1 A Psalm of Asaph. O God, nations have come into Thy inheritance, They have defiled Thy holy temple, They made Jerusalem become heaps,
2 They gave the dead bodies of Thy servants Food for the fowls of the heavens, The flesh of Thy saints For the wild beast of the earth.
3 They have shed their blood As water round about Jerusalem, And there is none burying.
4 We have been a reproach to our neighbours, A scorn and a derision to our surrounders.
5 Till when, O Jehovah? art Thou angry for ever? Thy jealousy doth burn as fire.
6 Pour Thy fury on the nations who have not known Thee, And on kingdoms that have not called in Thy name.
7 For `one' hath devoured Jacob, And his habitation they have made desolate.
8 Remember not for us the iniquities of forefathers, Haste, let Thy mercies go before us, For we have been very weak.
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.