6 Pour out thy fury upon the nations that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that call not upon thy name:
And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the seven bowls of the fury of God upon the earth. And the first went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and there came an evil and grievous sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast, and those who worshipped its image. And the second poured out his bowl on the sea; and it became blood, as of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea. And the third poured out his bowl on the rivers, and [on] the fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Thou art righteous, who art and wast, the holy one, that thou hast judged so; for they have poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; they are worthy. And I heard the altar saying, Yea, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous [are] thy judgments. And the fourth poured out his bowl on the sun; and it was given to it to burn men with fire. And the men were burnt with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues, and did not repent to give him glory. And the fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast; and its kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues with distress, and blasphemed the God of the heaven for their distresses and their sores, and did not repent of their works. And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as frogs; for they are [the] spirits of demons, doing signs; which go out to the kings of the whole habitable world to gather them together to the war of [that] great day of God the Almighty. (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watches and keeps his garments, that he may not walk naked, and that they [may not] see his shame.) And he gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armagedon. And the seventh poured out his bowl on the air; and there came out a great voice from the temple of the heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, such an earthquake, so great. And the great city was [divided] into three parts; and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled, and mountains were not found; and a great hail, as of a talent weight, comes down out of the heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, for the plague of it is exceeding great.
For there is no difference of Jew and Greek; for the same Lord of all [is] rich towards all that call upon him. For every one whosoever, who shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved. How then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without one who preaches?
The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah. Make ready buckler and shield, and draw near to battle! Harness the horses, and mount ye horsemen, and stand forth with helmets; polish the spears, put on the coats of mail! Why do I see them dismayed, turned away back? And their mighty ones are beaten down, and take to flight, and look not back? Terror [is] on every side, saith Jehovah. Let not the swift flee away, neither let the mighty man escape! -- Toward the north, hard by the river Euphrates, they have stumbled and fallen. Who is this [that] riseth up as the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? It is Egypt that riseth up as the Nile, and [his] waters toss themselves like the rivers; and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. Go up, ye horses, and drive furiously, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Phut that handle the shield, and the Ludim that handle the bow [and] bend it. For this is the day of the Lord Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may be avenged of his adversaries; and the sword shall devour, and it shall be sated and made drunk with their blood; for the Lord Jehovah of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country, by the river Euphrates. Go up to Gilead, and fetch balm, O virgin-daughter of Egypt! In vain shalt thou multiply remedies: there is no healing for thee. The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the earth; for the mighty man stumbleth against the mighty, they are both fallen together. The word that Jehovah spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, concerning the coming of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to smite the land of Egypt: Declare in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph, and in Tahpanhes; say, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword devoureth round about thee. Why are thy valiants swept away? They stood not, for Jehovah did thrust them down. He made many to stumble, yea, one fell upon another; and they said, Arise, and let us return to our own people and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword. There did they cry, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath let the time appointed go by. [As] I live, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts, surely as Tabor among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. Thou, inhabitress, daughter of Egypt, furnish for thyself a captive's baggage, for Noph shall be a desolation and shall be ruined, so that none shall dwell therein. Egypt is a very fair heifer; the gad-fly cometh, it cometh from the north. Also her hired men in the midst of her are like fatted bullocks; for they also have turned back, they have fled away together, they did not stand; for the day of their calamity is come upon them, the time of their visitation. Her voice shall go like a serpent's; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood. They shall cut down her forest, saith Jehovah, though it be impenetrable; for they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable. The daughter of Egypt is put to shame; she is delivered into the hand of the people of the north. Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saith, Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and her gods, and her kings; yea, Pharaoh and them that confide in him. And I will give them into the hand of those that seek their life, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; but afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith Jehovah. But thou, my servant Jacob, fear not, neither be dismayed, Israel: for behold, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make [him] afraid. Fear thou not, my servant Jacob, saith Jehovah: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee with judgment, and I will not hold thee altogether guiltless.
