Sneak Peak
I’ve not only been catching up on my telenovelas and learning how to yodel this summer—I’ve also been writing daily commentary on Genesis for my scripture reading plan that begins on 8/22.
Well, this morning I received in the overnight mail the printer’s proof for Genesis Part 1, Creation to Babel. I’m SO PUMPED. Part 1 runs 5 weeks, and then Part 2 (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and Part 3 (Joseph in Egypt) will take us to Thanksgiving. (Books will start being handed out at Asbury on 8/7, 8/14, and 8/21.)
I’m teaching a church-wide Bible study on Wednesday, August 17, and then will kick off my Genesis sermon series on 8/21. Live in the Tulsa area? Do not miss Bible study on 8/17. Seriously.
Live out of town? If you email Sandie Tomlinson, she’ll mail you a book.
I will also send out the daily commentary every morning at 4 AM via email.
My August Preaching/Teaching Schedule
August 7, my first Sunday at Asbury—What the Lord is Asking Me to Do Next
August 11, Thursday evening service launches
August 14, my second Sunday at Asbury—What it Takes for the Bible to Change Your Life
August 17, Wednesday churchwide Bible study—Intro and Overview of Genesis
August 21, Genesis sermon series begins
August 22, Genesis reading plan begins (Part 1)
Today’s Psalm: Tuesday, July 19 [Psalm 79]
I’m still reading one psalm a day, every day. You keeping up? If not, cut your losses and join me tomorrow, Wednesday, with Psalm 80!
Psalm 79
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
to the birds of the heavens for food,
the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
mocked and derided by those around us.5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations
that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
that do not call upon your name!
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his habitation.8 Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and atone for our sins,
for your name's sake!
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
be known among the nations before our eyes!11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
12 Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors
the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
13 But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
586 BC. This is a CRUCIAL date in the history of Israel. It’s when the Babylonians came and conquered Jerusalem, razed the Temple, and carried off the best and the brightest of Israel into exile in Babylon.
This psalm is written after that moment, which is why the psalmist writes:
1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
to the birds of the heavens for food,
the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
mocked and derided by those around us.
Remember, in the Bible “the nations” are the non-Israelite peoples, the non-chosen peoples. The psalmist cries out to God and wonders why the Lord seems to have abandoned his people. The psalmist wants vengeance on Israel’s enemies.
5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations
that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
that do not call upon your name!
Often, modern American people are shocked when they read passages in the Bible asking for vengeance. We clutch our pearls in horror, which just shows how easy and—dare I say it—privileged our lives have been.
Do you not think that there are people in the Ukraine right now, people who have lost their homes and their sons, seen their women raped, who aren’t crying out to God for vengeance?
Wanting the Lord to avenge one’s enemies’ wrongs has been a normal part of the lives of God’s people for centuries. And, as I’ve pointed out many times before, if we do NOT pray to God for vengeance, we end up keeping that poison inside. Where it festers and can lead to great evil.
Still, though, the psalmist ends on a note of hope. He’s in exile in a foreign land and yet he makes sure to remind himself that God is watching, that the Lord is faithful to his promises to Israel:
13 But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
Don’t ever give up hope—God will prove himself faithful.