Times of persecution.
Such times have been repeated over and over again. They must be recognized as parts of the Divine administration, and we must inquire how they are made to bear on the spiritual interests of God's Church in the world. They are not merely historical incidents. They are not merely isolated calamities. They are only seen and apprehended aright when they are seen to be Divine permissions, and even taken up and used for high moral ends by Divine power. They are one form in which God's Church is disciplined, and, through discipline, perfected. Illustrate from the Book of Revelation, which deals so largely with the persecution of Christ's Church, but shows us the Church being sanctified through its tribulation. Illustrative cases of persecution may be taken from
The historical associations of this psalm with the seventy-fourth, which is singularly like it, cannot be certainly assured. It is generally agreed that it must refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, or to the sack of the city by Antiochus Epiphanes. If the latter is referred to, we must recognize that some of the psalms belong to the Maccabean period. The details of these two sieges may be given, and the psalm treated as helping us to realize the misery and distress of God's people at such a time. The points which may be opened out profitably are these:
1. Judgments on the wicked bring disabilities on the righteous. The invasion of Nebuchadnezzar was a distinct Divine judgment on the Israelite nation. The Babylonians did but execute the Divine judgment, as Israel itself had, in previous ages, executed the Divine judgments on the Canaanites. Sometimes God was pleased to spare the few faithful ones, as in the case of Noah; the prophets preserved by Obadiah; and the Christians at the Roman siege of Jerusalem. But usually the judgments affected the pious and the wicked; and the attitude of the pious under the judgment became an appeal and an example. It should, however, be noticed that judgments on the wicked are only chastisements to the righteous.
2. The trouble of the righteous is the insult offered to God, rather than the damage done to themselves. Here the defiling of God's temple is the chief complaint. This better suits an association with Antiochus Epiphanes. In all times of public calamity, the good man is chiefly concerned about God's honour, as Joshua was when he cried, "What wilt thou do unto thy great Name?" Such concern for God's honour is one of the surest signs of right heartedness.—R.T.