Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

“Walk through the awful ruins of the city; see how the enemy has destroyed your sanctuary. There you enemies shouted their victorious battle cries; there they set up their battle standards. They chopped down the entrance like woodcutters in a forest. With axes and picks, they smashed the carved panel- ing. They set the sanctuary on fire, burning it to the ground. They utterly defiled the place that bears your holy name. Then they thought, ‘Let’s destroy everything!’ so they burned down all the places where God was worshiped.” (3-8)

This is a musical description of the horrible events surrounding the historical fall of Jerusalem:

“…Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city. The captain of the guard supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem.”(2 Kgs. 25:8-10) The invaders experienced temporary euphoria as they shouted their victory in the Holy Place of God’s sanctuary. They even set up the insignia of their army and their gods to replace the banners of Jehovah and Judah. Asaph describes in ‘eyewitness’ fashion the soldiers as if they were harvesting a forest of trees or digging a mine with axes and picks. All the beauty of worship was destroyed; Satan felt he had defeated the plan that had God for his people. Emboldened by their success, the soldiers proceeded to destroy every house of worship throughout the entire nation. The Old Testament nation is symbolic of the New Testament church that has gone through the fires of judgment and persecution only to emerge more pure and resolute. Paul reminds us of what the true temple is made: “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will bring ruin upon anyone who ruins this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you Christians are that temple.”(1 Cor. 3:16,17) Asaph was very aware of the miraculous nature of God in his psalms. True Christianity is miracu- lous from start to finish and without this element; we are like the plundered land of Judah, spiritually bar- ren and desolate: • “People everywhere tell of your mighty miracles.” (75:1) • “You are the God of miracles and wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.” (77:14) • “They forgot about his power…They forgot his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders on the plain of Zoan.” (78:42,43) Evidently, the writer of this psalm was unaware that God had his prophets in place to be the guid- ing stars for his people through the terrible darkness of the Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah was in Egypt prophesying the exact time of the end of the exile: “Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.” (Jer. 25:11) Daniel was soon to be the prime minister of the very kingdom that had defeated Judah. Ezekiel was at the river Chebar, about to receive his vision of the throne of God and the coming temple of the church that would far exceed the influence of the physical temple that had been destroyed. No matter what devastation we may face in life, God has already prepared men and women of God to help redeem the situation. “How long, O God, will you allow our enemies to mock you? Will you let them dishonor your name forever? Why do you hold back your strong right hand? Unleash your powerful fist and deliver a death- blow.” (10,11) Those gifted with prophecy are inquisitive by nature. Once again Asaph asks questions in an at- tempt to understand the reason behind the situation. He also has a high sense of justice as exhibited by his last statement: “…deliver a deathblow.” “We see no miraculous signs as evidence that you will save us. All the prophets are gone; none can tell us when it will end.”(9)

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