We Who Are About To Die

Psalm 79:9-13

9Help us, O God of our salvation!

Help us for the honor of your name.

Oh, save us and forgive our sins

for the sake of your name.

10Why should pagan nations be allowed to scoff,

asking, “Where is their God?”

Show us your vengeance against the nations,

for they have spilled the blood of your servants.

11Listen to the moaning of the prisoners.

Demonstrate your great power by saving those condemned to die.

12O Lord, take sevenfold vengeance on our neighbors

for the scorn they have hurled at you.

13Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,

will thank you forever and ever,

praising your greatness from generation to generation.

As you might guess, Psalm 79 has been a favorite of persecuted Christians. History tells us that various groups of condemned prisoners have sung it on their way to prison or the gallows. In the sixteenth century the Protestant Huguenots sang it in their French version to annoy their Catholic jailers. In the seventeenth century Puritans sang it in their struggles with the Anglican establishment. In the eighteenth century, as the guillotine claimed the lives of many believers in France, these words were heard again.

That begs a question. All of these people asked God, “Demonstrate your great power by saving those condemned to die.” Yet most of them died. No last-minute stays of execution. The guillotine fell anyway.

So, did God save those condemned to die? This depends on what you mean by “save.” God always has a bigger perspective than we do. We often look for physical protection and safety from our earthly foes. Sometimes God provides that, but he always offers longer-term support. He saves us spiritually and protects us eternally. In a much, much larger sense, we are all “condemned to die,” but he rescues those who turn to him.

One final comment on this psalm addresses the topic of vengeance. The psalmist’s vengeful attitude may trouble you, but notice that he takes his problem to God. We, too, can take our anger to God and know that he will deal with those who have wronged us.

He fills the poor with good,

He gives the sufferers rest;

The Lord hath judgments for the proud

And justice for the oppressed.

ISAAC WATTS

Notable Quotable

“We have an irresistible argument when we plead for God’s glory” (John 14:13).

F. B. MEYER