Psalm 79
Psalm 79, A Prayer from Conquered Exiles
Psalm 79 is titled “A Psalm of Asaph.” The psalm was clearly written after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian armies, or from the standpoint of those who had lived through that devastation. The fall of Jerusalem was one of the most traumatic events in Jewish history. It is recorded several times in the Old Testament, showing how central it was to Israel’s national and spiritual memory. Since the Asaph most prominent in Scripture served during the days of David and Solomon, this psalm was likely written by a later Asaph, either a descendant of Asaph or someone connected with the Asaphite tradition of temple musicians. The sons of Asaph continued ministering long after the original Asaph. 2 Chronicles 35:15, “And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer, and the porters waited at every gate, they might not depart from their service, for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.”
The destruction of Jerusalem is described in 2 Kings 25, 2 Chronicles 36, Jeremiah 39, and Jeremiah 52. 2 Kings 25:8, “And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem.” 2 Kings 25:9, “And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he with fire.” 2 Kings 25:10, “And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about.” 2 Chronicles 36:17, “Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age, he gave them all into his hand.” 2 Chronicles 36:18, “And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.” 2 Chronicles 36:19, “And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.”
Psalm 79 is therefore a prayer from the ashes of national collapse. Jerusalem has been destroyed. The temple has been defiled. The dead lie unburied. The nations mock. The people confess sin. The psalmist asks how long God’s anger will burn, pleads for mercy, asks God to provide atonement, and calls upon the LORD to vindicate His name before the nations. This psalm is honest about Judah’s guilt, but it also appeals to God’s glory, God’s mercy, God’s covenant care, and God’s shepherding relationship to His people.
A. The Devastation of Jerusalem
Psalm 79:1 through Psalm 79:4, Jerusalem Destroyed, the Temple Defiled
Psalm 79:1, “O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance, thy holy temple have they defiled, they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.”
Psalm 79:2, “The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.”
Psalm 79:3, “Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them.”
Psalm 79:4, “We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.”
The psalm begins with horror, “O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance.” The nations have invaded what belongs to God. The Babylonians were the dominant power, but their empire included soldiers and peoples from many conquered nations. The psalmist does not describe the invasion merely as a political defeat. It is a sacrilegious intrusion into God’s inheritance. The land was not common land. It had been given by covenant promise to Israel and was bound to God’s redemptive purposes.
The phrase “thine inheritance” is important. The conquering armies may have thought they were merely taking Judah’s territory, but the psalmist knows that they have entered God’s inheritance. This was the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Genesis 17:7, “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” Genesis 17:8, “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
The psalmist continues, “thy holy temple have they defiled.” The temple was holy because God had chosen to place His name there. Its defilement was not merely vandalism. It was an assault on the visible center of Israel’s worship. The place of sacrifice, prayer, priestly ministry, and covenant worship was treated as common and polluted by pagan invaders.
Jerusalem was also laid “on heaps.” The city that had been the joy of Israel and the place of David’s throne was reduced to rubble. The destruction was complete enough that the city could be described as piles of ruins. This is the bitter reversal of Zion’s glory. The city of worship became a city of ashes.
Verse 2 describes the humiliation of the dead, “The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.” To lie unburied was one of the deepest disgraceful judgments in the ancient world. It meant that the dead were treated as disposable, unloved, and without honor. The bodies of God’s servants and saints were left for birds and beasts.
The words “thy servants” and “thy saints” matter. Judah had sinned and deserved judgment, yet the psalmist still speaks of them as belonging to God. They are punished, but not disowned. They are chastened, but still connected to the covenant God. This distinction is important. Divine discipline does not mean God has ceased to own His people.
Verse 3 says, “Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem.” Blood was poured out everywhere, as common as water. The phrase shows the scale and brutality of the slaughter. Human life, which is sacred because man is made in the image of God, was treated cheaply by the invaders.
The verse adds, “and there was none to bury them.” This shows the totality of the disaster. There were not enough survivors, strength, freedom, or order to perform even the basic duty of burial. War had reduced the people to helplessness.
Verse 4 says, “We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.” The surrounding nations mocked Judah. Those who had watched Israel claim the LORD as their God now saw Jerusalem ruined and took pleasure in her misery. Their mockery was wicked because to rejoice over the downfall of others is devilish. Yet it was also painful because Judah’s public shame gave the nations reason to blaspheme and scorn.
