Year 5, Day 215: Psalms 79-80

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness

• Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God.  We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway.  We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway.  As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others.  In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Both Psalm 79 and Psalm 80 are written from the perspective of a people who are in judgment.  Both psalms indicate that the people are being judged and long for restoration.  However, we know that there is a route between judgment and restoration.  That route is repentance and forgiveness.

In Psalm 79, we hear that the psalmist looks around and sees the godless prospering.  God’s people are losing control of their inheritance – the Promised Land.  The nations are coming in, plundering the land, and taking it over.  The psalmist knows that this is an issue of judgment.  The psalmist pleads with God to let this time of judgment pass so that the world will see the people of God being blessed by their God.  In other words, the psalmist is pleading for God’s wrath to turn away from them and through forgiveness find blessing once more.

As we look at Psalm 80, how many times does the psalmist ask God for restoration?  However, in this particular psalm we can see that the psalmist uses a technique for bringing about repentance.  Much like we learned yesterday, the psalmist remembers what God has done in the past.  Knowing how God has worked in the past helps us understand our own mistakes when we are in the midst of judgment.  Knowing how God has worked in the past helps us desire to be back in moments like those instead of in moments of judgment.

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