Liturgy: “Psalm 79, Revised Not Once, But Twice”
When you are brought very low, do you trust that God is with you, even if you turn away from Him? I often don't trust this fact, whether I acknowledge it or not. I want to submit even my lack of trust in Him into His hands. He knows precisely what to do with my cold heart. He's brought me low, He will lift me up high.
What is the King’s Liturgy? King’s Liturgy defines our experience together as a Christian community. It outlines the rhythms we celebrate with the Church at large: Scripture readings, Sabbath habits, and celebration of Holy Days and historical events.
This Week’s Lectionary Readings
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
Psalm 79:1-9
Luke 16:1-13
1 Timothy 2:1-7
This week’s liturgy is contributed by Prof. Lynda Kong, Instructor of Writing:
Imagine an alternate reality: God does not exist; or He does exist, but He is not good, and He does not care about His creation. Here is what Asaph, the writer of Psalm 79, might say to such a (non-) God:
“How long, O Lord? I have had enough of your anger and indifference…
You only remember the things I have done wrong,
and it feels like I am punished all the time.
You see the terrible pain I am in,
but You do not come to help.
I can turn only to my own wits and strength,
to get what I want.” (verses 5, 8, revised)
I confess that I often live in this alternate reality–thinking only of myself and my desires (contrast this individual “I” with Asaph’s other-centered “we”), coming before God with a set of conditions for how my life ought to go. Evidence of my sense of self-entitlement lies in plain sight, if I am humble enough to see it—the condescending tone I use towards my husband, my impatience when my five-year-old daughter does not drink enough water in school, my defensiveness rising up when I get criticized. If I continue to go down the path of this revised psalm, then God is no longer watching over me. He’d left years ago. And it is easy for me to believe that it’s entirely up to me (with the help of family and friends) to carve out a life that is satisfying to me. This life can be fulfilling or depleting, based on how high I climb up the ladders of achievement and acquisition of pleasure and comfort.
And yet, Asaph’s original psalm acknowledges the true, living God. This God speaks and acts redemptively throughout human history. Asaph trusts in God’s promises given to His people–that His compassion would come speedily to meet them, that He is their help, the God of their salvation. He sees the moments when they are brought low, and He delivers them, for His own glory.
In his particular moment in history, Asaph could not have known what has been generously revealed to us—that God would fulfill these promises through His Son, Jesus Christ. Imagine Jesus uttering Asaph’s original psalm on the cross: “How long, O Father? Will you be angry forever?… Do not remember against my treasured people their wrongs; let your compassion come speedily to meet them, for I have been brought very low, dying.” Jesus has brought all the nations into His inheritance (a dizzying reversal of Asaph’s circumstances in Psalm 79).
When you are brought very low, do you trust that God is with you, even if you turn away from Him? I often don’t trust this fact, whether I acknowledge it or not. I want to submit even my lack of trust in Him into His hands. He knows precisely what to do with my cold heart. He’s brought me low, He will lift me up high. He shows constructive displeasure with my sense of self-entitlement, He give me His mercies that restores me so that I can look to Him. Perhaps even orienting myself towards Him, in my difficult circumstances, demonstrates an obedience that gives Him delight.