Psalms 79:1-6

1 O God, 1the nations have come into your 2inheritance; they have defiled your 3holy temple; they have 4laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given 5the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your 6faithful to 7the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was 8no one to bury them.
4 We have become 9a taunt to our neighbors, 10mocked and derided by those around us.
5 11How long, O LORD? Will you be angry 12forever? Will your 13jealousy 14burn like fire?
6 15Pour out your anger on the nations that 16do not know you, and on the kingdoms that 17do not call upon your name!

Psalms 79:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 79

\\<>\\. This psalm was not written by one Asaph, who is supposed to live after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, or, according to some, even after the times of Antiochus, of whom there is no account, nor any certainty that there ever was such a man in those times; but by Asaph, the seer and prophet, that lived in the time of David, who, under a prophetic spirit, foresaw and foretold things that should come to pass, spoken of in this psalm: nor is it any objection that what is here said is delivered as an history of facts, since many prophecies are delivered in this way, especially those of the prophet Isaiah. The Targum is, ``a song by the hands of Asaph, concerning the destruction of the house of the sanctuary (or temple), which he said by a spirit of prophecy.'' The title of the Syriac versions, ``said by Asaph concerning the destruction of Jerusalem.'' The argument of the psalm is of the same kind with the Seventy Fourth. Some refer it to the times of Antiochus Epiphanes; so Theodoret; but though the temple was then defiled, Jerusalem was not utterly destroyed; and others to the destruction of the city and temple by Nebuchadnezzar; and why may it not refer to both, and even to the after destruction of both by Titus Vespasian? and may include the affliction and troubles of the Christians under Rome Pagan and Papal, and especially the latter; for Jerusalem and the temple may be understood in a mystical and spiritual sense; at least the troubles of the Jews, in the times referred to, were typical of what should befall the people of God under the New Testament, and in antichristian times.

Cross References 17

  • 1. Lamentations 1:10
  • 2. Exodus 15:17; See Psalms 74:2
  • 3. [Psalms 74:7]
  • 4. Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 3:12; [2 Kings 25:9, 10]; 2 Chronicles 36:19
  • 5. Deuteronomy 28:26; Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 16:4; Jeremiah 19:7; Jeremiah 34:20
  • 6. See Psalms 50:5
  • 7. Psalms 74:19
  • 8. Jeremiah 14:16; [2 Kings 9:10]
  • 9. Daniel 9:16; See Psalms 44:13
  • 10. Daniel 9:16; See Psalms 44:13
  • 11. [Psalms 74:10; Psalms 80:4]
  • 12. [Psalms 74:1; Psalms 85:5]; See Psalms 13:1
  • 13. Psalms 78:58
  • 14. Psalms 78:21; Psalms 89:46
  • 15. Cited Jeremiah 10:25; [Zephaniah 3:8]
  • 16. 2 Thessalonians 1:8
  • 17. See Psalms 14:4
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.