Starting in Psalms

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Today we start in Psalms, a compelling book of the Bible, written by a collaboration of a lot of writers.  Some is poetry, although none of it rhymes, and some are songs, although I don't know the tunes.  There are 150 Psalms... I can't go through all of them, as I only want to spend about 10 days in them.  So I am cherry picking a few different Psalms to focus on.  I am cheating a bit by looking up some topics off site.  But others I will just be randomly searching through them to find what reaches out to me.  So, let's get started!

I turned directly to Psalm 79, in which there seems to be a war raging in Israel.  Asaph is crying out to God, announcing to God the pain and suffering His chosen people are receiving. Asaph says her enemies have "invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble." (Psalm 79:1)  He then asks the Lord, "How long, O Lord?  Will you be angry forever?" (Psalm 79:5)  He calls out for forgiveness and help from the Lord (79:9) and then promises eternal praise and repentance if He takes care of her enemies (79:12-13).

What strikes me as interesting in this Psalm is the detail to which he describes the scene occurring in Jerusalem. "They have given the dead bodies of your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of your saints tot he beasts of the earth.  They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead." (Psalm 2-3)  There is so much carnage going on right in Asaph's home, I can't imagine what that could feel like or how much pain he must have been in.

And yet, even through this, he has the faith, the wisdom, to call upon the Lord and ask for Him almighty deliverance from these attackers.  He asks for God's forgiveness of the sins of Jerusalem, and asks Him to show the world how important His chosen people are. "Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.  May the groans of the prisoners come before you; by the strength of your arm preserve those condemned to die." (Psalm 79:10-11)

Even in hard times, we must turn to God, confess our sins, and allow Him to work in our lives, to fix the pain, to allow us to heal, and to bring about the change we need to "praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise." (Psalm 79:13)