Bible Reading Reflection from Psalms 78-83

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (MPG) as a reading update (reflection) from one chapter of the Bible a day]

ℙ𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕄 𝟟𝟠:𝟙𝟡

"Then they spoke against God;

They said, “𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜?"

The biblical canon is arranged in a beautiful structure. Asaph has been experiencing a lot of things from the beginning of this Book III.

In Ps. 73-77, he has recounted a lot of struggles he has as a believer. Will God do something to wicked people? Will God vindicate the righteous? Can God do wonders and demonstrate mercy as he had done before?

And now in Ps. 78, he moves from self-contemplation to teaching. From a philosopher to a teacher. In v1, he calls people to listen to him! As if to say: Don't teach until you have done your homework/research 🙂

He recalls how Israelites questioned the power and goodness of God (v19), and how they were stiff-necked even when God stooped down to answer even their stupid question by providing them with what they were asking.

Well, God can! And will always be powerful and faithful. And God destroys the wicked (v66) and preserves the righteous (v70-72).

Asaph wants his people to know the goodness of God, that they may not envy the prosperity of the wicked and be like the world (like their rebellious fathers v8) but to set their hope in God v7, because He will remain good, powerful and faithful to preserve them!

 

ℙ𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕄 𝟟𝟡:𝟝

"How long, O Yahweh?

Will You be angry forever?

Will Your jealousy burn like fire?"

This Psalm is related to Ps. 74. Last time, I mentioned, there's no mention of any personal or national sin in Ps 74. Here's, the difference, in this Psalm, v8-9 is the confession of sins.

It's a Psalm of Lament, "How Long?" ESV Study Bibles notes that this is the most occurring question (nearly 20 times) in the whole collection of Psalms.

Have you ever lamented? Godly people always lament. Do you know that there's even a lamentation in heaven? Revelation 6:9-11. Those dead souls, who have received white robes, cried out with a loud voice, "How long, O Lord?" And of course, godly lamentations always lead us to hope v13, because their lamentations, their imprecatory prayers are made for His name's sake v9.

 

ℙ𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕄 𝟠𝟘:𝟛,𝟟,𝟙𝟡

"O God, restore us

And cause Your face to shine upon us, that we would be saved."

Three times it's repeated as a refrain. And what a prayer for mercy!  Begging God to be gracious to them again.

A wonderful word picture of "Shining Face". Nobody wants a gloomy face. Somebody should compose a song on this refrain! v18 indicates that the people had turned away from God, and enemies were plundering them like a wild boar in a vineyard.

It's the mercy of God and the grace of God that strengthen us to stand firm in our faith!

 

ℙ𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕄 𝟠𝟙:𝟙-𝟛

   "Sing for joy to God our strength;

   Make a loud shout to the God of Jacob.

   Lift up a song of praise, strike the tambourine,

   The sweet sounding lyre with the harp.

   Blow the trumpet at the new moon,

   At the full moon, on our feast day.

Oh! Indeed, Uncle Asaph. Enough of lamentation from Ps.73 till Ps.80, it's time for jubilation. It's right to lament but we must also proclaim God's faithfulness. Asaph was not calling for celebration because everything around them has suddenly changed, but because of the testimony of the past!

Circumstances hardly change, but our mood can change, let's remember that!

And interestingly, Asaph also reminded the people of their sins and rebellion (v11-16).

It's like inviting for a birthday party and lashing them out of their past sins, which of course we never do, but God does! True happiness, true worship is based on our confession of God's faithfulness. And God's faithfulness is magnified when we confess who we are before God. The undeserving ones being called to a party should obviously be jubilant and be praising God.

 

ℙ𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕄 𝟠𝟚:𝟛-𝟜

Give justice to the poor and the orphan;

Justify the afflicted and destitute.

Protect the poor and needy;

Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked."

This Psalm is like Ps. 2. God shall judge the rulers of this world. In the end, justice will be served. Social injustices around us, what can we do? Well, I would like to advise as I always tell the environmental activist, first deal with it in our context. Or in the word of our Lord, let's remove the enormous plank from our eyes, and then we will first see clearly; then second, we will be able to remove the tiny speck from others' eyes. And that not my kneeling [BLM], not by tweeting, not by the slogan, not by marching rallies, but by being saturated with the Gospel.

How can man oppress one another? Both are created in the image of God! In the universe of God, Elon Musk's wealth is nothing; Einstein's brain is nothing; Alexander's prowess is nothing; Caesar's popularity is nothing. They look huge to common people, but they are like a bucket of water (and ours, a spoonful) in the mighty ocean. Even a million buckets of water will not make a difference in the earth's ocean.

In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the king despised the servant who wasn't willing to forgive his own servant when the King had forgiven him. God despises those who oppress fellow humans! Christian leadership is not even lording over others.

In this fallen world with my unredeemed flesh, sometimes I am the oppressor in some situations and the victim in some situations! And that's everybody!

 

ℙ𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕄 𝟠𝟛:𝟜

"They have said, ‘Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation,

That the name of Israel be remembered no more.’"

ɢᴏᴏᴅʙʏᴇ ᴜɴᴄʟᴇ ᴀsᴀᴘʜ! Thank you for your 12 Psalms! Your Psalms are my prayers too.

That's the end of the eloquent writer singer Asaph! And this last Psalm is a fitting ending. He prayed for the deliverance of Israel from all her enemies. Even today, some of the leaders of the Arab nations are calling for wiping away Israel, to annihilate them. It was attempted many times. Yet Asaph's prayer was definitely being answered. There are no Canaanites, Edomites, or Philistines now, but Israel remains to testify that Yahweh is from everlasting to everlasting.

Asaph’s prayer is to testify that Yahweh is the Most High over all the earth (v18) that nations will come to know Him. And indeed, we have come to know Yahweh.

Asaph’s prayer is God-centred in contrast to most of our self-centred prayers. And evangelistic too!

𝚃𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚣𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚘𝚍'𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎, 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚗!