The Message of the Psalms

PSALM 79: WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE CHURCH?

Have you ever wondered why the Church has suffered so
much over the centuries, why it ebbs and flows in its
prosperity and why it appears so abandoned at times in the
midst of such a wicked world? This Psalm goes a long way
to answering these questions (V’s. 1-4, cf. 8, 9). It also
presents to us the best and most profitable method of
recovery (Vs. 5, 9) and the proper purpose of the Church
(Vs. 13). The Psalm describes the invasion of Jerusalem by
Nebuchadnezzar. It is a prayer of the bewildered people
about the absence of the greatness of [God’s] power” (Vs.
11).

1. The Profanity of the Heathen (Vs. 1-4).

The heathen have no regard for the inheritance of God, or
the holiness of God’s house (Vs. 1 cf. John 15:18; I John
3:13). When sin enters into the Church it is without mercy
and the carnage is unparalleled; it leaves its victims like
beasts in the field (Vs. 2 cf. Jeremiah 22:18).

2. The Prayer of God’s People (Vs. 5-10).

The Psalmist recognizes two essential elements. The
calamities he laments are occasioned by sin and to be
repented of (Vs. 5, 8). Also, the heathen perpetrators were
instruments of providence (Vs. 5, 10). The psalm turns on
this truth (Vs. 5); the jealousy of God for His people and its
direct correlation to the pain felt. With these two ominous
thoughts the prayer is that the Lord would not give up on
his church. The heathen took advantage of the weakness of
God’s people which was essentially a reproach of God
himself. The prayer is therefore that the Lord would
reciprocate, that he would reveal the weakness of the
heathen (Vs. 12) and the power of God (Vs. 11).

3. The Praise of God’s Name (Vs. 11-13).

In Vs. 9 the psalmist speaks of the “glory of thy name,” a
Hebrewism which refers to the entire person, nature and
work of God. In all the work of the Church the honour of
God is at stake; (thine inheritance…thy holy temple Vs. 1;
thy servants, Vs. 2; thy praise Vs. 13).

2010, Victoria Free Presbyterian Church

 The Message of the Psalms

We have applied this to the church as a whole but each

point may well be applied to the individual Christian, who is
the sheep of his pasture, and his inheritance (Vs. 1, 13),
and often overcome by sin.

2010, Victoria Free Presbyterian Church