What do we sing in the ruins?
When our sin has hurt others, what do we sing in the ruins of the relationship?
When we see the numbers attending church plummeting into the abyss and the word of God neglected and rejected, what can we sing in the ruins?
When we are surrounded by the debris of death, what might we sing in the ruins?
As the people surveyed the rubble of Jerusalem after the Babylonian conquest, what did they sing in the ruins of the temple?
As the disciples gathered together after the disaster of Golgotha, what could they sing in the ruins of their hope?
What do we sing to God in the ruins? “Remember!”
A maskil of Asaph.
1 O God, why have you rejected us for ever?
Why does your anger smoulder against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember the nation you purchased long ago,
the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed –
Mount Zion, where you dwelt.
3 Turn your steps towards these everlasting ruins,
all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.4 Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;
they set up their standards as signs.
5 They behaved like men wielding axes
to cut through a thicket of trees.
6 They smashed all the carved panelling
with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
they defiled the dwelling-place of your Name.
8 They said in their hearts, ‘We will crush them completely!’
They burned every place where God was worshipped in the land.9 We are given no signs from God;
no prophets are left,
and none of us knows how long this will be.
10 How long will the enemy mock you, God?
Will the foe revile your name for ever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!12 But God is my King from long ago;
he brings salvation on the earth.13 It was you who split open the sea by your power;
you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
15 It was you who opened up springs and streams;
you dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and moon.
17 It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.18 Remember how the enemy has mocked you, LORD,
how foolish people have reviled your name.
19 Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;
do not forget the lives of your afflicted people for ever.
20 Have regard for your covenant,
because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
21 Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;
may the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
remember how fools mock you all day long.
23 Do not ignore the clamour of your adversaries,
the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.
In 587BC the Babylonians troops marched over the toppled gates of Jerusalem. Ruthless, cunning, and fearsome, they were unstoppable. The once proud and tall walls were torn down. Homes were burned to the ground. And the Temple was violated, ransacked and demolished. It all lay in ruins.
It is this mayhem and destruction that the Psalmist captures in vv4-8. In vivid imagery, he chronicles how the enemies of God invaded and desecrated the temple. The soldiers cut and hacked away at the spiritual nerve centre of Judah. They wrecked and smashed and clattered. They roared in victory and schemed greater calamity. All left behind them was in ruins.
The Psalm does not open with this description though. It begins with a prayer. And this prayer brings us to the core truth. Jerusalem has not fallen primarily because of the might of Babylon. Fundamentally it is because it is under the curse and condemnation of God. Judah has repeatedly rejected God’s ways and word, and refusing to repent, has come under his wrath. The Babylonian army is an instrument in God’s sovereign justice. And in vv2-3, the Psalmist asks God to be faithful to his promises and purposes. He pleads for God to remember them in the ruins.
While God uses the Babylonians in his providential rule, they are still enemies. The Psalmist prays that the mockers, scorners, and defilers of God’s dwelling place would still be struck down for their insolence and violence (vv9-11). The Psalmist then casts his mind back. Back to God’s great acts of salvation. He is the true King, who rules and reigns over all the cosmos, with all authority and power. He is the one who splits the seas, overcomes the great monsters, draws water out of rocks, formed the sun and maintains the seasons (vv13-17). And it is this that gives us confidence in the ruins.
The prayer for God to remember is sounded again in vv18-23. Key to grasping it are the words of v20, “Have regard for your covenant.” The covenant made with Abraham is central to the relationship between the people and God. He promised that all those who bless Abraham and his offspring will be blessed, but those who dishonour Abraham and his offspring will be cursed. God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt because he remembered his covenant promises (Exodus 2.23-25). These invaders have desecrated the holy place of God and dishonoured his people and so the Psalmist prays for God to be faithful to his covenant promises. Our hope is always shaped by the promises of God. Our prayer then is for justice and restoration of the people in ruins.
On the Sunday after Christ’s body was desecrated and defiled on the cross, the disciples questioned what the future held. But they had forgotten Christ’s words. He had spoken of how if the temple had been razed to the ground, it would be raised up restored three days later. People laughed at him (John 2.12-23). But what the disciples realised when he stood in front of them after his death is that he is the true temple. God the Father remembered his Son. He raised him from the dead and ruins.
Kintsugi is a Japanese art form. Broken pieces of pottery are carefully put back together using melted gold and silver. What is precious is used to restore what was in ruins. God restores us through the precious blood of Jesus. He mends the division between Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 2.11-22). He reconciles enemies. He heals and unites. He does not leave us in the ruins.
Glory be to God the Father, who is our King from long ago.
Glory be to God the Son, who is the resurrected temple.
Glory be to God the Spirit, who restores our broken souls.
Ever three and ever One.
Home Group: Healthy Gospel Church Week 1
What do you think are some of the indicators of spiritual health in a church congregation?
Read Acts 2.42-27
What things characterised the early church?
Of the things that characterised the early church shortly after Pentecost, what quality attracts you most?
What impact did the early church have on people (both Christians and non-Christians)?