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Wednesday 12/04/24
Thru the Bible: Psalm Book III: Chapters 79-80
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Asaph’s testimony of the Shepherd of Israel
Psalm 79:1-13,
In this Psalm it seems clear that the Babylonians had already attacked Judah, destroying its cities, killing many of its people and desecrating the temple. Nothing is said here about destroying the temple. However, the mention of those slain being left unburied would seem to indicate that this was at the same time that the temple was in fact destroyed.
You may remember that there were 3 deportations of Judah to Babylon.
- In 605 BC – Only a small portion of the population were taken, but it included many of the young elite – including Daniel and his 3 friends.
- In 597 BC – Many people as well as all the gold and items of the temple were taken.
- Finally in 586 BC – Most of the remaining Israelites were taken except some poor people who were left and given fields and vineyards and the temple was destroyed.
So we can safely conclude that since in this Psalm the Temple had been desecrated it had to be written after 597 BC but it may have been as late as 586 BC.
In the second deportation the prophet & priest Ezekiel, who later wrote the book of Ezekiel, was deported. This was during the reign of King Jehoiachin.
King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and King Jehoiachin surrendered. The account we have of this is found in 2 Kings 24:10-20,
“(10) At that time the generals of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched to Jerusalem and besieged the city. (11) King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city while his generals were besieging it. (12) King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his officials, and his eunuchs surrendered to the king of Babylon.
The king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took Jehoiachin prisoner.
(13) Nebuchadnezzar took from there all the riches in the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and of the royal palace. He removed all the gold items which King Solomon of Israel had made for the LORD’s temple, just as the LORD had warned.”
You no doubt remember this “warning” since I’ve brought it up many times over the years. It was a prophetic warning given from Isaiah who confronted King Hezekiah about who had visited him.
Hezekiah told Isaiah it was the King of Babylon and that he had shown him EVERYTHING – even his personal treasury and that of the Temple.
Isaiah’s prophetic response was that all of that gold would be one day carried off by the king of Babylon. [See 2 Kings 20:12-21]
‘The time will certainly come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the LORD. (18) ‘Some of your descendants who come from you will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'” – 2 Kings 20:17-18,
After this Judah continued to exist as a type of vassal state under Babylonian rule with King Zedekiah being installed by Nebuchaddnezzar in Jerusalem as its puppet king.
Eleven years later in 586 BC, which was the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Zedekiah led Judah in a rebellion against Babylon.
You may remember this because this whole time Jeremiah had been warning Israel’s king Zedekiah NOT to resist Nebuchadnezzar, but to submit to him because it was the judgment of God. We read about this in Jeremiah 32:1-5. Nevertheless, King Zedekiah did not heed the prophet’s warning and so there was loss of life and blood shed that day.
2 Chronicles 36:9-23 records these events
“(9) Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king; he reigned three months and 10 days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight.
(10) In the spring Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon along with the valuable utensils of the LORD’s temple. Then he made Jehoiachin’s brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
(11) Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king; he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem.
(12) He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet at the LORD’s command.
(13) He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. He became obstinate and hardened his heart against returning to the LORD God of Israel.
(14) All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the LORD’s temple that He had consecrated in Jerusalem. (15) But the LORD God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of his messengers, sending them time and time again, for He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. (16) But they kept ridiculing God’s messengers, despising His words, and scoffing at His prophets, until the LORD’s wrath was so stirred up against His people that there was no remedy.
(17) So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their choice young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young man and virgin or elderly and aged; He handed them all over to him. (18) He took everything to Babylon–all the articles of God’s temple, large and small, the treasures of the LORD’s temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials.
(19) Then the Chaldeans burned God’s temple. They tore down Jerusalem’s wall, burned down all its palaces, and destroyed all its valuable utensils.
(20) Those who escaped from the sword he deported to Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the rise of the Persian kingdom.
(21) This fulfilled the word of the LORD through Jeremiah and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation until 70 years were fulfilled.
(22) In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled.
The LORD put it into the mind of King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and also to put it in writing: (23) This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build Him a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you of His people may go up, and may the LORD his God be with him.”
So with that little history lesson under our belts, let’s read Psalm 79 which almost certainly was written during and about these tumultuous times.
Psalm 79…
“(1) A psalm of Asaph.
