist claims, God should take vengeance against them, to destroy them, for the sake of His people and His name. And the final icing on the cake is God’s people will praise him forever for his mercy on them.
Often we have terrible circumstances coming upon us, tearing us apart. Our children taken from us, our livelihood torn away from us, our love and hope destroyed by terrible disasters. In that time, we should take the psalmist’s example and cry to God for deliverance. He will give us freedom if only we cry out. Even if He is punishing us, He will have mercy and forgive us.
However, we also need to look at the full circumstance. As awful as what someone else did to us, did we do anything that allowed this suffering to come upon us? Are we blind to our own sins, our own mea culpa? Before we ask for God to take anyone else down, first we must repent of our own sins, accept our own responsibility. It took 70 years for the people of Israel to accept their own responsibility, repent of their sins and turn to God. Only then did He deliver them and move the nations to restore them to their home. Pray that it doesn’t take that long for us to see the light and to have Him restore us to life and health.
Although this psalm is stated to be of Asaph, the music leader of David, it was clearly written after 586BC, 400 years after David, because it is about the destruction of God’s temple which hadn’t been built at the time of David.
O God, the nations have entered your possession
They have defiled your Holy Temple
They have laid Jerusalem in heaps
They have given the corpses of your servants for food to the birds of heavens
The flesh of Your faithful to the beasts of the earth
Their blood was spilled like water around Jerusalem
With none to bury them
We have become a taunt to our neighbors
Mockery and derision of those around us.
This is a bitter description of the destruction of Jerusalem, only to be exceeded by the book of Lamentations. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, brought his armies and surrounded the city. He starved them out, so that even mothers ate their babies. When the gates of Jerusalem finally fell, out of anger for them not allowing him in, he slaughtered the people and completely destroyed the temple of Yahweh. The walls of the city, once used for protection, were dismantled. The bodies of the dead were left out in the open, not allowed to be buried for their shame. All the nations around Israel, who had not yet faced the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar, mocked Judah and Jerusalem because they claimed that the gods had forsaken them, but since they were still standing, they must be more holy, more righteous.
How long, O Yahweh?
Will You be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
Pour your wrath out upon the nations that do not know You
And upon the kingdoms who do not invoke Your name
For they have devoured Jacob
And laid waste his home
The psalmist understands God’s anger. He appreciates the fact that he and his forebears have sinned before God, by worshipping other gods and by acting impurely before God. But he just needs to say, “God, but really? Shouldn’t you really be mad at them, at Babylon and the nations that mock us? They are the ones who destroyed your temple, not us. They are the ones who destroyed your people, not us.” But the psalmist fails to look at the situation from God’s perspective (which we are told in Ezekiel 36). It was God’s people who defiled the temple, who made it impure and unacceptable to worship in. Thus, it had to be destroyed, and God used Babylon as his tool for this (as God says in Habakkuk 1).
Do not recall our former wrongs against us
Let your compassion come quickly to meet us
For we are brought very low
Help us, O God our deliverer, because of the glory of Your name
And save us and forgive our sins for the sake of your name
Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?"
Let the revenge for the spilled blood of your servants
Become known among the nations before our eyes.
Now the psalmist is asking for forgiveness. He is claiming, “Haven’t we suffered enough for our sins? Look at our humiliation and decide for yourself, if that is enough.” Then the psalmist has another, more powerful argument to releasing them from their slavery. “God, you know that this looks bad for you, too. After all, your reputation as a powerful God is at stake here. All the other nations will say that you are a wimpy God and unworthy of fear or worship. So restore us and avenge us from our enemies and Your reputation will be strengthened.”
Let the groans of the prisoner come before You
According to the greatness of Your power, free those slated for death
And return to our neighbors seven-fold into their bosom
The reproach with which they have reproached You, O Yahweh
Then we-- Your people, the sheep of Your pasture-- will praise You forever.
To all generations we will tell of your praise
Finally, the psalmist just points to the suffering of God’s people, and relies on God’s compassion. He points to their slavery, to their death sentence, to their imprisonment. And he claims that this is all the fault of the Babylonians and their hatred of God. Therefore, the psalmist claims, God should take vengeance against them, to destroy them, for the sake of His people and His name. And the final icing on the cake is God’s people will praise him forever for his mercy on them.
Often we have terrible circumstances coming upon us, tearing us apart. Our children taken from us, our livelihood torn away from us, our love and hope destroyed by terrible disasters. In that time, we should take the psalmist’s example and cry to God for deliverance. He will give us freedom if only we cry out. Even if He is punishing us, He will have mercy and forgive us.