For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have called thee by thy name; I surnamed thee, though thou didst not know me; I [am] Jehovah, and there is none else; there is no God beside me: I girded thee, and thou hast not known me;
The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish! for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, none entering in. From the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle! The merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished thee. And on great waters, the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the market of the nations. Be thou ashamed, Sidon, for the sea hath spoken, the strength of the sea, saying, I have not travailed nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men [nor] brought up virgins. -- When the report came into Egypt, they were sorely pained at the news of Tyre. Pass over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the coast! Is this your joyous [city], whose antiquity is of ancient days? Her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. Who hath purposed this against Tyre, the distributor of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose dealers were the honourable of the earth? Jehovah of hosts hath purposed it, to profane the pride of all glory, to bring to nought all the honourable of the earth. Overflow thy land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish: there is no more restraint. He hath stretched out his hand over the sea, he shaketh the kingdoms. Jehovah hath given a commandment concerning Canaan, to destroy the strongholds thereof, and hath said, Thou shalt no more exult, [thou] oppressed virgin, daughter of Sidon: get thee up, pass over to Chittim; even there shalt thou have no rest. Behold the land of the Chaldeans: this people did not exist; the Assyrian founded it for the dwellers in the desert: they set up their towers, they destroyed the palaces thereof; he brought it to ruin. Howl, ships of Tarshish! for your fortress is laid waste. And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it shall be for Tyre as the harlot's song. Take a harp, go about the city, thou forgotten harlot! Make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. And it shall come to pass at the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre; and she will return to her hire, and will commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the earth upon the face of the ground. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holy to Jehovah: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah, to eat and be sufficed, and for excellent clothing.
The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through, so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. A grievous vision is declared unto me: the treacherous dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, Elam! besiege, Media! All the sighing thereof have I made to cease. Therefore are my loins filled with pain; anguish hath taken hold upon me, as the anguish of a woman in travail: I am bowed down so as not to hear, I am dismayed so as not to see. My heart panteth, horror affrighteth me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into trembling unto me. Prepare the table, appoint the watch; eat, drink: arise, ye princes, anoint the shield. For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. And he saw chariots, horsemen by pairs, a chariot with asses, a chariot with camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed. And he cried [as] a lion, Lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights. -- And behold, there cometh a chariot of men; horsemen by pairs. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. O my threshing, and the corn of my floor! What I have heard of Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you. The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire; return, come. The burden against Arabia. In the forest of Arabia shall ye lodge, [ye] caravans of Dedanites. Bring ye water to meet the thirsty! The inhabitants of the land of Tema come forth with their bread for him that fleeth. For they flee from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Within a year, according to the years of a hired servant, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail; and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, shall be diminished: for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken.
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. Lift up a banner upon a bare mountain, raise the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my hallowed ones, I have also called my mighty men for mine anger, them that rejoice in my highness. The noise of a multitude on the mountains, as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations assembled together: Jehovah of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of the heavens -- Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation -- to destroy the whole land. Howl, for the day of Jehovah is at hand; it cometh as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt, and they shall be terrified: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them, they shall writhe as a woman that travaileth; they shall be amazed one at another, their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the earth desolate; and he will destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will make the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will bring low the haughtiness of the violent. I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even man than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens to shake, and the earth shall be removed out of her place, at the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall be as with a chased roe, and as with a flock that no man gathereth together; every one shall turn to his own people, and every one flee into his own land. All that are found shall be thrust through; and every one that is in league [with them] shall fall by the sword. And their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes, their houses shall be rifled, and their women ravished. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who do not regard silver, and as for gold, they have no delight in it. And [their] bows shall dash the young men to pieces, and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb: their eye shall not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in, even to generation and generation; nor shall Arabian pitch tent there, nor shepherds make fold there. But beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of owls; and ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there. And jackals shall cry to one another in their palaces, and wild dogs in the pleasant castles. And her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 79
Commentary on Psalms 79 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 79
This psalm, if penned with any particular event in view, is with most probability made to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and the woeful havoc made of the Jewish nation by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar. It is set to the same tune, as I may say, with the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and that weeping prophet borrows two verses out of it (v. 6, 7) and makes use of them in his prayer, Jer. 10:25. Some think it was penned long before by the spirit of prophecy, prepared for the use of the church in that cloudy and dark day. Others think that it was penned then by the spirit of prayer, either by a prophet named Asaph or by some other prophet for the sons of Asaph. Whatever the particular occasion was, we have here,
In times of the church's peace and prosperity this psalm may, in the singing of it, give us occasion to bless God that we are not thus trampled on and insulted. But it is especially seasonable in a day of treading down and perplexity, for the exciting of our desires towards God and the encouragement of our faith in him as the church's patron.
A psalm of Asaph.
Psa 79:1-5
We have here a sad complaint exhibited in the court of heaven. The world is full of complaints, and so is the church too, for it suffers, not only with it, but from it, as a lily among thorns. God is complained to; whither should children go with their grievances, but to their father, to such a father as is able and willing to help? The heathen are complained of, who, being themselves aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, were sworn enemies to it. Though they knew not God, nor owned him, yet, God having them in chain, the church very fitly appeals to him against them; for he is King of nations, to overrule them, to judge among the heathen, and King of saints, to favour and protect them.
Psa 79:6-13
The petitions here put up to God are very suitable to the present distresses of the church, and they have pleas to enforce them, interwoven with them, taken mostly from God's honour.