The psalmist lays the entire situation before God. The inheritance is invaded, the temple defiled, Jerusalem destroyed, the dead dishonored, blood poured out, burial denied, and the people mocked. This is a proper pattern of lament. The believer does not need to pretend ruin is less severe than it is. He may tell God the truth plainly.
Psalm 79:5 through Psalm 79:7, A Prayer to Turn Away the Anger of God
Psalm 79:5, “How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?”
Psalm 79:6, “Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.”
Psalm 79:7, “For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.”
The psalmist asks, “How long, LORD?” This is one of the great questions of suffering faith. It does not deny God. It does not say there is no God. It turns to God and asks when the suffering will end. The question is not merely why judgment came, because Judah’s sin had been made clear by the prophets. The question is how long God’s anger will continue.
He asks, “wilt thou be angry for ever?” The people know they have sinned. They know judgment is deserved. But will God’s anger have no end? Will the covenant people remain under wrath without restoration? The question is asked from within faith, because the psalmist knows that God’s covenant mercy must have the final word.
Jeremiah had warned of judgment, but he also spoke of restoration. Jeremiah 25:11, “And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.” Jeremiah 25:12, “And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.” Jeremiah 29:10, “For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.” Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
The psalmist asks, “shall thy jealousy burn like fire?” God’s jealousy is His holy covenant zeal. He is jealous for His name, His worship, and the exclusive devotion of His people. Judah’s idolatry had provoked that jealousy. Yet the psalmist pleads that God’s burning jealousy would not continue against His people forever.
Verse 6 turns the plea toward the nations, “Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.” Judah has sinned, but the nations also stand guilty. They do not know the LORD. They do not call upon His name. They have not acted as righteous servants of divine discipline. They have acted as cruel, idolatrous, blaspheming enemies.
This verse closely resembles Jeremiah 10:25. Jeremiah 10:25, “Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name, for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.” It is possible that Jeremiah influenced this psalm, or that the psalmist and Jeremiah drew from the same prophetic burden.
Verse 7 gives the reason, “For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.” The nations have consumed God’s covenant people and laid waste the land. “Jacob” refers to Israel as the covenant people descended from the patriarch. The dwelling place may refer to the land as a whole, or to Jerusalem and the temple in particular. Either way, the nations have devoured what belongs to God.
The prayer is not petty revenge. It is a plea for God to distinguish between His chastened people and the pagan nations that do not know Him. God may discipline His people, but the nations who arrogantly devour them will answer to Him.
B. The Plea for Rescue
Psalm 79:8 through Psalm 79:10, Rescue Us for Your Glory
Psalm 79:8, “O remember not against us former iniquities, let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us, for we are brought very low.”
Psalm 79:9, “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name, and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.”
Psalm 79:10, “Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.”
The plea now becomes confession and appeal for mercy. “O remember not against us former iniquities.” The psalmist does not deny sin. He does not pretend Judah is innocent. The people have been brought low, and now they ask God not to hold former iniquities against them in continuing wrath. Sin has consequences, and national sins can accumulate across generations. The psalmist knows that Judah’s suffering is not random. It is connected to covenant unfaithfulness.
He asks, “let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us.” The word “prevent” here means to come before, to meet, or to come quickly to help. He pleads for God’s tender mercies to come speedily because the people are desperate. “For we are brought very low.” Before they were brought low, Judah had often refused repentance. Now they are humbled by devastation. God often uses affliction to bring men to a place where pride breaks and repentance becomes possible.
Verse 9 says, “Help us, O God of our salvation.” This is a covenant title. God is the God who saves. Israel’s hope is not in military recovery, political skill, foreign alliances, or human strength. Their help must come from the God of salvation.
The psalmist gives the great reason, “for the glory of thy name.” Jerusalem’s glory is shattered. The temple’s visible glory is gone. The people’s reputation is ruined. But God’s name remains. The psalmist asks God to act for His own glory. This is one of the highest grounds of prayer. The believer may appeal to God’s mercy, covenant, promises, and compassion, but he should also appeal to God’s own name and glory.
He asks, “and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.” Rescue and atonement are joined together. The people need more than political deliverance from Babylon. They need forgiveness. They need sin purged. The normal temple sacrifices were impossible because the temple and altar had been destroyed. Therefore the psalmist looks to God Himself to provide atonement.
This points back to Abraham’s statement to Isaac. Genesis 22:7, “And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father, and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Genesis 22:8, “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering, so they went both of them together.” Genesis 22:13, “And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns, and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.” Genesis 22:14, “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh, as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.”
