Psalm 79 Commentary
Have Mercy…
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KEY THOUGHT: Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us, [Psalm 79:8b NKJV]
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Psalm 79 NKJV
A Dirge and a Prayer for Israel, Destroyed by Enemies
A Psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, the [a]nations have come into Your inheritance;
Your holy temple they have defiled;
They have laid Jerusalem [b]in heaps.
2 The 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.
3 Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem,
And there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
A scorn and derision to those who are around us.
5 How long, Lord?
Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out Your wrath on the [c]nations that do not know You,
And on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob,
And laid waste his dwelling place.
8 Oh, do not remember [d]former iniquities against us!
Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us,
For we have been brought very low.
9 Help 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!
10 Why should the [e]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.
11 Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You;
According to the greatness of Your [f]power
Preserve those who are appointed to die;
12 And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom
Their reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.
13 So we, Your people and sheep of Your pasture,
Will give You thanks forever;
We will show forth Your praise to all generations.
Footnotes
a. Psalm 79:1 Gentiles
b. Psalm 79:1 in ruins
c. Psalm 79:6 Gentiles
d. Psalm 79:8 Or against us the iniquities of those who were before us
e. Psalm 79:10 Gentiles
f. Psalm 79:11 Lit. arm
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Psalm 79 Commentary
The psalm reflects on the events of 587 BC when Jerusalem was flattened by Babylon. God hates sin. The fate of the Canaanites had finally become the fate of Israel. The reason is simple: Israel was indistinguishable from the Canaanites, whom the LORD destroyed because of idolatry.
The psalmist petitions the throne of grace for mercy.
This psalm is important because it gives us the heart of the saint in times of wholesale judgment. Firstly, the saint is affected when the LORD swings the axe on the sinful community. He reacts by reaching out to the LORD in prayer. This is important. Don’t let your tears fall to the ground. Lay prostrate in the presence of God.
“Do not hold against us the sins of past generations,” He prays. Communities or individuals can benefit from the righteousness of past generations. They can equally suffer as a consequence of past ungodliness. What a man does is important both in the present and in the future.
We know from the Books of Kings and Chronicles that Jerusalem survived for such a long period because the LORD kept on remembering David. Won’t the righteousness of the man Jesus Christ count more in favor of those who have taken sides with him?
The scripture brings us these thoughts as we reflect on humanity’s fate in the face of the final judgment. And we know the LORD answered the psalmist’s prayer at Calvary. Here, the sins of past generations, including our own, are forgiven. They no longer count against us. Mercy has come quickly to meet us. And we are no longer in desperate need. The redeemed of the LORD can say so.
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