Psalm 79
Psalms 79 & 80 go together.
Introduction: Hosea 4 which was addressed to the Jews before the fifth cycle of discipline. If they had fulfilled the first line there would have been no 5th cycle of discipline, but national entities that have believers inside are national entities which can be punished when those believers go into apostasy.
Verse 1 -- “Hear the word of the Lord” means to listen and obey, understand and apply. The word of the Lord is Bible doctrine; “ye children of Israel” – the national entity found in Psalm 80.
“for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land” – when the Lord has a controversy it means one thing: national judgments.
“because there is no doctrine” – lack of Bible doctrine destroys a national entity; “nor mercy” – failure on the part of believers to orient to the grace of God, and therefore failure to apply grace. Mercy is grace in action.
“nor knowledge of God in the land” – when there is no knowledge of God in the land it means two things: a) believers are apostate, they are not learning Bible doctrine; b) unbelievers, therefore, are not hearing the gospel because unbelievers do not receive the witness which comes with an understanding and application of Bible doctrine.
Here is why the Jews went under the fifth cycle of discipline. No knowledge of God in the land. Believers are the salt of the earth and the salt can lose its savour. When it says that believers are the salt of the earth it is referring to salt as a preservative. When salt loses its power to preserve the meat is spoiled and rotten, and when believers are minus Bible doctrine the believers in a national entity lose their preservative power for that national entity. As goes the believer so goes the national entity. The believer minus doctrine means the national entity will go under the fifth cycle of discipline; the believer with Bible doctrine preserves his national entity.
Verse 2 – “By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out and blood toucheth blood.” The things which cause national disintegration. This disintegration is described by the idiom “blood with blood,” which means many things. Any form of civil disobedience is included in the lawlessness involved here. Whenever there is mob violence and when the rights of individuals are violated, this is the idiom “blood with blood.”
Verse 3 – “Therefore shall the land mourn,” the fifth cycle of discipline; “and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish” – this is a Hebrew verb which means intensity of sorrow and pressure.
Verse 4 – “for thy people are they that strive with the priest.” There is no reason for blaming one another because the reason the Jews went out under the fifth cycle of discipline is because they rejected Bible doctrine. The Levitical priesthood was one of two ways in which doctrine was communicated.
Verse 5 – “Therefore shalt thou fall in the day.” This is the day of the destruction of the national entity.
“and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother,” their heritage. The heritage of a nation is destroyed as a part of the 5th cycle of discipline—freedom, the culture which is compatible with divine institution #4.
Verse 6 – “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” When the believer in a land in minus Bible doctrine the salt loses its preservative power and the national entity is destroyed.
“because thou hast rejected knowledge [of doctrine], I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me” – the nation no longer fulfils its purpose in the plan of God.
“seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God [Bible doctrine], I will also forget thy children” – the next generation is in slavery in captivity. That is the 5th cycle of discipline and the primary reason for it.
Psalm 79 and Psalm 80 go together. Our subject is Psalm 80, our introduction is Psalm 79 as well as Hosea 4. Psalm 79 describes the Jews under the fifth cycle of discipline.
Verse 1 – “the heathen.” There were two Jewish kingdoms when the fifth cycle of discipline was administered. The northern kingdom was made up of ten tribes led by Ephraim. The southern kingdom was made up basically of two tribes led by Judah. The northern kingdom went under the 5th cycle of discipline to the nation Assyria in 721 BC. The southern kingdom went under the fifth cycle of discipline to the empire of Chaldea in 586 BC. The administration of the 5th cycle was separated by some years but both nations were destroyed in a day because they over-reached, because Bible doctrine did not level them off. God wiped out the Assyrian and the Chaldean. The Jews survived this terrible discipline, but the people who administered it did not because of lack of Bible doctrine. The “heathen” refers to three nations: the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, and the Romans.
Verse 2 – this means that people are hurt. Many times believers are caught in this thing and so we have believers and unbelievers unburied. This was always a sign of total defeat when the dead were unburied after a battle in the ancient world.
Verse 3 – “Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem.” This means they courageously died for their country, but because of failure in Bible doctrine they still lost out.
Verse 4 – this doesn’t mean that at this point they have fallen, this means something that precedes the falling. This is the movement of the tides underneath the water. When a nation is about to go under the fifth cycle of discipline there is always that internal policy that can only be held up to ridicule by history. There is the internal destruction of a nation as well as its external collapse.
Verse 5 – and then the believer says. This is a psalm of Asaph and therefore a prophetical psalm with regard to condition which precede and exist during the 5th cycle. “How long, Lord? Wilt thou be angry forever?” This is an interesting Hebrew idiom. When people are under maximum pressure which is brought about by a total national catastrophe it appears as though God is going to be angry forever.
“shall thy jealousy [zeal] burn like fire?” His zeal is the zeal that the nation follow the principles of divine institution #4, which means Bible doctrine first.
Verse 6 – “Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen” – this was actually fulfilled. This is a prayer of believers under the fifth cycle of discipline. Why was this necessary? Because in the case of Chaldea, and Assyria before them, they abused the power given to them by God to administer the discipline. They allowed their national pride to feed their power lust and as a result they overstepped the bounds and tried to exterminate the Jews. Therefore, this is a very legitimate prayer from Jewish believers.
Verse 7 – “For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.”
Verse 8 – “Oh, remember not against us former iniquities.” Here is the national rebound concept. This is what Daniel was praying 3 times a day at the window as he faced Jerusalem. He was fulfilling 1 Kings chapter 8. When Jews were out under discipline they were told to face Jerusalem 3 times a day and to pray for the restoration and peace of Jerusalem.
“prevent” – this means ‘keep us from getting us in the way of grace.’
Verse 9 – “Help us, O God of our deliverance.”
Verse 11 – the sighing of the prisoner is the Jew under the 5th cycle of discipline.
“preserve thou those that are appointed to die.” This is something we can pray today. “Appointed to die” means it is possible that we are appointed for the 5th cycle of discipline, but as long as it hasn’t occurred yet it doesn’t have to occur. The prayer of born-again believers in fellowship daily, ‘Preserve us as a nation,’ can be heard and answered and the 5th cycle of discipline can be postponed or cancelled.
Verse 12 – this preservation means the neutralising of other nations, often through warfare.
Verse 13 – “So we thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture, will give thee thanks forever.” Notice the basis on which this prayer is made: ‘We are thy people, we belong to you. This is your battle Lord, not our battle.’ I they go down they do so because of the Lord’s decision, but if they stand, they stand because of His grace. This should be the believer’s attitude in the perspective of doctrine, in the perspective of grace before the Lord. If we are to survive we are to do so because of who and what the Lord is.
“we will show forth thy praise to all generations” – two principles here: a) to give thanks forever means this prayer is prayed by those who can be heard in prayer—believers. Forever means that this will be a subject of eternal praise. The preservation of any nation becomes a conversational piece in heaven; b) when a nation is about to go down and that nation is preserved because of the believers who pray for that nation, the believers who learn doctrine—the salt of the earth concept—this becomes a national testimony.