Psalms 79 Study Notes: A Lament Over Ruined Jerusalem
Asaph grieves that foreign nations have defiled the temple, ruined Jerusalem, and left the dead unburied. He asks how long the anger of God will last, pleads for forgiveness on the basis of the divine name, calls for justice on the mocking nations, and ends with a vow of lasting praise.
General
True or False: In 79:8-9 the people base their plea for forgiveness on their own renewed faithfulness to God.
Answer: False
This is false. In 79:8 the people ask God not to count the sins of the past against them and to hurry His compassion to them, because they are brought very low. In 79:9 they ask the God of their salvation to help, rescue, and make atonement for their sins, that is, to deal with and remove their guilt, and they ground this in His name and glory, not in anything they have done. Daniel prays for Jerusalem the same way, appealing to God's compassion rather than to Israel's righteousness (Daniel 9:18-19). God says He blots out His people's sins for His own sake (Isaiah 43:25), and John tells believers their sins are forgiven through the name of Christ (1 John 2:12).
- Psalm 79:8-9 (BSB)“Do not hold past sins against us; let Your compassion come quickly, for we are brought low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; deliver us and atone for our sins, for the sake of Your name.”The people ask God not to hold past sins against them, and to help, deliver, and atone for their sins for the glory and sake of His name.
- Daniel 9:18-19 (BSB)“Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.””Daniel likewise pleads for Jerusalem on the basis of God's compassion, not Israel's righteous acts.
- Isaiah 43:25 (BSB)“I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.”God declares that He blots out His people's transgressions for His own sake.
- 1 John 2:12 (BSB)“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven through His name.”John tells believers that their sins have been forgiven through Christ's name.
Theological
True or False: The appeal for forgiveness in 79:8-9 is grounded in Israel's own renewed covenant faithfulness.
Answer: False
This is false. The petition rests entirely on God: His compassion (79:8) and His name and glory (79:9). The people ask Him to atone for their sins, removing their guilt, and deliver them for His name's sake, pleading their low condition rather than any merit. This is the pattern of Daniel 9:18-19, which disclaims Israel's righteous acts, and of Isaiah 43:25, where God blots out transgressions for His own sake. Forgiveness grounded in God's name finds its fulfillment in the gospel, where sins are forgiven through Christ's name (1 John 2:12).
- Psalm 79:8-9 (BSB)“Do not hold past sins against us; let Your compassion come quickly, for we are brought low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; deliver us and atone for our sins, for the sake of Your name.”The people ask God not to hold past sins against them, and to help, deliver, and atone for their sins for the glory and sake of His name.
- Daniel 9:18-19 (BSB)“Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.””Daniel likewise pleads for Jerusalem on the basis of God's compassion, not Israel's righteous acts.
- Isaiah 43:25 (BSB)“I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.”God declares that He blots out His people's transgressions for His own sake.
- 1 John 2:12 (BSB)“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven through His name.”John tells believers that their sins have been forgiven through Christ's name.
General
How does the psalmist understand the disaster in 79:4-5?
Answer: As God's anger and jealousy, and he asks how long it will last
In 79:4 Israel has become a target of contempt and mockery for the surrounding peoples. In 79:5 the psalmist turns directly to God and asks how long it will go on: will the LORD's anger never end, will His jealousy go on blazing? He does not treat the disaster as chance or as a victory of other gods. He sees God's hand in it, God's jealousy being His rightful demand for His people's exclusive loyalty. Moses described the LORD in the same terms, as a consuming fire and a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24), and another psalm asks the same question of how long His wrath will burn (Psalm 89:46).
- Psalm 79:4-5 (BSB)“We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us. How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?”Israel has become a laughingstock to its neighbors, and the psalmist asks how long God's anger and jealousy will burn.
- Psalm 89:46 (BSB)“How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?”Another psalm asks the same question of how long God's wrath will keep burning.
- Deuteronomy 4:24 (BSB)“For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”Moses describes the LORD as a consuming fire and a jealous God, the language the psalm uses.
Theological
What theological reading of the catastrophe does 79:5 express?
Answer: As God's anger and jealousy, and he asks how long it will last
Having described Israel's disgrace among its neighbors (79:4), the psalmist asks how long the LORD will be angry, whether forever, and whether His jealousy will burn like fire (79:5). The catastrophe is read as God's covenant wrath, not as a triumph of foreign deities. Divine jealousy is God's holy zeal for exclusive covenant devotion (Deuteronomy 4:24). The how-long form, shared with Psalm 89:46, is a cry of faith that assumes God's anger is real but not the final word.
- Psalm 79:4-5 (BSB)“We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us. How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?”Israel has become a laughingstock to its neighbors, and the psalmist asks how long God's anger and jealousy will burn.
- Psalm 89:46 (BSB)“How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?”Another psalm asks the same question of how long God's wrath will keep burning.
