- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 17,520
12 April 2008
Word on the Web
Psalm 74 v 1-11
God, why have you rejected us for so long? Why are you angry with us, the sheep of your pasture?
Remember the people you bought long ago. You saved us, and we are your very own. After all, you live on Mount Zion.
Make your way through these old ruins; the enemy wrecked everything in the Temple.
Those who were against you shouted in your meeting place and raised their flags there.
They came with axes raised as if to cut down a forest of trees.
They smashed the carved panels with their axes and hatchets.
They burned your Temple to the ground; they have made the place where you live unclean.
They thought, 'We will completely crush them!' They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.
We do not see any signs. There are no more prophets, and no one knows how long this will last.
God, how much longer will the enemy make fun of you? Will they insult you forever?
Why do you hold back your power? Bring your power out in the open and destroy them!
This psalm was written at a time of devastation. The enemy of Israel has ransacked the temple and ripped the heart out of the life of the nation. The enemy even insults God. Why won't God do something about it? From the writer's point of view no one knows how long this awfulness will last.
There is no doubt. Pain and suffering are very personal, so personal that sometimes it is only those who have suffered in the same way who can truly sympathise with how someone is feeling. A priest once told me that he had taken many funerals but it was not until he had suffered bereavement himself that he was really able to minister to those who mourn. Sometimes pain and suffering last many years or even a lifetime. Sometimes it is so strong it breaks someone's faith. In such times of desolation and when we don't know how long the awfulness will last, we need others to support us and to pray for us. We need others to listen to our questions, 'why' and 'for how long?' We cannot rely on them to give us impossible answers but we can ask them to accompany us, to comfort us and to remind us that we are God's very own.
I call into darkness - are you there God? In just my asking I know you are. Amen.
Written by Denis Tully
Word on the Web
Psalm 74 v 1-11
God, why have you rejected us for so long? Why are you angry with us, the sheep of your pasture?
Remember the people you bought long ago. You saved us, and we are your very own. After all, you live on Mount Zion.
Make your way through these old ruins; the enemy wrecked everything in the Temple.
Those who were against you shouted in your meeting place and raised their flags there.
They came with axes raised as if to cut down a forest of trees.
They smashed the carved panels with their axes and hatchets.
They burned your Temple to the ground; they have made the place where you live unclean.
They thought, 'We will completely crush them!' They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.
We do not see any signs. There are no more prophets, and no one knows how long this will last.
God, how much longer will the enemy make fun of you? Will they insult you forever?
Why do you hold back your power? Bring your power out in the open and destroy them!
This psalm was written at a time of devastation. The enemy of Israel has ransacked the temple and ripped the heart out of the life of the nation. The enemy even insults God. Why won't God do something about it? From the writer's point of view no one knows how long this awfulness will last.
There is no doubt. Pain and suffering are very personal, so personal that sometimes it is only those who have suffered in the same way who can truly sympathise with how someone is feeling. A priest once told me that he had taken many funerals but it was not until he had suffered bereavement himself that he was really able to minister to those who mourn. Sometimes pain and suffering last many years or even a lifetime. Sometimes it is so strong it breaks someone's faith. In such times of desolation and when we don't know how long the awfulness will last, we need others to support us and to pray for us. We need others to listen to our questions, 'why' and 'for how long?' We cannot rely on them to give us impossible answers but we can ask them to accompany us, to comfort us and to remind us that we are God's very own.
I call into darkness - are you there God? In just my asking I know you are. Amen.
Written by Denis Tully
