Daily Devotions
Psalms
Psalm 79:2a "The dead bodies of Your servants..."
Day 168 – Psalm 79
“The dead bodies of Your servants…” Psalm 79:2a
SORROW UPON SORROW
Asaph grieved and lamented deeply over the devastation that had taken place in Jerusalem. The temple was destroyed. The beautiful holy city lay in ruins. Sorrow upon sorrow was felt.
“The dead bodies of Your servants
They have given as food for the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.”
Psalm 79:2
1. Death
Death is always difficult to accept. But death in the hands of the wicked was even more difficult to comprehend, let alone accept!
a) “The dead bodies of Your servants”
i) The focus is on “Your servants”.
ii) The term “Servant” was used affectionately by God to describe Israel (Isaiah 44:1).
iii) Because of the war and carnage, many of God’s servants lay dead.
b) “The flesh of Your saints”
i) The word “saint” is not a New Testament word.
ii) It was used in the Old Testament as well (Psalm 116:15).
iii) Death of God’s saints was a painful experience (for Asaph).
2. Ignoble Death
That death would come to all is inevitable! Asaph did not grieve over the subject of human mortality. His grief was over the way God’s servants were horribly dishonoured in death.
a) “They have given as food for the birds of the heavens”
i) This is a reference to carrion birds (vultures, crows etc).
ii) The wicked did not allow the dead to be buried with any dignity.
iii) The dead were left as food for the birds of the heavens!
b) “To the beasts of the earth”
To die and be left unburied, and then left as food for animals such as jackals, would be adding insult to injury! The wicked nations that invaded Jerusalem mercilessly and heartlessly allowed the dead to rot in the open in Jerusalem! They could not care less if the vanquished dead were eaten by animals.