Is God’s glory all wrapped up in our salvation, or is our salvation all wrapped up in God’s glory? Asaph helps us find the answer in Psalm 79. He begins with a declaration of the desperate state of the Church.

¹ O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance;
Your holy temple they have defiled;
They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
² The dead bodies of Your servants
They have given as food for the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
³ Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem,
And there was no one to bury them.
⁴ We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
A scorn and derision to those who are around us.

Asaph continues with a cry out to the LORD God. But his concern is not so much for his rescue but more so, that God’s glory may shine forth!

⁵ How long, Lord?
Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

⁹ Help us, O God of our salvation,
For the glory of Your name;
And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins,
For Your name’s sake!
¹⁰ Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let there be known among the nations in our sight
The avenging of the blood of Your servants which has been shed.

Asaph knows not that God’s glory is all wrapped up in our salvation, but that our salvation all wrapped up in God’s glory. Let us pray.

Dear Lord and heavenly Father,

You are great and greatly to be praised. Before Christ died for our sins, He firstly sought your glory! Before I die, may I be found seeking Your glory as Jesus did. For in Your glory, my salvation is readily found. May the Holy Spirit always be with me, bringing the deliverance I seek, for Your glory’s sake and only in the name of Jesus Christ. In His name, I pray. Amen.