Aug 4 - Psalm 79:4

We are mocked

by our neighbors,

an object of scorn and

derision to those around us.

Psalm 79:4

Are Christians, in our culture today, mocked? Do you ever feel like "an object of scorn and derision"?

 

(Sorry ... I'm not meaning to talk so much about culture ... but when you walk through scripture in order, you don't get to choose.)

 

Do you ever feel cowed into being silent by a culture that is increasingly intolerant to God's ways? (And do you ever feel embarrassed that the Christian message is sometimes proclaimed by equally intolerant Christians?) If so, then listen to how to stand strong, according to the pattern of Psalm 79 ...

 

·         "9 Help us, O God of our salvation."

The first strains of hope in this Psalm are the beginning of the Psalmist's cry for help. If and when you are discouraged by any circumstance in life, start by praying, trusting that God indeed is not just God but the true "God of our salvation."

 

·         "9 Forgive our sins."

Second, quit being offended by the sins of culture ... until you are offended by your own sins! You and I are nothing but hypocrites (and pathetic witnesses) until we -- consistent in word and action -- repent of our own sin.

 

·         "11  Listen to the moaning of the prisoners. Demonstrate your great power by saving those condemned to die."

Prayer one is "help." Prayer two is confession and repentance. Prayer three is for help again -- "listen to the moaning of the prisoners" -- but no longer is it a defeated, desperate cry. Now it's bold. Confident. It's a call to action: Mighty God, "demonstrate your great power by saving those condemned to die."

 

·         "13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will thank you forever and ever."

Finally, give thanks. (This is the last verse of the Psalm, and the last act of this kind of prayer for help.) Give thanks ... when? ... in advance of God's response ... in anticipation of God's acting ... in expectancy of God's deliverance ... in trust that God WILL save. 

 

He WILL act. 

 

He WILL save. 

 

And you WILL "thank [Him] forever and ever." (So why not start thanking him -- in trust and confidence -- right now.)

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who says

bring on the scorns

because I follow the one

who wore the thorns