for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland. Sermons
I. We had better pray against our enemies than fight against them. II. When we pray we commit all the times and ways of judgment on them to the infinitely wise and gracious Lord. In even this prayer we should say, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." III. If we pray about persons, we soon begin to change our feelings towards them. IV. But it is the height to which Christian principle raises us, when we pray for our enemies rather than against them. The older religion prayed for vengeance on them, the newer religion prays for mercy towards them. "If thine enemy hunger, feed him: if he thirst, give him drink." - R.T.
We will show forth Thy praise to all generations. Dr. Parkhurst says he loves to think that every man is sent. into the world with something to tell. "That is what makes of any man a prophet, being filled with a story too big for his own soul to house," a story he cannot, dare not, keep to himself. This truth God has given you to utter makes you a witness. You may be a false witness, and no witness is more than he who says nothing; or you may be a true and faithful witness, testifying to the best you know by your face and hands, your smiles and deeds and words. That is a startling thought of Andrew Murray's: "God does not ask us to hide Christ away in our impure hearts." Christ gives Himself to us constantly, but in order that we may as constantly give Him to others. Truth is like the water pressed upon the foul garments, that cleanses them if it is forced out again, but rots them all the more if it is allowed to remain. So is the religion that we selfishly cherish unexpressed. Indeed, is there a worse form of selfishness than that?(Amos R. Wells.). Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock. Homilist. I. As A SHEPHERD (ver. 1).1. His flock indicated. "Joseph" may stand for all Israel, and Israel as an illustration of the moral condition of men everywhere. (1) (2) (3) 2. His dwelling-place described. Dwelt in symbol on mercy-seat. Now, God is in Christ, reconciling the world. 3. His interposition invoked (ver. 2). (1) (2) II. As A CHARACTER (ver. 4). God's chastisements are — 1. Always deserved. 2. Often very painful. Physical anguish, moral distress, social bereavement, disappointment, persecution. 3. They sometimes stimulate prayer. However great our afflictions, if they but. send us in prayer to God, they are blessings in disguise. III. As A CULTIVATOR (vers. 8-13). 1. The work He does.(1) He prepares the soil. There is only one moral soil in the universe in which dead souls can be quickened and be rightly developed, and that is the Gospel of Christ. Souls are seeds.(2) He deposit the seed. God alone can bring the soul into the soil of Gospel truth and root it there.(3) He trains the plant. "The hills were covered with the shadow of it." The Jewish people became a grand nation under His training. So do human souls become under His spiritual training. 2. The evil He permits. "Why hast thou then broken down her hedges?" etc. He did not do it by His direct agency, only by permission. He could have prevented it. He could have crushed the invaders. But He did not. For wise and beneficent purposes, He permitted it. So it is in the department of spiritual culture. He permits evils. IV. As THE RESTORER (vers. 14-19). 1. He restores by special visitation. "Look down from heaven," etc. Dead souls are restored to life because God visits the world. "He bowed the heavens and came down." He appeared in Christ. 2. He restores from apparently the most hopeless condition (ver. 16). "There is nothing too hard for the Lord." "He is able of these stones to raise up children," etc. "Can these dry bones live?" you say. Yes, they can. 3. He restores by quickening the soul into devotion (ver. 18). (Homilist.) Homilist. I. HERE HE IS PRESENTED IN HIS RELATIVE CHARACTER. He is a "Shepherd." As a Shepherd He has universal knowledge, self-sacrificing love, and almighty power.II. HERE HE IS PRESENTED IN HIS RELATIVE AGENCY. "Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock." He leads us now by the dictates of moral reason, the events of His providence, the revelations of His book, and the influence of His Spirit. (1) (2) (3) III. HERE HE IS PRESENTED IN HIS RELATIVE POSTURE. "Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth." Man, from his nature, requires a place for his God — some point in space where he may meet Him. Under the old dispensation this want was met by His appearing in the Shekinah over the mercy-seat. In the new it is met in Christ, of which the old manifestation was but the symbol. Christ is the "Mercy Seat " where man meets his God. IV. HERE HE IS PRESENTED IN HIS RELATIVE LIGHT, "Shine forth." We want Him to shine forth upon us through Christ. (Homilist.) Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth The prayer in the text may be offered —1. When we are seeking the pardon of our offences, — when our hearts are stricken with conviction, — when we understand and feel that it is an evil thing to sin against God. 2. When we are oppressed by spiritual adversaries. 3. When commending particular efforts for the advancement of the Saviour's kingdom to the Divine regard. 4. When we contemplate the general condition and wants of mankind. (J. Parsons.) I. THE CHARACTER OF GOD represented by this phrase.1. A God of glory. 2. A God of holiness and justice. 3. A God of mercy, full of love and goodness. 4. A God of condescending intercourse. God might be approached with safety and success as He sat upon the mercy-seat sprinkled with blood (Exodus 29:43-46). II. THE IMPORT OF THE PRAYER IN THE TEXT. "Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth," smile upon us with Thy heavenly favour; cast away all our transgressions from Thy sight; break in upon our darkened souls with the light of Thy truth, and cause us to see and know the truth with enlightened understandings; chase away with Thy bright beamings the gloom of sin and unbelief; and let Thy peace "which passeth all understanding," and the "joy of the Holy Ghost," dwell within us, to be our portion at all times. Guide us by Thy unerring counsel here, and receive us to Thy eternal glory hereafter. (J. S. Broad, M. A.) Special reference is probably made to the Shekinah. God under the Old Testament was manifesting His presence in a cloud of dazzling light. The name, therefore, by which He was known was the Brilliant or Shining One. It was long supposed that God etymologically meant good. God, good — they were believed to be one and the same word. But further investigation seems to point out that the English God, the Latin Deus, the Greek Theos, the Welsh Duw — all come from an old Aryan root signifying "to shine." Men thought of God, and to what could they compare Him? To nothing else than the shining splendour of the light. God is light, God means the "Shining One."(Cynddylan Jones.) People Asaph, Jacob, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Desolate, Destroyed, Devoured, Dwelling, Dwelling-place, Habitation, Homeland, Jacob, Laid, Meat, WasteOutline 1. The psalmist complains of the desolation of Jerusalem8. He prays for deliverance 13. and promises thankfulness Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 79:6-7Library The Attack on the Scriptures[Illustration: (drop cap B) A Greek Warrior] But troubled times came again to Jerusalem. The great empires of Babylon and Assyria had passed away for ever, exactly as the prophets of Israel had foretold; but new powers had arisen in the world, and the great nations fought together so constantly that all the smaller countries, and with them the Kingdom of Judah, changed hands very often. At last Alexander the Great managed to make himself master of all the countries of the then-known world. Alexander … Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making How they are to be Admonished who Lament Sins of Deed, and those who Lament Only Sins of Thought. Period ii. The Church from the Permanent Division of the Empire Until the Collapse of the Western Empire and the First Schism Between the East and the West, or Until About A. D. 500 The Formation of the Old Testament Canon A Summary of the Christian Life. Of Self-Denial. Psalms Links Psalm 79:7 NIVPsalm 79:7 NLT Psalm 79:7 ESV Psalm 79:7 NASB Psalm 79:7 KJV Psalm 79:7 Bible Apps Psalm 79:7 Parallel Psalm 79:7 Biblia Paralela Psalm 79:7 Chinese Bible Psalm 79:7 French Bible Psalm 79:7 German Bible Psalm 79:7 Commentaries Bible Hub |