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Responding to Devastation" Psalm 80 Yr A, Proper 22
by Clancy Nixon
October 2, 2005
Church of the Holy Spirit
Ashburn, Virginia
How do you respond to devastation in your life? It may be a natural disaster like
Katrina or Rita; it may be a personal reversal, like a failed marriage, a wayward teenager,
or a diagnosis of cancer; or it may be an economic reversal, like a loss of your job, or a
stock market crash like the one we had between 2001-2003. Whatever your
circumstances, you need to know how to respond when disaster comes to call on your
life. Make no mistake, trouble will come. Job reminded us, "Man is born to trouble as
the sparks fly upward." Jesus never promised us an easy life; he did promise us an
abundant life. If you want to live the abundant life, you need to know how to deal with
disaster.
Many people deal with devastation in unhealthy ways. The normal grief cycle
works this way. When we experience a devastating loss, first we are in denial; then we
get angry; then we grieve our loss; then, finally, we can accept what has happened. The
theory is that if we skip one of these stages, or we get stuck in one stage and never move
on, then we short-circuit the healing process. We all know people who have been stuck
in anger for years when others who have experienced the same tragedy have been able to
move on. My uncle has been bitter all his life over how his father, my grandfather, treated
him when he decided to become an English professor rather than a Scientist. William
Faulkner's characters from the old South are often stuck people, like the widow who
never took off her mourning clothes, and wore the black veil the rest of her life. How do
we avoid becoming stuck?
If you'll turn with me to Psalm 80, you'll see a wonderful pattern of how to deal
with devastation. You can find it on page 582 of your blue pew bibles. You may wonder
why we say the psalms every week on Sunday. It's true that I adore the psalms
personally, but that is not the reason why we do it. The book of psalms is the songbook of
God's people as they worshiped in the Temple. This is the historical record of how God's
people responded to life in light of their covenant with God. The psalms show us how to
have a relationship with God, in good times and in bad times. Throughout 2000 years of
Church history, Christians have recited or sung the psalms in worship as an anchor to
Incarnational reality. If you go to a monastery or convent and pray the hours with monks
or nuns, the psalms are the primary texts for worship. When people are in grief or
depressed, I often counsel them to read the psalms.
Psalm 80 shows us the first thing to do when you face disaster: Number 1: Go to
God in worship, and be honest to God. Take your burdens and requests to him. Look
at Psalm 80, verse 1: "Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel... shine forth...verse 2 come and
save us.... verse 5 you have fed your people with the bread of tears; you have made
them drink tears by the bowlful....verse 6 our enemies mock us." Look closely at verse
4 through 6: this is a lament. A descendant of Asaph, a Levitical priest who wrote this
psalm, is being honest to God about where the people are they are devastated. They are
not in denial. A great disaster has overtaken them: the Northern Kingdom of Israel has
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been wiped out by the Assyrians, their people either dead or in exile. Many Israelites
were carted away to Assyria and resettled; others escaped to Judah and the southern
Kingdom, and are present in the Temple for worship as refugees. Be honest to God tell
Him how it feels.
Let's say verse 4 together: "O LORD God Almighty, how long will your anger
smolder against the prayers of your people?" Bring your cares directly to our God. Call
him by name. Whenever you see the word LORD in capital letters in your Bible, that is
the name Yahweh, the name too holy to be spoken, the name God gave to Moses at the
burning bush. God is almighty his arm is not too short to save you. By using the name
Yahweh, you remind yourself that our God is the same God whose power opened the Red
Sea for the Israelites, and drowned the pursuing Egyptian army. Back to verse 4: the
people are praying to God, but God remains angry with them and punishes his people. So
the people cry out, "How long?" They are impatient. They are honest with God they are
praying, and they don't see results of their prayers like they like to see. God's anger
towards them is obvious, verse 5, for all they drink is bowl after salty bowl of tears. They
weep and weep so much that it seems they drink their tears. They are grieving their loss
corporately. This is what it means to grieve.
Worship in church is not designed to be a place where we leave our burdens at the
door and put on a happy face. One pastor I know described his congregation as a place
where people put on their "sparkle masks" for show every week in coffee hour. Many
congregations seem to be more about social posturing than about worship or loving one
another. While I don't believe that we are in danger of that currently, we need to be
watchful. Never let that be said about us. Church is a hospital for sinners, not a showcase
for saints. My job is to equip the saints here for the works of ministry to train you how
to do what God calls all of us to do. Heal the sick; make disciples; love Jesus and one
another. We can't do that if we are not honest to God. There is a time to lay aside your
burdens and to enjoy the presence of the Lord, but there is also a time to grieve.
