A WALK THROUGH THE PSALMS: PART 4
The Bible’s ‘Prayer Book’
The Psalms: Teach Us to Pray by REV. TONY PITTENGER, Contributing Writer BETHANY LUTHERAN CHURCH, Port Orchard, Wash.
God bless our native land, firm may she ever stand, through storm and night. When the wild tempests rave, Ruler of wind and wave, do Thou our country save, by Thy great might (ELH #602, verse 1). That song, often sung during summer, is a prayer, isn’t it? A prayer for God’s help in the storms and darkness our nation faces, both the literal and the figurative.
When Moses blessed the tribes of Israel just before he died, he said: Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty. (Deuteronomy 33:29).
Psalm 79 (NKJV) Psalm 79 is usually used in the summer months. The traditional psalm for the fourth Sunday after Trinity, it is usually heard from late June to mid-July and is often paired with Christ’s words about the blind leading the blind and about seeing specks of sin in others while overlooking the logs of sin in ourselves (Luke 6:36-42). Written by Asaph, a contemporary of both David and Solomon, the psalm describes days of national calamity and defeat, days when wild tempests rave. Unbelieving forces profane God’s temple and slaughter God’s people…
THE LUTHERAN SENTINEL
O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have defiled; They have laid Jerusalem in heaps. The dead bodies of Your servants— They have given as food for the birds of the heavens, The flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth. Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem, And there was no one to bury them. We have become a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and derision to those who are around us. (Psalm 79:1-4)
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But where would that shield be when Asaph prophesies of godless invaders? Why didn’t God unsheathe His sword to defend His people then? Part of the cause and the problem would be with His people. The blind presuming to know the way, pretending there aren’t planks and logs sticking out of their own eyes. In verses 5-8, Asaph leads the people in confession, teaches them what to say and how to say it: How long, Lord? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out Your wrath on
