- Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. Psalm 79:8 – When you look at the story of Israel in the Old Testament, a situation the nation found itself in more than once was being oppressed and conquered by another nation. Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria are just a few us such nations. As a result of Israel’s choice to sin, God allowed these nations to find victory over His people Israel. In our psalm, we see the writer pleading for God’s compassion. The nation that was over Israel at the time was harsh and God’s people were groaning under the heavy hand of the oppressor. What we learn though from this plea for help can help us in our crying out to the Lord as well. Notice an aspect in the psalmist words, he never tried to dismiss the realness of Israel’s sin. He never tried to pretend with God that their sin didn’t exist or that they didn’t deserve punishment for their sin. The psalmist owned the sin, owned the truth that their sin needed punished, but chose to call on God’s compassion to show them His mercy over their sin. In our walk with God we must be willing to own the fact that we have sinned. Trying to swerve from having to admit you’ve sinned isn’t going to get you anywhere in finding God’s compassion in your life. We also must acknowledge we deserve the punishment attached to our sin. We chose the sin, no one else made us do it, so we deserve the consequences. In all that though see the heart of the psalm as well. When we admit we’ve sinned and acknowledge we deserve punishment over our sin, that is the proper place to call for God’s compassion from. God loves to show His people His mercy, with Jesus being the ultimate example of that. Own your sin, then call on God compassion over that sin. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3493
- Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord! But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise. Psalms 79:12-13 – We see two types of people being spoken of here, those that follow God and those that don’t. Both though have sin that needs to be dealt with and God will judge that sin. Yet the faithful are not destroyed due to their sin as with the unfaithful, but why? Because they are turning from their sin and allowing God to take the burden of it rather than them carry it themselves. Jesus is offering us a new way of life, one where we follow Him and He takes the burden of our sin for us. We don’t have to carry the weight of our sin, Jesus will do that for us. Turn to Him today and ask Him to take that burden from you so you can follow Him well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1142
- Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! Psalm 79:9 – He did. God came through, atoned for their sins, and made a way to life for them. He did this because He loved them. God heard their cry and He responded in salvation. My hopes with this devotion is to remind you that this salvation has come to atone for your sin as well. All your sin is well known to God, whether you’ve “revealed” it to Him or not. All your sin is sin that God can handle. All your sin has been taken care of by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. If you then have started following Jesus and have asked Him to forgive your sins, know though sins have been atoned for. Meaning those past sins are forever gone from causing disconnect between you and God. They are gone, God is done with them, but do you allow your past mistakes to continue to have a say in your life? You are not your past sin if you’ve chosen Jesus to follow, you are forgiven. Seek to live that way today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2039
