Psalm 74:1-8 “A contemplation by Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance: Mount Zion, in which you have lived. Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary. Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs. They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees. Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers. They have burnt your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name. They said in their heart, ‘We will crush them completely.’ They have burnt up all the places in the land where God was worshipped.“

Israel has been overrun and the temple is in ruins. Even though the punishment is deserved, the people cry out for mercy and ask for judgment to fall on their persecutors.

Although you may have experienced God’s discipline in the past, or may even be experiencing it now, remember that it’s for a purpose, and God’s love and mercy are always present and available!

Hebrews 12:5-6 “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

For additional worship: O Breath of Life (Emu Music)