Return from Exile: Introduction (7)

Pray Psalm 53.5, 6.
There they are in great fear
Where no fear was,
For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you;
You have put them to shame,
Because God has despised them.
Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God brings back the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

Sing Psalm 53.5, 6.
(Leoni: The God of Abraham Praise)
The wicked flee in shame; their ways our God rejects.
Renew Your people in Your Name with great effects!
Let great rejoicing sound once we renewed have been,
And let salvation’s Word resound from us again!

Read Psalm 53.1-6; meditate on verse 6.

Preparation
1. What did David seek in this psalm?

2. What would be the result of that?

Meditation
Israel was not captive to any pagan nation in David’s day, so he must have been looking forward to such a time. Where God’s people cease to fear Him, so do all their enemies (v. 5). And where the fear of God is in decline, the wrath of God rises. The failure of both Israel and Judah to maintain fear of the Lord—as demonstrated by their many compromises with pagan ways and their neglect of God’s Law—was the occasion of their being taken captive.

But their true captivity was to self-interest, lust, greed, idolatry, convenience, and neglect of the Word of God. It is interesting to note that, in the genealogy of Jesus provided in Matthew 1.1-17, the people being “brought to Babylon” is mentioned (1.12), but no mention is made of their being released from captivity. The period we are about to begin studying is thus a continuation of the true captivity of God’s people, a captivity which only ends when Jesus leads them into the truth and sets them free (Jn.. 8.32; cf. Lk. 4.16-21, esp. v. 18).

When the captivity of God’s people is truly restored, when God “brings back the captivity of His people” (Ps. 53.6), then joy and rejoicing will characterize His people, and the salvation of God will come roaring out from their midst to turn the world rightside-up for Jesus. Neither of these outcomes was much in evidence during the period following the return from Babylon—at least, not consistently or for very long. It would not be until the book of Acts that we see the outcomes David envisioned in Psalm 53.

Neither of these outcomes is particularly evident in our day. Like the people returning from Babylon, we deceive ourselves if we think our true captivity is at an end. That will only be so when we are wholly, entirely, jubilantly, and obediently captive to Jesus in all our ways.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“Israel was not captive to any pagan nation in David’s day” but David himself was captive to his own sinful nature. Often, when something is troubling us about ourselves, we rehearse it in our minds. We might journal about a problem one year and then realize, ashamedly, that we are rewriting the very same thing another year. David did this. Psalm 53 is almost identical to Psalm 14. David’s poems written about his own personal struggles and sins were reflective of the problems that Israel would face corporately in the future.

Today’s Psalm for singing is 53, so let’s compare Psalm 14 sung to the tune of Our God, Our Help in Ages Past:

The fool within his heart proclaims, ‘There is no God at all!’
His deeds are wicked, filled with shame who on God will not call.

No good in such as these is found; corruption fills their breast.
God from His heav’nly throne looks down, their hearts and ways to test.

None understands, none seeks the Lord; they all have turned aside.
Deception leads them from God’s Word who have His grace denied.

The workers of iniquity consume God’s sheep like bread;
They trust not in the Lord, and He shall fill their hearts with dread.

For Jesus with the righteous stands, though they be put to shame.
He holds them safely in His hands who shelter in His Name.

Restore Your Church, let Zion sing; our captive hearts release,
That we may Your salvation bring, rejoicing and in peace.

And that is how David differs from those in captivity today, who on God will not call.
David knew he was in trouble, and his was a lifelong struggle against the failings of his own life. But struggle he did, so much so, that God said he was a man after His own heart (1 Sam. 13.14; Acts 13.22).
“O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!”
“There is no soundness in my flesh…because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness” (Ps. 38.1, 3-5). “Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD….my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me” (Ps. 40.11, 12). “I said, ‘LORD, be merciful to me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against You’” (Ps. 41.4).
“Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight…” (Ps. 51.4).

God hears us when we call upon Him (Ps. 116.1, 2). He forgives us when we repent (1 Jn. 1.9). For our own good, God longs for us to turn away from our sin, and walk the path that pleases Him, and is best for us (Ps. 1).

We must struggle against our captivity to sin, as David did. And we must fight to free our churches from their unrecognized captivity. As Francis Schaeffer wrote in True Spirituality: “As I travel about and speak in many countries, I am impressed with the number of times I am asked by Christians about the loss of reality in their Christian lives. Surely this is one of the greatest, and perhaps the greatest reason for a loss of reality: that while we say we believe one thing, we allow the spirit of the naturalism of the age to creep into our thinking, unrecognized.”

God help us to recognize it, lest we remain captives still.

For reflection
1. It’s easy to seek our happiness in circumstances and things. But what’s wrong with this?

2. What should we expect when God restores us from our captivity to the things of this world?

3. How can we “recognize” when we are being taken captive by anything other than Jesus?

God restores his people from captivity, not just from Babylon, not just from Egypt—instead this is simply and absolutely said about the captivity of his people, which is clearly their captivity to sin, according to the words of the angel: “He will prepare salvation for his people from their sins.” “Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad,” so that from this twin joy—internal and external—you should understand the magnitude of this salvation. Cardinal Cajetan (1469-1534), Commentary on Psalm 53.6

Pray Psalm 53.1-5.
Pray that God will stir the hearts of His people and of multitudes of lost people so that a great revival begins in the Church and overflows into a great awakening to faith all over the world. Pray that you will be faithful as a witness to Christ, rejoicing in Him and testifying boldly of His grace.

Sing Psalm 53.1-5.
(Leoni: The God of Abraham Praise)
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God at all!”
Corrupt are they in whole and part, unjust and small.
Not one of them does good; God sees their wicked ways.
None understands the Word of God or gives Him praise.

Have all these wicked men no knowledge of God’s grace?
The Church they hate with passion and seek not God’s face.
Lord, strike their hearts with fear, where fear was not before.
And scatter all who camp so near Your holy door.

T. M. and Susie Moore 

We are convinced that this new study, Return from Exile, will be one of the most important we have done. We encourage you to share this installment with friends. Use the icons at the top of this column to encourage your friends to join you in this study.

Two books can help us understand our own captivity and lead us to seek revival and renewal in the Lord. The Church Captive asks us to consider the ways the Church today has become captive to the world. And Revived! can help us find the way to renewal. Learn more and order your free copies by clicking here and here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available free by clicking here.