Psalms 79

A Psalm by Asaph.

God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.

They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth.

They have shed their blood like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them.

We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.

How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?

Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you, on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name,

for they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland.

Don’t hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need.

Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake.

Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants’ blood is being poured out.

Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you. According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death.

Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord.

So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview.
This psalm is a communal lament arising from the devastation of Jerusalem and the defilement of the temple, likely following the Babylonian conquest. The people cry out to God over the desecration of His holy place, the horrific treatment of the dead, and the taunts of surrounding nations. While pleading for divine justice against their enemies, they also confess their collective need for mercy and forgiveness, grounding their hope not in their own righteousness but in God’s steadfast love and glory.

Flow.

The psalm opens with a harrowing description of national ruin: the sanctuary is defiled, Jerusalem destroyed, and the bodies of God’s people left unburied (verses 1–3).
The community’s shame is compounded by the mockery of their neighbors, leading to a cry for God’s intervention (verse 4).
They plead with God to turn His anger toward the pagan nations responsible for the destruction, asking that His vengeance make His power known (verses 5–7, 10–12).
Amidst this call for justice, the people confess their desperation and need for mercy, appealing to God’s compassion and the honor of His name for salvation (verses 8–9, 11).

Connections.
Following chapter 78, which recounts Israel’s historical unfaithfulness and God’s repeated deliverance, chapter 79 presents the painful consequence of that rebellion—the fall of Jerusalem—yet persists in turning to God in trust. Where chapter 78 emphasized covenant failure, chapter 79 expresses the raw grief and petition that follow judgment. This lament prepares for chapter 80, which continues the plea for restoration using the image of God as a shepherd and His people as His vine, maintaining the focus on divine faithfulness in the face of national ruin.

What it teaches.
The psalm affirms that God’s judgment and mercy are inseparable aspects of His covenant rule. It recognizes that suffering may come through national sin (WCF 5.6), yet it also appeals to God’s mercy rather than deserved punishment (WCF 18.3). The cry for vengeance is not personal but theological—desiring that God’s holiness be vindicated before the nations (cf. HC LD 10). The people’s identity as “your people and sheep of your pasture” (v. 13) reflects the covenantal relationship preserved even in judgment (WCF 7.3), and their final resolve to give thanks forever points forward to the enduring praise of the redeemed (Canons of Dort, V.15).

Apply.
When ruin reveals human failure, the church calls on God to act for the sake of His name, trusting His mercy to answer where blame is deserved.

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