Psalms 79:1-13: a reflection

1God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps. 2They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth. 3They have shed their blood like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them. 4We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us. 5How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? 6Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you, on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name, 7for they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland. 8Don’t hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need. 9Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake. 10Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants’ blood is being poured out. 11Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you. According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death. 12Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord. 13So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.

This psalm is a lament over the devastation of Jerusalem and the temple, poured out with raw honesty. But notice the ground on which the psalmist pleads for help: not the people's worthiness, but God's own name. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake. And again: why should the nations say, Where is their God? The appeal is grounded not in what the people deserve, but in God's own honor and reputation.

Notice where the psalmist rests his plea: on God's name, not the people's merit. He does not say, deliver us because we deserve it; indeed he asks God to forgive their sins. He appeals instead to God's name, his glory, his honor before the watching nations. This is a wise ground for prayer, for it does not depend on our worthiness, which is always in doubt, but on God's concern for his own name, which is sure. The psalmist prays for God's sake, not merely his own.

That is a ground for prayer we can learn to use. When we come to God feeling unworthy, aware of our sins, and wondering how we can ask him for help, we can appeal, as this psalmist did, not to our own merit, but to God's name, his glory, his honor. This does not depend on our deserving, but on God's own concern for his name, which is sure. When you feel too unworthy to ask God for help, do not despair of praying; appeal, as the psalmist did, to God's name and glory rather than your own merit. Ask him to help you for his name's sake, for the honor of his own name, rather than because you deserve it. This ground for prayer holds even when your own worthiness fails; pray for God's sake, resting your appeal on his name and glory, which are sure ground when your merit is not.

Lord, this psalm laments the devastation of Jerusalem, yet pleads for help not on the people's worthiness but on your own name: help us, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake. Teach me that ground for prayer. When I come to you feeling unworthy, aware of my sins, and wondering how I can ask you for help, help me appeal, as this psalmist did, not to my own merit, but to your name, your glory, your honor. This does not depend on my deserving, which is always in doubt, but on your own concern for your name, which is sure. When I feel too unworthy to ask you for help, keep me from despairing of praying; help me appeal to your name and glory rather than my own merit. Help me ask you to help me for your name's sake, for the honor of your own name, rather than because I deserve it. This ground holds even when my worthiness fails; help me pray for your sake, resting my appeal on your name and glory, which are sure ground when my merit is not. Help me for your name's sake, Lord.