Psalm 79: Learn from Ancient Prayers

Today’s reading is Psalm 79.

Sometimes we have to say the obvious. On the surface, it may seem tedious. However, I’ve discovered if we don’t say the obvious things out loud every so often, we actually forget how obvious they are. In fact, we can lose sight of them entirely. And today’s lesson may seem obvious as we are now in our second year going through the Psalms. After all, most of these poems are ancient prayers. This week’s certainly is.

However, this week’s psalm/prayer actually gives a second level of insight into learning from ancient prayers. In Psalm 79:10, the psalmist prays:

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! (ESV)

Where do you think the psalmist got the idea to bring this up in prayer? I don’t think the psalmist just pulled this out of thin air. Rather, it’s a simplified version of what Moses prayed twice. In Exodus 32:11-13, when he interceded for Israel regarding the golden calf, and in Numbers 14:13-19, when he interceded for Israel regarding their failure to go into the Promised Land, he essentially prayed these prayers. His expression was a little more elaborate. But in essence, he asked God to avoid destroying Israel because of how Egypt and the Canaanite nations would revile Yahweh.

Our psalmist has learned from ancient prayers how to pray. There is no better way for us to learn how to pray than to get in Scripture and immerse ourselves in Bible prayers. Use their phrases, their images, their motivations, their praises, their petitions, their concerns, their approaches, their attitudes.

I know why we tell people prayer is easy. I know why we tell them things like, “Just say whatever comes to mind” or “whatever is in your heart.” We don’t want to scare them off from prayer. I don’t want to do that either. But, friends, prayer is work. And we should work at prayer. Let’s not shy away from this. After all, are the most worthwhile things in life easy or do they take effort and work? The best way to work at prayer is to learn from these ancient, biblical prayers.

Of course, that means you need to keep coming back as we keep going through the Psalms, learning from these ancient prayers. Thanks for sticking with us this far.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 79.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 79 prompt or improve your trust in God?

Psalm 71: On Guilt and Shame

Today’s reading is Psalm 71.

The ancient people through whom and to whom God wrote Scripture looked at the world, life, and experience through different eyes than we do. So much so, even their perspective on sin differed from ours. In our modern, Western, individualistic culture we think and view sin in almost strictly judicial terms. We focus on guilt, innocence, and justice. We think about the individuals, personal actions, and rules. Despite using the words Testament and Covenant when we refer to the sections of the Bible, we actually think in terms of Contract. Guilt, therefore, is when the individual breaks a rule. Forgiveness means the legal consequences for breaking the rule are remitted.

Shame, in this outlook, also centers around the individual who broke the rule. Psychologists and counselors today will often say guilt is the feeling I did something wrong, and shame is the feeling I am something wrong. In modern terminology, that is a decent differentiation. But notice, it centers around how the individual views self.

Our ancient counterparts did not view things the same way. While we are individualistic and judicial, they were tribal and familial. They focused on shame, honor, and relationship. Certainly, they had rules and laws. We are familiar with Ten of them. They had many others in the Old Testament. But they really did think in terms of covenant. Guilt for them was not so much breaking a rule as betraying a relationship. One scenario in which many still maintain this is marriage. We don’t look down on adultery because it breaks the rules of the marriage contract, but because it betrays the relationship. Shame, in that outlook, was not how the individual felt about him or herself, but how their actions and circumstances reflected on the relationship and on the others in that relationship. Their actions either brought shame or honor to the relationship and those in it.

We can debate which outlook is better. Perhaps theirs, perhaps ours. Perhaps their are pros and cons to both outlooks. The point is when Psalm 71 begins, “In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame!” and ends, “For they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt,” we need to read it through the ancient lens, not the modern one. The psalmist did not beg to be free from the emotion of thinking he is inherently bad, nor that his enemies would come to realize they are internally and naturally flawed. Rather, he calls to mind the deep relationship he has with God. His own circumstances and actions reflect on that relationship and on the God with whom the psalmist is in relationship. He begs God to let honor surround him and his relationship with God. Let the enemies be ashamed. Let their actions and circumstances reflect poorly on them and their relationships. The psalmist wanted to experience honor and glory. He knew the only place to find it was in a relationship with God.

In the middle of the psalm, he writes, “May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt.” That is, “Let the world see those who hurt ‘Your People,’ God, are the foolish ones who lack honor.” The psalmist’s request is not wrapped up in how he will feel about himself, but about how the society and culture around him will view him. The underlying concern, however, is not how everyone will see him, but how their view of him reflects on the God upon whom he relies. If he has spent his life trusting God, and God does not uphold at the end of his life, the psalmist will be shamed, but worse it will reflect negatively on God.

Therefore, at the end of the psalm, the psalmist expresses the honor he will verbalize toward God in praise and thanksgiving. He will do that because he expects God to uphold the relationship and make good on the trust the psalmist has put in Him. He believes, in the end, everyone will see he made the right choice relying on God. Further, everyone will wish they had made the same choice when it is all over.

Rely on God. He is the rock, the refuge, the deliverer. In the end, though calamity and struggle lies between now and then, there will be no shame for those who put their faith in God and relied on Him.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 71.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 71 prompt or improve your praise of God?