leaders & "lords"

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Psalm 82:3-4

These verses show us what kind of societal impact God expects those in positions of power to employ. Let me dispense of the controversy of this psalm quickly. Psalm 82:1 pictures God poetically sitting in the "midst of the gods" exercising His sovereign rule. The little "g" gods are not polytheistic beings... they are instead human rulers. It is a hebraism to call them "gods". Jesus held this view and even quoted this psalm this way (see John 10:34-35). We have the exact same convention in English calling God "The Lord" and also in old monarchist terms referring to human leaders as "lords". Great Britain still has the House of Lords as a form of human government.

The real issue at hand in the psalm is just how human "lords" ought to rule over others. Human government tends toward corruption, injustice, and partiality due to our innate wickedness (Psalm 82:2). Hence the command of God for those people with the power to change things to really care about justice for the weakest members of society. God wants people to help the weak and to care for orphans. He wants us to guard the just and the right treatment for the poor and for the sick. He wants us to rescue those suffering at the bottom of human misery. He wants us to love His justice and act accordingly. In short, God wants human governments to act like Him with justice, mercy, and grace.

It is tragic that most Christians have given this passion for the poor and those in the worst suffering over to people who may not care for the neediest among us with Christ's compassion. The church must recapture that call to bring the gospel and the love of God to the lowliest. And we must insist for it in human governments around the world, expecting God's standards for our leaders and "lords".

history as worship

¨I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.¨ Selah 

Psalm 81:6-7

In this psalm of praise, God recounts the history that He has with Israel. This was the people that He had called out of Egypt, delivering them from the oppression of slavery. He took the heavy burdens off their shoulders in response to their cries for salvation. The God Who thunders in the storm blew away the armies of Egypt. He powerfully saved His people.

Yet early on in their walk with God they tested Him as He forced them to trust Him. At the bittter waters of Meribah they disbelieved. Even Moses failed there by striking the rock in disobedience to God. How could they doubt the God Who had parted the sea and Who visibly led them by fire and cloud? Faith is fragile when not held close to the heart, and time and again more Meribah moments came until God had to discipline them in the exile. From there a new devotion was secured. Not until they were distressed again in a foreign land did they fully appreciate the salvation of their God.

From this history I am called to look at my heart. Where am I in my devotion to the God of my salvation? Do I put Him to the test? Do I complain about His good graces? Does one difficult circumstance throw me into doubt?  I am instructed to not forget the freedom that Christ has given me, how the burden is off my shoulder by the cross that He carred and the basket was snatched from my fingers by His nail-scarred hands!

 

restore

Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved! 

Psalm 80:7

This refrain is repeated three times in this psalm (Ps 80:3, 7, 19). It is a prayer repeated for emphasis as Asaph processes the pain of the remnant of Israel's people and remembers her past with God.

The psalm starts with an appeal to the God of Israel, focusing on the unique relationship that God has alone in covenant with His people (Ps 80:1-3). It then moves on to how God had rightly judged them for their lack of obedience to that covenant, focusing on the ridicule that Israel faced from the surrounding nations in the humility of the aftermath of Babylon's sack of Jerusalem (Ps 80:4-7). It is a somber and clear stating of the facts.

Then the bulk of the psalm paints a word picture common in the Old Testament to describe God's sovereign care for Israel: the nation is His vineyard. The poetry recounts Israel's founding as a vine brought out of Egypt and planted by God. He cultivated it until it thrived to shade mountains and stretch from the Sea to the River. Yet now it had been trambled and burned. The final call is for God to restore the glory and vitality of His people again (Ps 80:8-19).

Sometimes when our lives are broken, a season in which our hearts cry out for restoration is what we must know. It is what God wants of us in that season. The heart that looks for God to restore and to rebuild has real hope and strength. It is drawn to God and He will not let such cries go unheeded by His love.

aftermath

Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. 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! 

Psalm 79:8-9

in the rubble and ruin

we wander dazed

wondering why such

destruction conveys

what we have done

ignoring The Lord

and how this crisis

was part of His Word

in the wake of judgment

our eyes were opened by tears

questions come quickly, like:

"Why'd we forget Yahweh?"

"Didn't we understand the Law?"

"How could we have forsaken God's way?"

as the mind reels and shakes

the heart's hopes are spent

in the stark realization

"We need to repent."

in the aftermath

we confront results of our worst fears

prayers begging forgiveness

shoot fervant to the sky

grieved by our guilt

recommitted we draw nigh

longing for salvation

to come to us when low

we wait for deliverance

holding truth that we know

when sins are judged and we return

forgiveness is found in a God Who hears

a holy history

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; 

Psalm 78:5-7

Israel was tasked with a generational commission. Each succeeding generation needed to pass on the story of a sacred history so that a new generation might rightly worship God. It was a holy history... a sacred story recounting God's love and work among them. It was what it meant to worship God, to pass down to the next generation a personal and vibrant faith. It was vital to the continuance of the nation.

So the 78th psalm exists as an epic recounting of God's care of Israel. It recounts the birth of the nation. It records the miraculous work of God among them. It rejoices in God's protection, care, and love for His people. It rehearses the holy history so that another generation might know God and be warned about the consequences of forgetting Him. And it came to be part of the nation's songbook as the Jews languished in exile. They needed the story to sustain them and to encourage the new generation who never knew anything other than the exile.

I benefit from its reading. The sacred story continued past exile to restoration and eventually to the coming of a Savior Who made history meaningful by His death and resurrection. The story continues in the gospel... and I must share its testimony so that the work of the holy history may continue.

what to do when depressed

I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. 

Psalm 77:11-12

Again I am struck by the wisdom and spiritual insight of Asaph. This is more than likely also another post-exilic psalm. It opens on a pained and troubled soul. There is no rest. Sleep evades the psalmist. Hard questions keep him up at night and well up from the turmoil within his soul: "Will God always be distant? Has His love ceased? Why is He angry all the time? When will things get better or should I just live with the fact things are bad all the time?" In short: this is spiritual depression and it is an awful pain-filled experience.

When Asaph was overwhelmed with these feelings and questions, he knew he had to make a conscious choice of personal spiritual action in order to regain control. He chose to remember God's past goodness to Israel, even in the midst of personal suffering. He made the decision to recall. His choice was not to let his feelings carry him, but instead to remember and rehearse how good God had been. This is the key to moving beyond depression. He used God's grace in the past to interpret his present so that he could find hope for his future.

I believe Asaph's method of handling depression is instructive to me. There are times when I feel like things are not going well... where everything is collapsing and I am powerless. I might feel like God is distant and uncaring. And in those moments I will choose to remember God for the perspective that I need.

judgment to save

From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth. Selah 

Psalm 76:8-9

The attitude being described here is worship in reverential awe. The entirety of Psalm 76 sings of God's protection of His people. It worships The Lord for His power. It warns those who would be the enemies of God to reconsider their positions because of God's mighty power and His care for His people.

God's power is greater than mankind's power. Even as I write this, the Midwest is being warned of a major winter storm bearing down on the area. We can prepare for it, but we cannot stop it. The natural world which God made and put into motion is greater than us and God still uses it to establish His power and call us to consider our own weakness. The heavens are still the Lord's.

And when God brings an outcome, it is in keeping with His heart and His character. Judgment does not happen for judgment's sake alone, but also to assist "the humble of the earth". God brings justice to all. We try to do that with difficulty in society. God does it perfectly and should be loved and worshiped as a result.