Psalm 77:5-7

Psalm 77:5-7

Thinking about the former days

It’s difficult to sperate these verses as we lay beside our friend, the Psalm writer, and share his terrors. His mood has changed as he reflects on events of long ago. Perhaps he was thinking about the time that the Lord delivered the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. Perhaps he pondered the             events that unfolded as Israel began its conquest of the Canaanite tribes that held their unholy grip on the Promised Land. Names like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David and Solomon filtered through his tortured mind. Maybe this man has enjoyed personal times of prosperity and close fellowship with the Lord God in earlier years, after all he was probably a member of the family of Asaph and as such, he had witnessed some of the great days of triumph and celebration at the Temple. 

And now this deeply depressed man recalls his own songs, the ones he sang in the night, and he asks, “Will the Lord reject forever? Will He never show His favour again?” The heart cries and reflections here lead me to wonder if it was not just personal woes that troubled this man, but he was crying out on behalf of his people. His reflections were rooted in Israel’s past, and his grief suggests that the Lord has withdrawn His favour from all the land and its people. If this is so, it’s a deeply caring songwriter that we are dealing with here. Could we be so broken because of the state of our nation?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more