Finding Yourself in the Psalms

Psalm 79

A Psalm for Those Under the Weight of God’s Judgment

Psalm 79 – a NATIONAL LAMENT

parallel to Psalm 74 –

of Asaph – Not the CONTEMPORARY of David, but a guild of singers

timing = the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem. 605 BC

THEODICY= (is GOD Just?)

Is God just in using the wicked as an instrument of judgment? Application: How should I respond when God’s judgment is upon me? Hebrews 12:5-11

THREE STANZA’s – four verses each

I. 79:1-4. The Psalmist Presents his Case before God.
II. 79:5-8. The Psalmist Plead his Cause before God.
III. Psalm 79:9-12. The Psalmist prays His confession before God.
IV. Psalm 79:13. The Psalmist Praises His God for His Compassion
I. 79:1-4. The Psalmist Presents his Case before God.
A. The writer speaks of DISTRESS: “Invaded your inheritance,” “Defiled your temple,” “Killed your servants,” “Poured out blood like water”
B. The writer knows the CONSEQUENCES of SIN. Jeremiah 2:11-13, 25
C. WE should know the difference between PERSECUTION and DISCIPLINE. 1

Peter 2:19-20

II. 79:5-8. The Psalmist Plead his Cause before God.
A. “How Long, O Lord?”
B. The CRY OF GOD’S PEOPLE in light of the SUCCESS of the WICKED
1. (Psalm 6:3) "My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long?" (A
psalm for the physically afflicted)
2. (Psalm 13:1-2) "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?" (A Request for Deliverance)
3. (Psalm 35:17) "O Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my life from their ravages, my precious life from these lions." (When it seems only God
is on your side)
4. (Psalm 90:13) "Relent, O Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants." (A Psalm to help keep things in perspective)
5. (Jeremiah 12:4) "How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals
and birds have perished. Moreover, the people are saying, “He will not see what happens to us.”" (JERUSALEM!)
6. (Habakkuk 1:2) " How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?" (JERUSALEM)
7. (Zechariah 1:12) "Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?”" (CAPTIVITY)
8. (Revelation 6:10) "They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”" (TRIBULATION SAINTS)
C. Have mercy. Isaiah 55:6-7
III. Psalm 79:9-12. The Psalmist prays His confession before God.
A. God’s glory is in view

IV.

Psal

m 79:13. The Psalmist Praises His God for His Compassion

A.

(Psalm 103:8-13) "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger,

abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger

forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our

iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for

those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our

transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord

has compassion on those who fear him;"

B. If you are a child of God, He is concerned for you.
1. (Psalm 95:6-7) "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice,"
2. (Psalm 100:3) "Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture."
DO NOT TEST the Lord! Turn quickly to Him!