God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance, desecrated Your holy temple, and turned Jerusalem into ruins.
(2) They gave the corpses of Your servants to the birds of the sky for food, the flesh of Your godly ones to the beasts of the earth. (3) They poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
(4) We have become an object of reproach to our neighbors, a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us.
(5) How long, LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy keep burning like fire?
(6) Pour out Your wrath on the nations that don’t acknowledge You, on the kingdoms that don’t call on Your name, (7) for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.
(8) Do not hold past sins against us; let Your compassion come to us quickly, for we have become weak.
(9) God of our salvation, help us–for the glory of Your name.
Deliver us and atone for our sins, because of Your name.
(10) Why should the nations ask, “Where is their God?”
Before our eyes, let vengeance for the shed blood of Your servants be known among the nations.
(11) Let the groans of the prisoners reach You; according to Your great power, preserve those condemned to die.
(12) Pay back sevenfold to our neighbors the reproach they have hurled at You, Lord.
(13) Then we, Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will thank You forever; we will declare Your praise to generation after generation.”
Psalm 80:1-19,
This Psalm is mentioned as for the choir director. Since we know there were several choir directors – at least one from each house – that of Asaph, of Jeduthan and that of Heman, since neither of the others are mentioned we can safely assume it was for his own house.
Instead of saying “according to “The Lilies” some translations may say according to the shushan-eduth style which is just a transliteration of the Hebrew expression.
This Psalm has a number of interesting linguistic offerings. The words used would not have likely garnered intrigue from those reading it in its native language thousands of years ago, but today, for a western minded person it does.
First off this is the only Psalm in the entire five books of Psalms which is set forth as a personal testimony. God always seems to offer our church lessons on multiple levels and this is just one of countless examples of such. We’ve been talking for some time about our testimony empowered by the Holy Spirit on Sunday mornings and here on a Wednesday night when we are taking our trek “Thru the Bible” and Old Covenant, Old Testament prophet/psalm writer records a testimony of his own tucked away in the near center of the book of Psalms. It might be a play on words taken from Psalm 60 which was a Michtam of David which was said to be a song set to “Lily of the Testimony”, but this is just a guess.
“(1) For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.” A testimonyof Asaph. A psalm.
Listen, Shepherd of Israel, Who guides Joseph like a flock; You Who sit enthroned on the cherubim, rise up (2) at the head of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Rally Your power and come to save us.”
I think we miss the fact that many of the prophets under the Old Covenant saw Jesus. If not literally/spiritually – then at very least in very poignant ways by revelation of the Spirit. As such even though Asaph employs an endearing term for God’s ongoing benevolent hand of guidance and ownership over Israel – the use of the words “Shephard of Israel” was nonetheless a clear reference to Messiah and specifically Jesus Himself.
As we saw last week in Psalm 78, Asaph specifically referred to Jesus through His Old Testament appellation “Holy One of Israel”. He attributed to Jesus the miracles in Egypt and the hand of providence guiding Israel through the wilderness by saying,
“(41) Israel constantly tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel. (42) They did not remember His power shown on the day He redeemed them from the foe, (43) when He performed His miraculous signs in Egypt and His marvels in the region of Zoan.” – Psalm 78:41-43
So Asaph’s mention of the “Shepherd of Israel” here should not be taken as a convenient coincidence but rather a direct and insightful revelation.
By calling all of Israel in Joseph it references the house of Egypt from which they came which was originally a provision for them through the man Joseph. It also provides a subtle undertone of a preview of the Psalms content. In the same way that Joseph’s betrayal of his brothers was met with a loving provision for them in the midst of adversity, so God is being called upon to come to the aid of His people once again who are in the midst of adversity due to their spiritual betrayal.
The phrase “You Who sit enthroned on the cherubim, rise up” is most likely a reference to the lid of the Ark of the Covenant which was covered by the wings of Cherub’s depicted on either side and where the presence of God did abide. But contingent on the timing of this Psalm, it may also be a reference to Ezekiel’s vision of God in the same physical stance over the firmament carried upon the wings of the Cherubim as is recorded in Ezekiel. See – Ezekiel, Cherubim and the God of Israel.
Then Asaph asks God Who dwells between the Cherubs to rise up from the mercy seat where He sits enthroned in the midst of Israel in the Holiest of Holies, and rally His power to save “the head of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh”. Which was a way of recognizing the three physical divisions of Israel.
