GOD’S DISCIPLINE IS NOT DAMNATION –

When Judah was being invaded by heathen forces, many of God’s people spent days and hours agonizing before God, trying to find something to give them hope that all King David and Solomon did to erect a place of worship would not be ruined by these infidels. The writer of this psalm wanted to make sure that future generations would not forget what can happen when believers begin to disregard God’s will and God’s ways. But at the same time he expressed how God’s steadfast love and patience can endure, even when His own people seem helpless or unwilling to act. When bad things came to good people the Psalmist did not want the people to automatically conclude that God was mad at them and wanted to see them suffer. Too often God’s people felt punished when in fact it was designed to motivate them to grow stronger through their struggle because of things they would face up ahead.

“O LORD Eternal, please don’t hold our past mistakes against us; we need Your compassion now because we’ve reached the end of our rope. Help us, O One True God our Savior, as You’ve been known to do; You paid the price to cover our failures because Your reputation was at stake. We don’t want unbelievers asking, ‘doesn’t their One True God care?’ Let them see that You won’t let Your children suffer needlessly without taking action. You’ve heard all the prayers of Your children who feel taken advantage of; let people see how great You are by delivering them from certain ruin. Make our enemies eat their words spoken against You, and heap upon them what they wished for Your people. Then those You love and care for will magnify You with testimonies of praise, forever and ever.” Psalm 79:8-13

Reflection: You can only imagine what the church staff thought when they saw their pastor wheel into the church parking lot in a pickup truck; back it across the lawn to his office door; begin to empty his study of files, books, plaques, diplomas, and other paraphernalia; carelessly tossing them into the back of the truck in a heap without asking for any help, then getting in and driving away in a hurry. Later they learned that he drove straight to the city dump where he threw everything onto the trash heap with little regret. Soon they found out that this was his way of putting behind him the overwhelming sense of failure he felt in the ministry. Things were not going the way he thought they should, and he was not appreciated enough for all his hard work. Too bad he didn’t read what the great inventor Charles Kettering suggested, that a person must learn to fail intelligently. Kettering wrote, “Once you’ve failed, analyze the problem and find out why, because each failure is one more step leading up to the cathedral of success; the only time you don’t want to fail is the last time you try.” Asaph’s descendants knew it was one thing to watch a person suffer while being disciplined; but it was another when people stand by and laugh, thereby making fun of a hurting and humiliated individual. Such action can do irreparable damage to that person’s relationship with you and destroy their faith in God. Instead, the Psalmist asks God to put His arms around them; let them know that He still loved them and wouldn’t walk out and leave them to stew in their grief. If anyone understands what’s going on in a believer’s heart and mind during discipline, it’s God. So instead of being upset with the Lord and pushing Him away, everyone is better served by trusting Him and letting Him hold them in His arms until they learn their lesson and are ready to move on to victory.