Ps. 79-80
I don’t know if it was Asaph or some of his sons who wrote these Psalms, but I feel like whoever wrote them paid attention to the words of God’s prophets. Their prayers are in accordance with the messages from God through those prophets. They even use the imagery of God as the Shepherd and Israel as His flock. They prayed that God would pour out His wrath on the nations that disregarded His name. And they asked for deliverance and forgiveness for the sake of God’s great name. All I can say is that when you pray what God has already declared He will do, it’s a sure bet that prayer will be answered!
Rev. 7
Interesting that the tribe of Dan is not included in the 144,000 sealed servants of God. The listing of the twelve tribes actually changes several times in the Old Testament. The tribe of Simeon is missing from Moses’ blessing in Deuteronomy 33. Joseph is also not usually listed. Ephraim and Manasseh take his place and the place of the Levites, who did not receive a land inheritance. Levi and Joseph are both listed here, though, with no Ephraim. I have no idea what any of it means, but I am sure it has some significance.
I see again in this chapter the image of God protecting His faithful. “The ones coming out of the great tribulation” (Rev. 7:14), who have been made clean by the blood of Christ, serve God before His throne. “And He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence” (Rev. 7:15b). They will have no more hunger, no more thirst, no scorching heat, and God Himself will wipe away their tears. In short, God will lovingly care for them in every way. As with yesterday’s passage, this image also seems to apply to a specific group of people but I don’t think it’s a stretch to believe that in some small way this, too, applies to all of God’s faithful.