Aug 24 - Psalm 85:1-4

Lord, you poured out

blessings on your land!

You held back your fury.

You kept back

your blazing anger.

Now restore us again ...

Psalm 85:1-4

 

We sin. We fall short. We deserve "fury" and "anger" -- even "blazing anger."

 

So how do we "earn" "blessings"?

 

It's only because God "h[olds] back [his] fury" and "k[eeps] back [that] blazing anger."

 

Don't think that God excuses rebellion and winks at sin. No. We "earn" fury. And yet we keep getting "blessings." Why? Because of God's love and grace! (See yesterday's devotion.)

 

But God's grace shines not only upon individuals ... but on nations. 

 

This national blessing shines, most fully, on Israel. That's what this Psalm -- and most of Scripture -- is about. When Scripture talks about blessing nations, it's always about Israel (and/or countries that blessed Israel). And while we must beware of extrapolating Israel's Old Testament favor to modern blessings for modern nations like the USA. We can nonetheless see God's pattern and the way God acts. 

 

In the US, we're ethnocentric (like most people in most countries through most centuries). We see Scripture through American eyes. And most of us have viewed most of the last five decades as a time of national blessing -- not perfection, but peace and prosperity. 

 

Most of us, though, see those blessings evaporating. 

 

We ought to expect "anger" and "fury." (Read that again. It's what all of us ought to expect. Because of sin, it's what every person and nation "earns" -- even the best of us.) 

And so we worry. As our national rebellion grows, the anxiety among the faithful grows. (That's normal and natural. Read the laments in books like Judges and Kings, 1 and 2. Read the laments of the prophets. Read this Psalm!)

Yes, as our national rebellion grows, the anxiety among the faithful grows ... especially when we realize that we as individuals are powerless to stop it. 

And yet we aren't powerless. In fact, this Psalm reveals the source of our power and our hope. What are we to do? Call on God: "restore us again."

It's as simple as that. It's as magnificent as that. Trust in God. 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who needs to hear

that because the news

really is discouraging