HELP US FOR THE GLORY OF THY NAME

The God who had conquered Zion, and who had protected Jerusalem for so long, had now allowed it to be captured and the temple defiled. We saw yesterday He is prepared to restrain the wrath of man against His people when they are meek and lowly; nevertheless when they become complacent about sin and haughty about their supposed impregnability, He will not contain His own wrath and His longsuffering becomes exhausted.

The psalmist’s world lay in ruins around him, but his faith is still intact. He knew why disaster had struck, v. 5, but still believed that restoration was possible, and he eventually looks forward to a continuing healthy testimony, v. 13.

The basis for any appeal to God is seen in die realization and acknowledgement that everything involved was actually His: “thine inheritance; thy holy temple; thy servants; thy saints; thy people”, vv. 1, 2, 10, 13. This resulted in His name being involved, vv. 6, 9. The only recourse now was a display of God’s might, “thy wrath; thy power”, vv. 6, 11. This would result eventually in “thy praise”, v. 13.

The psalmist was concerned for God’s good name. True, it had been brought into disrepute by His own people and His anger was against them, v. 5, but the continual disparagement by the surrounding nations was directed not only against them, but also against their God. These nations have not called upon God’s name, v. 6, and they say, “Where is their God?”. The cry was therefore “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”, v. 9. The glory of God’s name was at stake. Its holiness had been compromised by His own people’s sin. This needed to be purged away; but the glory of His name required that He act against “the heathen”, v. 10. The end result will be the continual praise to God that He alone merits.

God still acts to preserve the glory of His name. In our own day, He will allow problems and even death to enter, so as to chasten His people if they fail to realize the sanctity of His name. This indeed happened at Corinth, 1 Cor. 11. 29-30. If holiness does not characterize His house, then He will take steps to restore the situation, 1 Pet. 4. 17. He can also move against unbelievers if they violate His house, 2 Tim. 4. 14.