Psalm 79:1-10

1 Ein Psalm Asaphs. Gott, es sind Heiden in dein Erbe gefallen; die haben deinen heiligen Tempel verunreinigt und aus Jerusalem Steinhaufen gemacht.
2 Sie haben die Leichname deiner Knechte den Vögeln zu fressen gegeben und das Fleisch deiner Heiligen den Tieren im Lande. {~}
3 Sie haben Blut vergossen um Jerusalem her wie Wasser; und war niemand, der begrub.
4 Wir sind unsern Nachbarn eine Schmach geworden, ein Spott und Hohn denen, die um uns sind.
5 HERR, wie lange willst du so gar zürnen und deinen Eifer wie Feuer brennen lassen?
6 Schütte deinen Grimm auf die Heiden, die dich nicht kennen, und auf die Königreiche, die deinen Namen nicht anrufen.
7 Denn sie haben Jakob aufgefressen und seine Häuser verwüstet.
8 Gedenke nicht unsrer vorigen Missetaten; erbarme dich unser bald, denn wir sind sehr dünn geworden.
9 Hilf du uns, Gott, unser Helfer, um deines Namens Ehre willen; errette uns und vergib uns unsre Sünden um deines Namens willen!
10 Warum lässest du die Heiden sagen: "Wo ist nun ihr Gott?" Laß unter den Heiden vor unsern Augen kund werden die Rache des Blutes deiner Knechte, das vergossen ist.

Psalm 79:1-10 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.

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