However, we also need to look at the full circumstance. As awful as what someone else did to us, did we do anything that allowed this suffering to come upon us? Are we blind to our own sins, our own mea culpa? Before we ask for God to take anyone else down, first we must repent of our own sins, accept our own responsibility. It took 70 years for the people of Israel to accept their own responsibility, repent of their sins and turn to God. Only then did He deliver them and move the nations to restore them to their home. Pray that it doesn’t take that long for us to see the light and to have Him restore us to life and health.
The One Thing To Remember-- Psalm 75
For the leader, "Do Not Destroy". An Asaphic Psalm. A Song.
This psalm, Psalm 57, 58 and 59 all begin with a word meaning, “Do Not Destroy.” This would simply be nonsense, unless it was a reference to another psalm. Probably it is a reference to the melody of another psalm.
We give thanks to You, O God
We give you thanks and your name is near.
People tell of your wondrous deeds.
This is a common passage in the Psalms, offering thanks and praise to God for his salvation. However, as we will see, God’s salvation hasn’t arrived yet. Thanks is being offered for God’s character which will produce future action.
"When I determine the set time
I will judge with equity.
The earth and all who live in it dissolve.
I set firm the pillars.
The psalmist throughout this psalm give quotes from God himself, and provides commentary around it. God’s voice speaks here, instructing the world that He is the final judge. He recognizes that the world right now is going to hell in a handbasket. The whole world, God says, is dissolving, melting down in to chaos, the state it was before His creation (see Genesis 1:2). Everything is falling apart. But God says that he alone is the one who will establish the world. At the set time, God says, the world will be set right, as if it were a wobbly roof, and then placed upon secure, strong pillars. The judgment of God isn’t a time of destruction. It is a time of healing, of restoration, of renewal.
I say to the boastful, 'Do not boast.'
And to the wicked, 'Do not raise up your horn!'"
For not from the East,
Nor from the West,
Nor from the Desert comes uplifting
For God determines justice--
This one he humbles
That one he exalts
Many people think that they can fix the world themselves. In the ancient world, many felt that they had the right army, the right ideas to bring about stability in the world. The Mesopotamians, in the East, thought they could bring the world into stability via empire. Egypt thought their mysticism and religion could restore all things. The Greeks and Romans in the West thought they could stabilize things through their philosophies and culture. Those in the desert thought that through their religious fanaticism they could make all things well. Even today, the West think that all will gain happiness through capitalism. The Islamics think that religious purity will solve the world’s chaos.
But the psalmist says that no one but God himself will create stability in the world. Not the secular philosophers, nor the religious fanatics. God, acting on his own behalf as creator of the world. So, says God, don’t boast about your abilities! Don’t, as a candidate, say you will solve the world’s problems—you won’t! Only God is the one who establishes the righteous ones who will bring security and utopia for all. And no one knows who they are. Some are cast down into anonymity. Others are raised to prominence. It is up to God.
For a cup is in the hand of Yahweh with foaming wine;
It is well mixed
He pours from it
The dregs of it will be drained
For all the wicked of the earth drink of it.
Those who make promises of utopia only for their own gain and benefit to the detriment to others God will give his wrath to. One being forced to drink a cup of wine from God is often a symbol of God’s judgment on the wicked (Psalm 60:3; Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15-16; 51:7; Revelation 14:10; 16:19). These who drink fully of God’s wrath are the wicked who claim to bring utopia, but only bring hardship. Those like Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Idi Amin, Mobutu, Osama Bin Ladin and hundreds of others throughout history and others today who claim they will being in a new era of prosperity, and only bring in war and genocide. All of these leaders face the wrath of God because of their oppression and death.
As for me, I will rejoice forever
I will sing hymns to the God of Jacob
But the righteous in God need not worry about God’s wrath. They who wait humbly upon God to change things will have the opportunity to praise God eternally, before God’s throne.
"And all the horns of the wicked I will cut off
But the horns of the righteous will be lifted high."
God has one other thing to say. “Horns” are symbols in scripture for authority or rule. The wicked, Scripture says again and again, raise up their own authority, boasting that they can fix all the problems in the world. They put themselves in the place of authority, and inevitably, God will cut off their horns—take away whatever authority they have. On the other hand, the humble, the lowly who wait for God, who just do what God says in their specific communities and depends on God to answer the big problems, God will raise them up to have the authority these others are actually looking for. God does the raising, God does the lowering. And God will rule over all.
