Psalm 79 is another psalm of Asaph and in it he mourns the defeat of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem. He calls out to the LORD over and over again asking Him to punish those who have done this, and to restore His people. As always, at the end of the psalm, Asaph gives glory and praise to the LORD.
Psalm 80 is reminiscent of Psalm 79, except here Asaph calls out more for the LORD to remember His people, and His own glory, rather than crying against their enemies. At the close Asaph tells the LORD if He will restore them they will praise Him. This is not a conditional allegiance on Asaph’s part, as if the only way the people of Judah will praise God is if He does what they ask. The point is Asaph knows the only one who can restore them is the LORD, and the people will definitely glorify Him if He does restore them.
Psalm 81 starts as a psalm of praise, but then includes some strong reminders to Israel of her need to return to following the LORD. Asaph’s words remind us that we can praise the LORD at all times, and yet we must do more than praise Him with our words. Our lives must be lived in line with our words. We must practice what we preach as the old saying goes. Our praises ring hollow when our lives are lived contrary to God’s will.
As we turn to Luke 17, Jesus warns His followers against causing “one of these little ones” to sin. The punishment for leading another follower of Jesus astray is so severe, Jesus tells us it would be better to have a millstone put around our neck and be cast into the sea. When we read “little ones,” we might think Jesus was speaking of children, and He was, but here He didn’t use a word that specifies children. He wanted us to know, we are all His little children, and we are so valuable to Him the penalty is steep for leading one of us astray.
Next, Jesus tells His followers they must forgive a brother who sins against them up to seven times a day, if he comes and repents. The response of the disciples is, “LORD, increase our faith.” Jesus uses the request as an opportunity to remind us it is the quantity of our faith that matters, but the object of our faith. If we have only the amount of faith of a grain of mustard seed, but it is in the LORD, He will move mountains for us.
Next, Jesus uses an analogy of a servant coming in from the field to show us our relationship to the LORD. He reminds the disciples that when the servant comes in from the field, the master doesn’t tell him to sit down and recline at table, but he tells the servant to serve him, then the servant gets to rest. In the same way when we have done everything the LORD asks, we are only servants who are fulfilling our Master’s command. This brief parable reminds us, while we are privileged to be Jesus’ friends and followers, we are also His servants. He has the right to require us to do what He commands, and when we do we don’t deserve His thanks, because we’re just doing what He deserves from us.
As Jesus and His followers travelled through Samaria on their way to Galilee. They met ten lepers. One was a Samaritan. They cried out for Jesus to heal them, and He did. He told them to go the priest and offer the sacrifice for their healing. As they were going one of them, the Samaritan, realized he was healed, and went back to thank Jesus. Jesus looked around and asked, “Weren’t ten healed. Where are the nine?” It’s a great question. Is ten percent the standard proportion of people who are grateful when God answers their prayers? Gratitude is such a key attitude in our lives. When we remember everything good comes from God, it reminds us to say, “Thank You!” We would think being healed of leprosy would be ample reason for anyone and everyone to be grateful. Also, it’s possible that all of the ten were grateful for their healing, but only one voiced the gratitude. If that’s the case, Jesus wasn’t impressed by the “unvoiced” thanksgiving.
Luke 17 closes with Jesus responding to the Pharisees’ question of when the Kingdom of God was coming? Jesus first said, the Kingdom of God doesn’t come visibly, but the Kingdom of God is within or among us. Then He told His followers His return would be unexpected. He compared it to the days of Noah. In those days no one expected the flood to come and end life as they knew it. They were marrying, and giving in marriage. Life was “normal.” Then it wasn’t. In the same way, Jesus will come when no one expects it. The key is to be ready!