“Coping With God's "Absence"”

Tuesday, October 06, 2020

BIBLE READING: Psalm 79
Note: Some of these thoughts are quoted from the Word Biblical Commentary by Marvin Tate. 

This psalm most likely reflects Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 587 BCE. This was a horrible, bloody episode that changed the lives of all Israelites forever. They had lost their nation and their homes. The ones who survived had lost family and friends, some to death and some to captivity. But the devastation went much deeper than that. They had believed that, as God’s chosen people, such a disaster could never befall them (Amos 9.10). But when the temple was destroyed, it seemed to indicate that God had either abandoned his temple and his people or he had been defeated himself. This is apparently how Judah’s neighbors interpreted the events (Psalm 79.10). But the psalmist refused to accept this. He maintains his faith in the God of salvation to deliver, atone for sins, and show himself superior (Psalm 79.9).

This psalm is not easy to read. It is full of anguish at the horrifying things the people have seen. It is devoid of noble religious sentiments and replaced with confusion and confession. The psalmist is desperate. They had become a people with nothing, except the belief that God was faithful. 

Although he has been unable to see God’s help in the immediate past, the psalmist has not forgotten God’s past deliverance and has not lost hope that he will again see it. He knows that without divine help, there can be no hope. So, this psalm is more than a response to what the psalmist experienced; it is a heartfelt effort to integrate God into his understanding of the events that have wrecked his life. Psalm 79 deals with one of the basic issues in our faith: how do the people of God cope with disaster in the face of God’s seeming absence? The answer is by hanging on to hope in him. 

When faced with a desperate situation the need for God becomes clear. But what about when things are going as planned? We tend to self-medicate with pleasure, comfort and complacency. Our sense of self-sufficiency becomes dominant while our awareness of sin becomes dull.

But times of comfort don’t last forever. At present, we face uncertainty with the COVID crisis and our current political situation. While unsettling, these factors are simply uncovering the reality of this world’s brokenness. Eventually things fall apart, systems get broken, and people turn against one another. If God doesn’t exist to help and save, what a wretched future we all face.

The need for God doesn’t change with circumstances, but the realization of our need does. Whether we think everything is fine or feel like the world is spinning out of control, we need a source of stability that we can trust. This critical void is precisely where God fits. I pray God gently and mercifully allows us opportunity to trust him more deeply with our salvation and our future.

“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)

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