So this is the one thing to remember: God is the judge and He will judge the world.
If we are trying to get authority for ourselves, it is best to remember that God is in charge and we shouldn’t try to take his place by judging others or oppressing others.
And if we are trying to do good and all we see is injustice, it is good for us to remember that justice comes from God alone. For this reason, the most powerful political act in the world is to pray.
This psalm, Psalm 57, 58 and 59 all begin with a word meaning, “Do Not Destroy.” This would simply be nonsense, unless it was a reference to another psalm. Probably it is a reference to the melody of another psalm.
We give thanks to You, O God
We give you thanks and your name is near.
People tell of your wondrous deeds.
This is a common passage in the Psalms, offering thanks and praise to God for his salvation. However, as we will see, God’s salvation hasn’t arrived yet. Thanks is being offered for God’s character which will produce future action.
"When I determine the set time
I will judge with equity.
The earth and all who live in it dissolve.
I set firm the pillars.
The psalmist throughout this psalm give quotes from God himself, and provides commentary around it. God’s voice speaks here, instructing the world that He is the final judge. He recognizes that the world right now is going to hell in a handbasket. The whole world, God says, is dissolving, melting down in to chaos, the state it was before His creation (see Genesis 1:2). Everything is falling apart. But God says that he alone is the one who will establish the world. At the set time, God says, the world will be set right, as if it were a wobbly roof, and then placed upon secure, strong pillars. The judgment of God isn’t a time of destruction. It is a time of healing, of restoration, of renewal.
I say to the boastful, 'Do not boast.'
And to the wicked, 'Do not raise up your horn!'"
For not from the East,
Nor from the West,
Nor from the Desert comes uplifting
For God determines justice--
This one he humbles
That one he exalts
Many people think that they can fix the world themselves. In the ancient world, many felt that they had the right army, the right ideas to bring about stability in the world. The Mesopotamians, in the East, thought they could bring the world into stability via empire. Egypt thought their mysticism and religion could restore all things. The Greeks and Romans in the West thought they could stabilize things through their philosophies and culture. Those in the desert thought that through their religious fanaticism they could make all things well. Even today, the West think that all will gain happiness through capitalism. The Islamics think that religious purity will solve the world’s chaos.
But the psalmist says that no one but God himself will create stability in the world. Not the secular philosophers, nor the religious fanatics. God, acting on his own behalf as creator of the world. So, says God, don’t boast about your abilities! Don’t, as a candidate, say you will solve the world’s problems—you won’t! Only God is the one who establishes the righteous ones who will bring security and utopia for all. And no one knows who they are. Some are cast down into anonymity. Others are raised to prominence. It is up to God.
For a cup is in the hand of Yahweh with foaming wine;
It is well mixed
He pours from it
The dregs of it will be drained
For all the wicked of the earth drink of it.
Those who make promises of utopia only for their own gain and benefit to the detriment to others God will give his wrath to. One being forced to drink a cup of wine from God is often a symbol of God’s judgment on the wicked (Psalm 60:3; Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15-16; 51:7; Revelation 14:10; 16:19). These who drink fully of God’s wrath are the wicked who claim to bring utopia, but only bring hardship. Those like Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Idi Amin, Mobutu, Osama Bin Ladin and hundreds of others throughout history and others today who claim they will being in a new era of prosperity, and only bring in war and genocide. All of these leaders face the wrath of God because of their oppression and death.
As for me, I will rejoice forever
I will sing hymns to the God of Jacob
But the righteous in God need not worry about God’s wrath. They who wait humbly upon God to change things will have the opportunity to praise God eternally, before God’s throne.
"And all the horns of the wicked I will cut off
But the horns of the righteous will be lifted high."
God has one other thing to say. “Horns” are symbols in scripture for authority or rule. The wicked, Scripture says again and again, raise up their own authority, boasting that they can fix all the problems in the world. They put themselves in the place of authority, and inevitably, God will cut off their horns—take away whatever authority they have. On the other hand, the humble, the lowly who wait for God, who just do what God says in their specific communities and depends on God to answer the big problems, God will raise them up to have the authority these others are actually looking for. God does the raising, God does the lowering. And God will rule over all.
So this is the one thing to remember: God is the judge and He will judge the world.
If we are trying to get authority for ourselves, it is best to remember that God is in charge and we shouldn’t try to take his place by judging others or oppressing others.
And if we are trying to do good and all we see is injustice, it is good for us to remember that justice comes from God alone. For this reason, the most powerful political act in the world is to pray.
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