Psalms 79:1-11

1 O God, the nations have invaded the land that belongs to you. They have dishonored your holy temple. They have left Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the dead bodies of your servants to the birds for food. They have given the flesh of your godly ones to the animals.
3 They have shed the blood of your people around Jerusalem as though it were water. There is no one to bury your people.
4 We have become a disgrace to our neighbors, an object of ridicule and contempt to those around us.
5 How long, O LORD? Will you remain angry forever? Will your fury continue to burn like fire?
6 Pour your fury on the nations that do not know you, on the kingdoms that have not called you.
7 They have devoured Jacob. They have destroyed his home.
8 Do not hold the crimes of our ancestors against us. Reach out to us soon with your compassion, because we are helpless.
9 Help us, O God, our savior, for the glory of your name. Rescue us, and forgive our sins for the honor of your name.
10 Why should the nations [be allowed to] say, "Where is their God?" Let us watch as the nations learn that there is punishment for shedding the blood of your servants.
11 Let the groans of prisoners come into your presence. With your powerful arm rescue those who are condemned to death.

Psalms 79:1-11 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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