The final and perfect atonement is provided in Christ. Romans 3:24, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:25, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” Hebrews 9:12, “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
Verse 10 asks, “Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God?” This is not merely concern for Israel’s reputation. It is concern for God’s visible honor among the nations. When Judah was conquered, pagan nations mocked as though Israel’s God were absent, weak, or defeated. The psalmist asks God to silence this reproach.
He continues, “let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.” In the ancient world, the avenger of blood, the goel, acted on behalf of murdered family members. The psalmist asks God Himself to act as the avenger of the blood of His servants. This is not personal vindictiveness. It is a plea for public justice and for the vindication of God’s name.
The nations had shed the blood of God’s servants like water. The psalmist asks that God make Himself known by judging that bloodshed. God’s patience should never be mistaken for weakness. He sees the blood of His people.
Psalm 79:11 through Psalm 79:12, Have Mercy on the Condemned
Psalm 79:11, “Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee, according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die.”
Psalm 79:12, “And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.”
Verse 11 turns attention to the prisoners in exile. “Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee.” Many of Judah’s survivors were carried away to Babylon. They were far from home, stripped of freedom, and grieving the destruction of Jerusalem. The psalmist asks that their sighing, groaning, and misery would come before God.
This recalls Israel’s earlier bondage in Egypt, when God heard the groaning of His people. Exodus 2:23, “And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.” Exodus 2:24, “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” Exodus 6:5, “And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant.”
The exiles in Babylon were in a similar condition. They were prisoners longing for deliverance. The psalmist asks God to hear them as He heard Israel in Egypt.
He continues, “according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die.” The phrase “appointed to die” can mean sons of death, those under sentence of death or those who deserve death. Both senses apply. Judah deserved judgment because of sin, and many were also condemned by their oppressors. The psalmist asks God to preserve them according to His great power. Their need is great, but God’s power is greater.
Verse 12 asks, “And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach.” The neighboring nations mocked Judah’s fall and reproached God Himself. The psalmist asks that the reproach be returned sevenfold, meaning abundantly and fully. The phrase “into their bosom” pictures judgment being returned personally and directly to them.
The issue is stated clearly, “wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.” The nations have reproached God, not merely Judah. They mocked His name, His worship, His people, and His temple. Therefore the psalmist asks God to answer in justice. God is not mocked with impunity.
This request should be understood as covenantal justice, not sinful revenge. The psalmist is asking God, the righteous Judge, to deal rightly with those who have shed innocent blood and blasphemed His name.
Psalm 79:13, A Vow to Give Thanks
Psalm 79:13, “So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever, we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.”
The psalm ends with faith. The people are still devastated, but they identify themselves as God’s people and the sheep of His pasture. “So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture.” This is covenant language. God is the Shepherd, and they are His flock. Though disciplined, they still belong to Him. Though scattered, they still look to Him for care.
The image of God as Shepherd is rich throughout Scripture. Psalm 23:1, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Psalm 100:3, “Know ye that the LORD he is God, it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves, we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Christ fulfills this shepherd imagery perfectly. John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
The vow follows, “will give thee thanks for ever.” The psalmist anticipates rescue and restoration. The prayer is not ending in despair. It looks forward to a day when God’s people will again give thanks. Their thanksgiving will not be temporary. It will be forever.
The final line says, “we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.” This connects Psalm 79 back to the theme seen strongly in Psalm 78, the need to pass God’s works to the next generation. If God rescues them, they will not keep silent. They will declare His praise to future generations. The story of devastation will become a story of mercy. The memory of judgment will become a warning. The memory of deliverance will become praise.
Psalm 79 teaches believers how to pray from ruins. It does not deny guilt. It confesses sin. It does not pretend the devastation is small. It describes it plainly. It does not excuse the cruelty of the nations. It asks God to judge them. It does not appeal to human worthiness. It appeals to God’s mercy, God’s name, God’s glory, God’s atonement, and God’s shepherding care.
The deepest answer to Psalm 79 is found in Christ. God has provided atonement for sins through the blood of His Son. God has acted for the glory of His name. God has vindicated His righteousness. God has heard the groaning of prisoners and set captives free through the gospel. The church may suffer reproach now, but the Shepherd will preserve His people, judge His enemies, and bring His flock into everlasting praise.
