Psalm 79 Devotional

Asking Mercy for His Glory

“Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; deliver us and atone for our sins, for the sake of Your name.”Psalm 79:9 (BSB)

Psalm 79 is a lament over a ruined city. The nations have invaded God's inheritance, defiled his temple, and turned Jerusalem into rubble (79:1). The bodies of God's servants lie unburied, left to birds and beasts, and the neighbors laugh (79:2-4). Asaph asks how long God's anger will burn (79:5). He prays hard words against the nations who do not acknowledge God (79:6-7), and asks God to repay the reproach they have heaped on him (79:12). He does not take revenge into his own hands; he lays the whole matter before God.

At the center of the psalm, though, is a request for mercy. Asaph asks God not to hold past sins against his people, and to let his compassion come quickly (79:8). He asks for help, deliverance, and atonement, not because the people deserve it but for the glory of God's name (79:9). God's mercy rests on his own character, not on our record. The psalm ends with the sheep of his pasture promising to praise him for generations (79:13).

To think about: What would it mean for you to ask God for mercy today on the basis of his name rather than your own record?