My Brothers & Sisters

Today, I share with you Herbert O’Driscoll’s reflection on Psalm 79. O’Driscoll writes:

We are your people and the sheep of your pasture;

we will give you thanks for ever.

They were brothers, probably from Rome.  They found themselves preaching in Gaul, until they were unlucky enough to get swept up in one of the third century’s periods of vicious persecution.  They may have fled to England, but in the end, they were martyred.

One of the brothers was given a timeless memorial by Shakespeare because the battle of Agincourt was fought on his feast day.  His name was Crispin; his brother’s name was Crispinian.  One more piece of information about them - as they prepared to die, they reflected on, and recited, this Psalm. We can see why they chose it.  The psalmist is crying out in desperation.

For the brothers who were about to know a martyr’s death, the citadel of the new faith was being stormed.  For the psalmist before them, Jerusalem was laid waste because of the countless attacks on the city. “They have made Jerusalem a heap of rubble.”  The vivid images suggest the writing of an eyewitness. “The bodies of your servants as food for the birds… blood like water on every side of Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.”

Even in abject defeat and utter devastation, the psalmist and his contemporaries find meaning in all this seeming meaninglessness by turning to God.  The defeat means that God is angry.  The reason for God’s anger must lie in the behaviour of God’s people. “How long will you be angry, O Lord? … Help us, O God our Saviour.”

In this complete faith in a God who plays a crucial role in all events, good and bad, there is no contradiction in believing that God is the source of both the disaster and the grace to recover from it.  The people know there is a reason for defeat.  They do not flinch from accepting that the fault lies in themselves. “Remember not our past sins; let your compassion be swift to meet us.”

If confession is made and there is genuine national repentance, then God can easily bring good from all this agony.  Nothing can change the covenant relationship between Israel and their God. “We are your people and the sheep of your pasture.” In spite of any disaster “we will give you thanks for ever.”

We post-modern people may smile, but as we see our own society under siege, it is possible that our amusement is tinged with more than a little envy.

Adapted from: Herbert O’Driscoll’s, “The Psalms For Our Living

Finer Than Gold, Sweeter Than Honey”

The theme of this Psalm - suffering, injustice and the need for God’s intervention is applicable today, as it was then.  Our hope in God’s faithfulness to restore and renew His blessings and salvation is guaranteed once we commit our obedience and loyalty to Him.

Yours in Christ

Patrick+