Psalm 79

0 A Psalm of Asaph.
1  O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
  they have defiled your holy temple;
  they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2  They have given the bodies of your servants
  to the birds of the air for food,
  the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth.
3  They have poured out their blood like water
  all around Jerusalem,
  and there was no one to bury them.
4  We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
  mocked and derided by those around us.
5  How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever?
  Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?
6  Pour out your anger on the nations
  that do not know you,
 and on the kingdoms
  that do not call on your name.
7  For they have devoured Jacob
  and laid waste his habitation.
8  Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors;
  let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
  for we are brought very low.
9  Help us, O God of our salvation,
  for the glory of your name;
 deliver us, and forgive our sins,
  for your name’s sake.
10  Why should the nations say,
  “Where is their God?”
 Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
  be known among the nations before our eyes.
11  Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
  according to your great power preserve those doomed to die.
12  Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors
  the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord!
13  Then we your people, the flock of your pasture,
  will give thanks to you forever;
  from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Daily Prayer (based on Psalm 79:9)

Even as Your people once fell into sin and bore their shame before the nations, so it is with Your Church today, in so many ways, Lord.

Forgive us, Gracious God, for seeking our own prestige and power ahead of Your call to servanthood.

Forgive us for allowing innocent children to be abused even by their trusted leaders.

Forgive us for being so caught up in ourselves that we fail to reach out to our neighbors.

Forgive us for losing sight of Your truth, so that we anoint hatred and bless sin.

Forgive us for bringing shame, rather than glory to Your name.

Postscript

I believe that it is right for Christians, even individual Christians, to confess on behalf of the larger Church. Yet our confessions will be prideful and ineffective if we only confess the sins of others. Thus, in any prayer of confession such as I have just offered, I believe it's essential that I buy into what I have said, at least to some extent. Not every line of this confession is directly relevant to me. But I need forgiveness for some of these very items. Others reflect my heart for the Church as a whole, of which I am a part.

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Except for the Scripture text, all material of The Daily Psalm Copyright © 2006 by Mark D. Roberts

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The Scripture text used in The Daily Psalm is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved