Psalms 79:1-10

1 God, nations have come against your chosen people. They have ruined your holy Temple. They have turned Jerusalem into ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants as food to the wild birds. They have given the bodies of those who worship you to the wild animals.
3 They have spilled blood like water all around Jerusalem. No one was left to bury the dead.
4 We are a joke to the other nations; they laugh and make fun of us.
5 Lord, how long will this last? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like a fire?
6 Be angry with the nations that do not know you and with the kingdoms that do not honor you.
7 They have gobbled up the people of Jacob and destroyed their land.
8 Don't punish us for our past sins. Show your mercy to us soon, because we are helpless!
9 God our Savior, help us so people will praise you. Save us and forgive our sins so people will honor you.
10 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Tell the other nations in our presence that you punish those who kill your servants.

Psalms 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.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.