Being honest to God means telling God and God's people what happened. It's not
that God has forgotten. It's that we might otherwise forget. God releases his resources of
healing and provision when we make our needs known. When the psalmist says that the
nation is being mocked, that is telling it like it is! We don't need to hide the fact that
some people don't respect us. There is no public relations spin here about the greatness
of the nation. The brothers to the North were devastated.
Second thing to do when you are devastated: Number 2: Rehearse God's mighty
deeds. Go back to verse 1 let's say that together: "Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you
who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh." Remember God's mighty deeds. Speak them
aloud. Here in the Temple in around 700BC, God's people are reciting what God did a
thousand years before. Joseph is the son of Israel, also called Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons,
who each became the father of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, who were named for
these sons. Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph, who both became large
tribes, so Joseph did not have a tribe named for him. Those two tribes, plus Benjamin, are
here a reference to the Northern kingdom, even though Benjamin is usually thought of as
being in the south. Verse 1 is a reference to God seated on this throne not in heaven, but
here on earth. This throne was on the ark of the covenant, which led these three tribes
into battle towards the promised land. (from Numbers) The cherubim were depictions of
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angels which were carved on top of the ark of the covenant, facing each other. Asaph's
descendant is reminding God's people of the great saving acts of God from the past. In
the past, God went before the tribes of Israel, and verse 8, drove out the nations, that is
the gentiles, before them. God then planted Israel as a vineyard in the land promised to
Abraham, verse 11, which stretched from the sea to the Euphrates. Israel is often
pictured as a vineyard in Scripture, and here the vineyard has been ravaged. In Isaiah, the
vineyard brought forth sour grapes. The people cry out, this should not be! You planted
this vineyard, O God!
Remember: our God is a God who brought us out of bondage in Egypt, and he
conquers! If God is able to do all these things, surely he is able to meet your needs.
Whatever your disaster, you need to be reminded that God is able to save you from it. He
won't change the past, but he can heal your hurt and change your future. He can restore
to you the years that the Locust has eaten. It often feels like God is taking much too long
a time to save you. This is where we need faith: God's timing is perfect, even when it
feels late. God has a purpose in our suffering. No one likes the time of suffering. But
when we look back, we can often see God's hand at work in us when we suffer, teaching
us things that we could have learned no other way. When we are in pain, we learn to rely
on God much more than if we had smooth sailing all along.
Third thing to do when we face disaster: Number 3. Ask for deliverance and
salvation. Over and over again, the psalmist asks God to deliver them. Verse 14: "O
God, tend this vine you have planted." Notice that complete deliverance never came. The
nation was never restored to its size and glory under Solomon. We know from history
that judgment will be delayed until 686BC, about 40 years for Judah, the Southern
Kingdom, because of good king Hezekiah. But judgment will come even for them,
because the people did not live up to the vow that they made in verse 17 they say "We
will not turn away from you." Vows are good, but they must be kept, says the Lord. Even
when we do not see complete salvation in our lifetimes, still we trust in the promise of
God. Sometimes, we are like Moses, and our foot never falls on the promised land - we
only catch a glimpse of it.
Jesus picks up the vineyard image in the parable of the unjust tenants. The
landlord has been away, and the tenants are not paying their rent. They kill the
messengers who try to collect the debt. Eventually, the manager sends his son, and they
kill him, too, seeking to inherit what is not theirs. This parable refers to himself as the son
of God, who owns the vineyard, and the Pharisees as the unjust tenants. Because the
Pharisees do not recognize the authority of the Son of David, whom Psalm 80 verse 16
called on for salvation, God will take away his Kingdom from the Pharisees, and give it
to a people who will produce its fruit. In John 15, Jesus revises the vineyard imagery, and
tells us that he himself is the Vine, rather than the nation Israel. Jesus is the true vine.
We drink the fruit of the vine in the Eucharist, which is his blood shed for us. While they
killed Jesus, the stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
Finally, number 4, we look to Jesus. He is our deliverance. Psalm 80, verse 18
reminds us, when we see the light of his countenance, we shall be saved. When God
opens our eyes so that we can see his face, that is our salvation. Deal with your denial,
your anger, your grief, by bringing them to God and to God's people. When you do that,
you will not be stuck in any of those places, and you will see God's deliverance in time.
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The things of this world will pass away, but Jesus will be with us forever. In your loss, in
your grief, in your anger, look to Jesus.
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