Psalm 79:1-13

God’s judgment on the nation of Israel left both God and Israel in a very uncomfortable position.  It made Israel uncomfortable for obvious reasons since they were taken captive and their soldiers were lying dead on the streets of Jerusalem.  It made God uncomfortable because these were His chosen people and His glory was irrevocably linked to the children of Israel.  A captive and defeated Israel was an embarrassment to the name of God.  Sin is like that; it complicates everything for everyone including God.  If God does not judge His children when they sin; He is permitting disobedience to the point of promoting it.  If God does judge them; His children are put to shame and the name of the Lord is criticized in the nations.  God may tolerate sin for a period of time, but that does not mean that He excuses it.  He is patient and merciful but sin must be judged.  He is far more concerned with the holiness of His people than He is about the opinions of others.  Israel made the critical mistake of thinking that God was fearful of man’s opinion of Him so He would not judge their idolatry.  They were wrong.

GOD JUDGES THE DISOBEDIENCE OF HIS CHILDREN: It is a grave mistake to forget the judgments of God.  Israel lived in disobedience and idolatry and mistakenly thought that everything would be just fine because of their name.  God brought in pagan nations to destroy their cities, slaughter their armies and carry them away into slavery.  Israel suffered at the hands of barbaric nations because of their sin.  These other nations were by no means better than Israel or purer than Israel, but they were not nearly so blessed as Israel with the revelation of God and the requirements of the Law.  Israel had been given many privileges from God so they were greatly responsible to God.  We are responsible to respond to every revelation that God gives us of Himself.  God will hold us accountable for all that He has shown us of Himself.  God is willing to allow our bodies to become the food of birds and beasts if we reject His Word.  He has done it in the past and He has promised to do it in the future.  Judging the sins of men is part of the very character of God.

GOD FORGIVES AT THE REPENTANCE OF HIS CHILDREN: God is also a merciful and forgiving God and He is willing to not remember our sins against us.  When we repent He is willing to forgive and He does not continually punish His children who have repented.  The truth is that God longs to forgive His children so that He can restore them and so that He can judge the evil men whom He used to bring about judgment on His children.  When God’s people are mocked, God’s name is also mocked.  Israel cried out for God to send His wrath down upon the nations so that Israel could be restored but also so that the name of the Lord would be vindicated before the nations.  Our sin will always give the nations of the earth cause to mock our Lord.  We must recognize the true consequence of our sin is far greater than we realize.  It runs deeper than our own suffering, the very name and glory of God is placed into question.  We must remember the ramifications of our sin and turn to the Lord in repentance so that His name will be honored and glorified in the nations of the world.