Psalm 79 A Psalm of Asaph.

 ¹O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance;

Your holy temple they have defiled;

They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.

²The 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.

³Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem,

And there was no one to bury them.

⁴We have become a reproach to our neighbors,

A scorn and derision to those who are around us.

⁵How long, Lord? Will You be angry forever?

Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

⁶Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You,

And on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name.

⁷For they have devoured Jacob,

And laid waste his dwelling place.

⁸Oh, do not remember former iniquities against us!

Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us,

For we have been brought very low.

⁹Help 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!

¹⁰Why 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.

¹¹Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You;

According to the greatness of Your power

Preserve those who are appointed to die;

¹²And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom

Their reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.

¹³So we, Your people and sheep of Your pasture,

Will give You thanks forever;

We will show forth Your praise to all generations.

Preamble: Asaph distraught and in great despair in having witnesses Jerusalem’s fall and the temples destruction now must write down his prayer for God’s people. A prayer which asks God to remember them, even though they themselves had brought these terrible times upon themselves. For in the depths of one’s defeat and despair one can either turn to God or turn against him, and Asaph wisely turns to Him, because He is still their Shepherd, He is still the One who has led them and guided them through all their trials and adversities, and He will lead and guide them and willingly restore them when they return to Him. Which is something for us all to remember, because we too may very well have to face the consequences of our own sins as well.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance;

Your holy temple they have defiled;

They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.”

The nations led by Babylon have now invaded God’s inheritance, they have in their self-willed strength devoured Jacob and laid to waste to the very city that God has chosen for Himself, even destroying His holy temple; because Israel over a course of many years shunned God's counsels for them, and would not heed His warnings to them through His prophets, therefore their land and their temple is now laid waste before them. Asaph (a righteous man chosen to bear His witness) has now then witnessed the wrath of God through the nations that God has sent against them.

Vs. 2-3 ²The 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.

³Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem,

And there was no one to bury them.

Asaph now decries to God seeing the dead bodies of His servants, His people’s lifeless corpses scattered and broken in the streets; thus not buried with dignity and honor; but only being feasted upon by the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. So much of their blood had been shed in Jerusalem that Asaph can only described it as running like water all around him, running down the streets and alleyways. And being one of the few survivors remaining in the city, Asaph can only decry that there is not even anyone to bury the dead. No where else in Scripture is such a scene so eye witnessed except in the Book of Lamentations which was a contemporary recording of this most horrific event.

Vs. 4 “We have become a reproach to our neighbors,

A scorn and derision to those who are around us.”

The once revered and feared nation under King David has now only become a reproach to their neighbors, thus all the nations that they committed harlotry with who observe them now only hold them in complete contempt and open scorn. Remember this when you try to be like the “world” and embrace their ways, for they too will hold you in complete contempt and scorn when they see your fall as well.

Vs. 5-7 ⁵How long, Lord? Will You be angry forever?

Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

⁶Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You,

And on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name.

⁷For they have devoured Jacob,

And laid waste his dwelling place.

With their complete destruction and open humiliations, a broken Asaph now asks God if He will be angry with them forever, will His jealousy burn like fire? Yes, they aroused His jealousy and wrath against themselves when they forsook their God and embraced the Gentile nations idolatry, but surely there is an end? Therefore, having dwelt with them according to their sins Asaph now asks that God turn His wrath on the nations that do not know Him; on those kingdoms which do not call upon His Name, for they have devoured Jacob, they have laid waste his dwelling place; and in doing so they themselves have now done great offenses against our God.

Vs. 8-10 ⁸Oh, do not remember former iniquities against us!

Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us,

For we have been brought very low.

⁹Help 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!

¹⁰Why 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.

Having pleaded for justice and deliverance from their adversaries, Asaph as the nations intercessor now looks upward to the Lord to pardon them, even though their downfall was of their own making, it came through their own choices, for they broke the covenant that God had made with them. Therefore it is from the place of the broken sinner, of being a sorrowful and defeated nation that their appeal is now made to our God. For they cannot undo what they have done, nor can they make any atonement for their sins, only God can. Therefore, they ask that He not remember their former iniquities, all their sins against Him, which they in their ease and prosperity took their liberties to do and which they are now reaping the consequences of; that He not hold these things against them. For they now need His mercies, for they now see their need for Him, and so they now appeal to Him to let His tender mercies come to them, for they have been brought very low by some very cruel nations and people who do not care about their well being or welfare. For our God is merciful, He longs to extend His mercy to His people, to everyone and every nation that turns from their unrighteous ways and turns or returns to Him, this is His Testimony in the Holy Scripture (Micah 7:18-20). For our God is the God of salvation, He saves both individuals and nations that call upon Him in truth. And with Israel He has linked His Name with them, which is why they were so broken for bringing such shame and reproach to His Glorious Name. Therefore, they ask that He provide atonement for their sins, that He look upon them favorably once again for His Names sake. Now as to the first His Everlasting Atonement has now been made for Israel and us all through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ through His death on the Cross and His Resurrection from the dead (Rom. 10:9-10, 13). What is lacking today though in their and many people’s lives is their turning to Him and receiving it freely from Him by faith. For that is a decision that everyone must make for themselves, whether individuals or nations. Now as to His saving them for His Names sake, this is their history time and again down through history, for He has saved and preserved them for His Name’s sake, waiting for the Day when their collective repentance comes, but that’s future (see Zech. 12:10-14). Their here and now is their appealing to Him so that the nations which have devoured them may themselves be humbled for their brazen deeds and boasts against Him. For they in their unbelieving pride have scorned our God, saying "where is He", and they have much shed blood, the blood of His servants in His sight. Therefore, they ask that God make His avenging of their blood come upon them, that He make Himself through His judgment known to all those unbelieving peoples and nations which have devoured them.

Vs. 11-13 ¹¹Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You;

According to the greatness of Your power

Preserve those who are appointed to die;

¹²And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom

Their reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.

¹³So we, Your people and sheep of Your pasture,

Will give You thanks forever;

We will show forth Your praise to all generations.

The appeal continues, but now for the living, for their prisoners who have been taken captive, who now are enduring the terrible pains of captivity, along with those who have been appointed to die, that God also preserve those whose lives are now only being preserved for their executions, which were to be like sport to their captors. Therefore, Asaph knowing these things now asks that God return to their neighbors seven times (that is His perfect Judgment) into their bosom, that He repay them their reproach with which they have reproached Him so that God's people all the sheep of His pasture can once again giving thanks to Him forever. So that they can show forth His praise to all generations to come, amen.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.