psalms of asaph – Page 2 – Rev. Tim Ehrhardt

The Hand of God by Korean artist Yongsung Kim

Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock.
O God, enthroned above the cherubim,
    display your radiant glory
    to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Show us your mighty power.
    Come to rescue us!

Turn us again to yourself, O God.
    Make your face shine down upon us.
    Only then will we be saved.
O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,
    how long will you be angry with our prayers?
You have fed us with sorrow
    and made us drink tears by the bucketful.
You have made us the scorn of neighboring nations.
    Our enemies treat us as a joke.

Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven’s Armies.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved….

Strengthen the man you love,
the son of your choice.
Then we will never abandon you again.
Revive us so we can call on your name once more.

Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved. (NLT)

Let us continually keep in mind that the psalms are quite Jewish. Yes, I often refer to the psalms as the Church’s Prayer Book and unabashedly see them through Christian eyes. Yet, the psalter, at its core, are prayers and songs of the Jewish experience.

The deep longings and yearnings of the Jewish people within a constant stream of hardship, difficulty, and persecution give voice to all humanity. In other words, the bearing of the Jewish soul as the people of God is the crying out on behalf of us all.

The Jews know a thing or two about lament. Today’s psalm is a lament, a prayer, longing for God to come and restore Israel, to no longer look upon them with anger. The people knew in their exposed vulnerability that they needed God. It is the Lord who would come to save and bring a revitalized nation.

Amid awful circumstances and emotional pain, it can be hard to focus with concentrated prayer. The Jews also help us here because they crafted and arranged the psalms in such a way as to enable and foster recall and memory. So, where many of us Gentiles can be rather more like pagans babbling on in our distress, the Jewish psalms offer us the ability of short, succinct, and staccato prayers. Early Christians called them “breath prayers.”

Throughout the day we can utter “Stir up your power, O God; come to save us.” The intention of saying it repeatedly in a day is not to get God’s attention because we already have it. No, the purpose is to connect us with Divine resources for deliverance. The purpose is to be in constant touch and continual communion with the One who can ultimately restore, renew, revitalize, and reform the world with justice and righteousness. It is to be longing for the flourishing of the earth and its inhabitants again, and to enjoy walking with God in the garden of fellowship, peace, and goodwill. It is to be restored.

Restoration is a beautiful thing. I rarely watch makeover shows on television, but if I am channel surfing and catch an old house which seems best suited for the wrecking ball getting restored to its original charm and beauty, I am hooked. We as people seem to resonate deeply with things being repaired and rejuvenated to looking brand new again.

Again, the Jewish people go before us, through the psalms, with the vision to see the old become new. Whereas some may get lost in the drab discouragement of a gray and dreary environment, forgetting the original shine of how things once were, Asaph, the consummate Jewish song leader, guided the people in remembering how God’s people enjoyed the covenant and the promises of God. But over time the relationship was not maintained and cared for; the people gradually slid into disrepair. Centuries of neglect brought a situation where it seemed the only recourse was to do away with the people and begin again.

I certainly do not want to make God angry. I would much rather learn my lesson from the Jewish experience throughout the millennia and enjoy Divine favor. I would also like this old fallen world to be restored to her original beauty. So, we must come to God – not once – but again and again, over, and over. Like the hammer of perseverance, pounding nail after nail, so we must offer our prayers morning, noon, and night, day after day, crying out to God with the great cry of the Jewish people: “Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!”

Merciful God of all nations bring restoration to our lives, our families, our faith communities, our workplaces, our human institutions, our neighborhoods, and our shared world. Send your Holy Spirit so that we might enjoy seasons of blessing again. Restore, renew, revive, and rejuvenate our disordered love. May your face shine upon us once again through the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

O my people, listen to my instructions.
    Open your ears to what I am saying,
    for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
    stories we have heard and known,
    stories our ancestors handed down to us.
We will not hide these truths from our children;
    we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
    about his power and his mighty wonders.
For he issued his laws to Jacob;
    he gave his instructions to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
    to teach them to their children,
so the next generation might know them—
    even the children not yet born—
    and they in turn will teach their own children.
So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
    not forgetting his glorious miracles
    and obeying his commands. (NLT)

Every generation needs to recall and renew their ancestral faith – not in a wooden or bland acceptance but through vigorous retrospection of God’s past actions applied to present life. This happens primarily through the telling and retelling of stories. Both verbal and written history play a significant role in shaping current and future generations for ongoing faith.

