«A Psalm of Asaph.»
“O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them. We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire? Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place. O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed. Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die; And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord. So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations,” Psalm 79:1-13.
Once again Israel and Jerusalem are in the news and those who love God’s ancient nation, with dread see a terrible day approaching. That Israel can take care of itself as did David when faced by Goliath, has been demonstrated on many occasions, yet an alliance of enemies is being forged at this present time and it speaks of a day of cruel persecution for Israel in the near future.
Iran, Iraq and Syria are currently active against Israel through their ‘surrogate’ terrorist organisations, Hezbollah, the terrorist arm of Iran, being presently the most active. They occupy large areas in Lebanon, Israel’s northern neighbour and are thus well situated to bombard Israel by artillery and rockets. It has a sizeable body of armed guerrillas under its command. It was announced to the world on Saturday, September 28th, that Israel had killed its infamous leader, by an air strike on his headquarters in Beirut. The BBC headline ran as follows: Hezbollah confirms death of leader Hassan Nasrallah after Israeli strikes on Beirut. Nasrallah, who had not been seen in public for years because of fears of being assassinated by Israel, was considered by many as one of the most influential figures in the Middle East.
Terrorism tends to elevate those guilty of it as it did Gerry Adams, a former barman, whose links with the murderous IRA promoted him to the status of that of a ‘statesman’, at least in the eyes of some ‘eejits’, such as former USA President, Bill Clinton, an openly acknowledged moral deviant!
The Psalm 79 describes scenes that some believe are of Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah, following its overthrow and devastation by the Babylonians. Others see it as a report of a later overthrowing of the city by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. (more…)
