Read Psalm 79:1-8. 1O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. 2They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth. 3They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. 4We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us. 5How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? 6Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name! 7For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation. 8Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
Watching the ruin of Jerusalem at the hands of the evil Babylonians brought not only despair to Asaph, but also a sense of indignation. Asaph appeals to God’s jealousy. It is your inheritance, your holy temple, your servants that are being destroyed by the godless.
However, it is God’s same burning jealousy that caused him to punish Judah for their iniquities. Why? Because he loves them so much that he won’t allow their own sin to annihilate them.
That is why Asaph will ultimately find hope in the mercy of God – Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. Truly, our union with Christ is the answer to Asaph’s prayer – do not remember. Do not hold our former iniquities against us.
In Christ, like Asaph, we find hope in the mercy of God in the midst of the punishments of God. His great compassion that always comes quickly by his indwelling Spirit. His great love that keeps no record of wrongs, yet refuses to let us live in our wrongdoing.
To live is Christ is to remember that God does not remember. He does not count our sin against us. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! And yet there is a great love that lowers us further still until all that remains is the love of Christ.
You: Where can you recognize God’s jealousy for you?
You in Christ: How can knowing that God does not keep a record of our sins allow us to confront sin in our lives?
Christ in you: In what ways is Jesus loving you, even in the midst of your ongoing sinning?
Pray: Father, you do not remember my former iniquities, but you also don’t forget that I need constant cleansing. Let your compassion for me be that cleansing grace. Amen.
To Live is Christ 