Discussing God and Scripture need not be forced nor awkward. Most people like talking about things important to them. I have no problem talking about the latest books I am reading, my kids and grandkids, and bacon, simply because they are such a big part of my life. Conversations about these and other subjects arise organically out of the time and attention I have given them over so many years.

One of the best ways to live into faith and pass the baton is to regularly spend time with God through consistent Bible reading, heartfelt worship, earnest prayer, ongoing fellowship, participation in service, and other opportunities to learn about God. Talking about Jesus is to be an organic thing from a heart-wellspring that loves God and ponders divine commands.

The passing along of faith needs some intentional purpose and planning. When it comes to family, we can be willing and ready to ask good questions, instead of merely barfing out information. Typically, when my girls were growing up, most of our conversations around the table would center around one question I asked. We discussed it, talked about it, and mulled it over together. Sometimes, the question was deeply theological, and other times it was an intensely practical question. My wife and I often had others share a meal with us, and I would usually ask them to tell their “God story” or to participate with us in the question. If they were not followers of Jesus, I would ask them what they thought about him, and why, as well as tell us about their own religion.

Passing on the faith to the next generations is a sacred trust God has given to us. Embrace it within the home by talking about God and God’s Holy Word as a regular part of your everyday life, and freely converse in public, as well. The following are a few ways of impressing faith to younger generations:

Train them to lead. Adults do not have to do everything. Everyone from toddlers to teenagers can be empowered to serve, if we will take up the challenge to mentor them. When my girls still lived at home, I took at least one of them everywhere I went; it made no difference what it was, whether to the grocery store, on a hospital visit, or even a church meeting. Serving is now second nature to them, part of the air they breathe.
Show empathy to young persons and young families. Any old fool can criticize younger generations about their lack of involvement and how they are always on social media. The wise person will recognize they need our help, not our judgment. To have empathy for them means we recognize they are just trying to do the best they can in this crazy world we live in – a world very different than the one many of us grew up in. It is a hard world, one that is extremely competitive, requiring an offbeat energy and drive than previous generations. Being a student today is not like being a student when I was a kid. And being a young parent is not the same today as it once was. Today’s family structure is completely changed; what we think of as a traditional family only makes up 7% of the American population. The needed response is not to criticize but to empathize and find ways to help.
More dialogue, less monologue. Discussion, conversation, questions, and mutual sharing are the ways Jesus developed his followers, and it is a way that we can likely reach younger generations. Dialogue will go much further than just telling others what they should believe and do. I admit I had to learn this one the hard way. Being a preacher does not always translate well at home.
Adopt a young person, or a young family. If you consider yourself within an older generation, seriously think about taking a younger person or even family under your wing who is not related to you.
Look for ways to support children, teens, and young families. Prioritizing younger generations will mean they do not have to do everything our way. Instead, we will commit to listening for what they tell us they need to love God and build into their own kids’ lives.
Be a great neighbor. Again, any common curmudgeon can crank on about how messed up the world is. However, the wise person will focus on teaching, empowering, and developing young people into good neighbors who engage their local community and the world by addressing issues with great love and lots of compassion.

Lord God Almighty, I believe. I wish for the next generations to believe in you, too. So, let my faith be full and unreserved; let it penetrate all my thoughts and ways. Let my faith be joyful, worthy of being emulated by others. Give peace and gladness to my spirit so that it may shine forth in all my conversations, whether sacred or secular. Let my faith be humble and fully surrendered to the work of your Holy Spirit, for the sake of Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.