- Ephraim representing the entirety of the Northern kingdom on the east side of the Jordan.
- Benjamin being used in an unusual manner to refer to the Southern Kingdom instead of Judah for which there is an additional likely reason.
- Manasseh representing the head of the two and a half tribe who took their inheritance west of the Jordan.
The other reason why the choosing of these three names and Benjamin in particular among them is that in the encampment they were the three tribes which made up the west side of the tabernacle. Not that the west had any real significance here, but that throughout the wanderings, these three tribe always marched and camped together. As such it may have become quite natural in the mentioning of one, to mention the other two. (See Gen. 46:19-20; Num. 2:18-24; 10:22-24)
Additionally Ephraim and Manasseh were the two sons of Joseph, and their names were given to two of the tribes of Israel. So it is possible that they were particularly mentioned here, because Joseph, their father, had been referred to in the previous verse; and it was natural, in speaking of the people, to mention his sons. Also, Benjamin was particularly dear to Joseph, his closest brother and the only one who was younger than him. The narrative in Genesis goes out of the way to highlight a seemingly close and special bond between Joseph and Benjamin, which was brought to a crescendo when they were finally reunited in Egypt. Also Benjamin is mentioned as being the one child of Rachel their mother who most closely resembled her – but this is incidental, not causative for this particular mention in Asaph’s psalm.
“(3) Restore us, God; look on us with favor, and we will be saved.
(4) LORD God of Hosts, how long will You be angry with Your people’s prayers?
(5) You fed them the bread of tears and gave them a full measure of tears to drink. (6) You set us at strife with our neighbors; our enemies make fun of us.
(7) Restore us, God of Hosts; look on us with favor, and we will be saved.
“(8) You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it.
(9) You cleared a place for it; it took root and filled the land.”
Here Asaph mixes metaphors with abandon. He employes the very common imagery of Israel as a choice vine taken from the desert land of Egypt and planted in the fertile land of Canaan. Which Vine is mentioned throughout scripture and eventually replaced by Jesus Himself and all who enter into the New Covenant being mere branches which grow out of the real and only choice vine – the Messiah Himself.
Right after calling Israel a choice vine, they are then seen as growing taller than the cedars and the mountains of Canaan being covered with its branches.
“(10) The mountains were covered by its shade, and the mighty cedars with its branches. (11) It sent out sprouts toward the Sea and shoots toward the River.”
Though it is without a doubt a secondary fulfillment of the prophetic aspects of this Psalm, it is interesting that in our day the phrase “From the river to the sea” is being used as a political phrase employed by Hamas for the eradication of Israel from the land.
Israel was given this land by the hand of God quite distinct of and in preference to Ishamel. So it is to be expected that they would hate Israel as they are the true sons of Abraham by promise and the rightful inheritors of the land promised to Abram. They wish to force them from the land, but God has already spoken to that – it belongs to Israel for eternity and no Ishmaelite or Muslim will be able to do anything to change that certain eventuality.
Israel spread its “sprouts” towards the Mediterranean Sea in the East and to the Jordan river to the West.
Though the next verse’s mention of God breaking down Israel’s wall so that all who pass by can eat its fruit, definitely speaks of God’s hand of judgment on Israel to bring them to repentance and the recognition of Jesus as their Messiah, it had an immediate fulfillment during the life and time of Asaph – probably during the Assyrian and/or Babylonian bondages.
“(12) Why have You broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its fruit? (13) The boar from the forest gnaws at it, and creatures of the field feed on it.
(14) Return, God of Hosts. Look down from heaven and see; take care of this vine, (15) the root Your right hand has planted, the shoot that You made strong for Yourself.
(16) It was cut down and burned up; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
(17) Let Your hand be with the man at Your right hand, with the son of man You have made strong for Yourself. (18) Then we will not turn away from You; revive us, and we will call on Your name.
(19) Restore us, LORD God of Hosts; look on us with favor, and we will be saved.”
Ultimately the fulfillment of this will be realized in the post-tribulation Millennial kingdom as is true of many Old Testament prophecies.
Our last Psalm for tonight is Psalm 81 and it is a comparatively simple Psalm to study.
Blessings!
Tri
