OUR FATHER FROM WHOM WE CAN REQUEST MERCY IN THE MIDST OF JUDGEMENT

Psalm 79 verses 1 - 3 says this;

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

They have left the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.

They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.

The psalmist starts with a solemn status report to God informing Him of the atrocities the invaders from surrounding nations had done to their country.

The Lord's inheritance had been invaded; The holy temple had been desecrated; Jerusalem, their capital city, had been destroyed; the Lord's own servants had been slain and left for the vultures and wild animals to eat; and so many people had been killed that blood ran like water in the streets of Jerusalem and there was no one left to bury them.

Such were the terrible conditions the people faced and the Psalmist implored the Lord not to be angry with His people forever. He asked the Lord not to hold His people's sins against them and he requested mercy upon them for sake of the name of the Lord.

In Psalm 79 verse 11, he asked the Lord to hear the groans of the prisoners so that He might know the extent of the suffering His people were experiencing.

May the groans of the prisoners come before you;  with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.

The people having sinned against God, incurred the Lord's anger and the judgement of being invaded by hostile nations was released upon them. In the midst of their suffering, they asked the Lord to relent and turn and save them.

At the end of this Psalm in verse 13, the author made a promise to the Lord that if the Lord forgave His people and brought retribution to their enemies, His people would praise Him forever. 

Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,  will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.

Amen.

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