God’s people had sworn allegiance to Him but had refused to submit to His authority. They were doing the same as their enemies did towards God. So, their enemies came. “The heathen are come into Thine inheritance.” Jerusalem was the place where the Lord had chosen to place His name. It was the city where the temple was built for Him to meet His people and dwell there with them. But the temple had been desecrated, torn down, and the city of Jerusalem ruined. There were so few survivors that they couldn’t even bury their dead.
Foreshadowing the future is quite common in the Psalms, and like Psalm 74, this one looks ahead to the tribulation when Israel will barely survive. There will be terrible persecution and death for the Jews at the hands of bitter nations. Carnage will be everywhere, and survivors will flee, taking nothing with them. The Jews have been mocked by people in the past and present. Ridicule and scorn, hatred, and murder by Gentile nations have followed Jews worldwide. In the tribulation, they will be mocked by their enemies, who will mock God and then be destroyed “by the brightness of His coming.”
Those of us who have put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will likely be criticized and mocked because we do not conform to the world's standards. Christians are, and will be, the butt of jokes and despised by many and openly opposed by others simply because our first allegiance is to the Lord, not to the nation, the church, or the family. We may become angry against those who go against all that is right and moral, but our trust in the Lord must remain firm.
The appeal to God in this psalm was because the enemy had defiled what was holy. But Israel had done the same with their attraction to false gods, idolatry, and compromise. A cry for forgiveness cannot erase just judgment. We cannot avoid being accountable for our sins. God has provided atonement for our sins, for which we are deeply grateful. However, that does not diminish the consequences of deliberate sin. The cry for mercy, “How long, Lord? Will You be angry forever?” results from a nation being brought to a total standstill to face its guilt. This principle applies equally to God’s people as individuals.
Even though Israel has sinned against God, other nations that have persecuted the Jews will suffer severe judgment for their hostility against God’s chosen earthly people. The coming kingdom is their only hope for national survival that will last. However, it has been a marvel for centuries how they have been able to maintain an identity all over the world. For the last seventy years, Israel has been a recognized nation among the nations of the earth and has an influence on the world that far exceeds that of nations with a much greater population.
Many prayers will be calling out in the tribulation, as in this psalm, “Help… deliver us… purge away our sins, for Thy name’s sake.” They will remind the Lord of themselves as “Your inheritance.” Israel was chosen by God even as a despised and unnoticed tribe simply because He chose to set His love upon them. They will recognize themselves as “Your servants,” who were intended to share with Him the blessings He intended to bestow upon the earth. “Your name” was holy to the Jews, even though they ignored and disobeyed Him. “Your name’s sake” indicates they recognized His authority even though they did not bow to His sovereign will.
On the day of the kingdom's blessing, they will receive praise, as is written here: “We will show forth Your praise to all generations.” This vow to praise God will come from “Your people,” who are Your sheep and are finding their blessing in “Your pasture.” We can give our grateful thanks by faith as we anticipate God’s promises to save His people, Israel. How incumbent it is on us who have been saved by His grace in this day of grace to realize that we are His people who are part of His “bride” and will share His glory in the future when every eye shall see Him and every knee will bow to Him, and “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”