When You Should know better

Josh Huisman
May 7
3 min read

Psalm 79:6(ESV)

⁶Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name!

I am so fascinated by the 13 verses of prayer in Psalm 79. Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonian Empire. A 10 year battle from 597 BC - 587 BC ended in the destruction of the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the final chapter on the land of Israel in the Old Testament. Many of the Jews were carried into exile and forced to live in a foreign land. The prayer of Psalm 79 was their cry out to God and a request to avenge them.

What makes this so fascinating is how the people of God had selective amnesia as to how they got into this predicament in the first place.

Their downfall did not happen because the Babylonian Empire was more powerful than God. It was brought about because God warned His people time and again to turn away from the evil ways of other nations and return to worshipping God (Yahweh) , the One True God.

But generation after generation they refused to obey.

The end result was the people of God were no different than the pagan nations who worshipped false gods, practiced evil ways, and rejected Yahweh. There was, however, a major difference between the Jews and the pagan nations.

The Jews knew better!

It is one thing to NOT know the One True God and to live in darkness, but it is another thing altogether to KNOW the One True God and still choose the darkness over Him. God warned the people that rejecting Him would result in painful consequences. How did He do it? He simply gave the people what they wanted...the ways of the world.

When you choose the ways of the world instead of the Lord He simply says, "Okay."

Jesus faced the same rejection when He entered the world. He talks about the end result in John 3:19-20.

John 3:19-20(ESV)

¹⁹And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

Why would anyone choose darkness over the light? Why would anyone try to get clean by taking a bath in mud? When you are supposed to know better you should choose the better option.

Psalm 79 gives us guidance on how we should respond when we have repeatedly chosen the wrong way. We must return to God. We need to repent of our fallen ways and take responsibility at the foot of the Cross. That is way to step out of the darkness and back into the light. Jesus won't push you out, He'll graciously receive you back in. 1 John 1:9 (ESV)

⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There it is, and now you know better.

Let the final verse of Psalm 79 be yours as you start fresh in the light of Christ. You may still need to live in the consequences of your decisions, like the Jews in exile, but you can move forward in the knowledge that Christ is by your side and you can give Him praise for not leaving you.