- Deuteronomy 4:24 (BSB)“For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”Moses describes the LORD as a consuming fire and a jealous God, the language the psalm uses.
General
What disaster does Asaph describe in 79:1-3?
Answer: Nations invading, defiling the temple, and leaving Jerusalem in ruins
Psalm 79 is a lament, a prayer that pours out grief to God. In 79:1 Asaph tells God that the nations have entered His inheritance, polluted His holy temple, and turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins. Verses 2-3 add that the bodies of God's servants were left for birds and wild animals, and so much blood was spilled around the city that no one was left to give the slain a burial. The psalm does not name the invader; it simply grieves the destruction. Lamentations mourns the same kind of scene, with nations entering the sanctuary (Lamentations 1:10), and presents it as the Lord abandoning His sanctuary and handing the city's walls to the enemy (Lamentations 2:7). The unburied dead echo the covenant warnings of Deuteronomy 28:26, which said this would happen if Israel abandoned the LORD.
- Psalm 79:1-3 (BSB)“A Psalm of Asaph. The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble. They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth. They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.”Asaph describes foreign nations invading God's inheritance, defiling the temple, ruining Jerusalem, and leaving the slain unburied.
- Lamentations 1:10 (BSB)“The adversary has seized all her treasures. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary—those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly.”Lamentations likewise mourns the nations entering the sanctuary, people God had forbidden to enter His assembly.
- Deuteronomy 28:26 (BSB)“Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.”The covenant curses warned that Israel's dead would become food for birds and beasts if the nation turned from God.
- Lamentations 2:7 (BSB)“The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.”Lamentations presents the ruin as the Lord Himself abandoning His sanctuary and giving the city's walls into the enemy's hand.
Theological
What catastrophe is lamented in 79:1-3?
Answer: Nations invading, defiling the temple, and leaving Jerusalem in ruins
The lament opens with sacrilege and slaughter: the nations have entered God's inheritance, profaned His temple, and left Jerusalem a heap of ruins (79:1), leaving the corpses of His servants to birds and beasts and their blood poured out with none to bury them (79:2-3). The invader is not named; the psalm's concern is the desecration itself. Lamentations 1:10 and 2:7 describe the same kind of disaster and attribute it ultimately to the Lord's own hand, and the unburied dead echo the covenant warning of Deuteronomy 28:26.
- Psalm 79:1-3 (BSB)“A Psalm of Asaph. The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble. They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth. They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.”Asaph describes foreign nations invading God's inheritance, defiling the temple, ruining Jerusalem, and leaving the slain unburied.
- Lamentations 1:10 (BSB)“The adversary has seized all her treasures. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary—those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly.”Lamentations likewise mourns the nations entering the sanctuary, people God had forbidden to enter His assembly.
- Deuteronomy 28:26 (BSB)“Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.”The covenant curses warned that Israel's dead would become food for birds and beasts if the nation turned from God.
- Lamentations 2:7 (BSB)“The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.”Lamentations presents the sanctuary's ruin as the Lord Himself giving it into the enemy's hand.
General
How does Psalm 79 end in verse 13?
Answer: With a vow that God's flock will thank Him and pass on His praise
After lament and petition, the psalm closes in hope. In 79:13 the people call themselves God's own flock, the sheep He pastures, and promise to thank Him forever and to recount His praise from one generation to the next. Even amid ruin, they still belong to Him, and they expect a future in which His praise continues. Other psalms confess the same relationship, with God's people as the flock He pastures and cares for (Psalm 100:3; Psalm 95:7).
- Psalm 79:13 (BSB)“Then we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will thank You forever; from generation to generation we will declare Your praise.”The psalm ends with God's people, His flock, vowing to thank Him forever and pass on His praise to every generation.
- Psalm 100:3 (BSB)“Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.”Another psalm confesses that God's people belong to Him as the flock He pastures.
- Psalm 95:7 (BSB)“For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care. Today, if you hear His voice,”Israel is described as the people God pastures and the flock under His care.
Theological
What note does 79:13 strike at the close of the lament?
Answer: With a vow that God's flock will thank Him and pass on His praise
The lament resolves into a vow of praise, the typical movement of the form: the people, identifying themselves as God's flock, pledge perpetual thanksgiving and the generational retelling of His praise (79:13). Their covenant identity as the flock He pastures (Psalm 100:3; Psalm 95:7) survives the destruction, grounding confidence that God will answer and that His praise will outlast the present ruin.
- Psalm 79:13 (BSB)“Then we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will thank You forever; from generation to generation we will declare Your praise.”The psalm ends with God's people, His flock, vowing to thank Him forever and pass on His praise to every generation.
- Psalm 100:3 (BSB)“Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.”Another psalm confesses that God's people belong to Him as the flock He pastures.
- Psalm 95:7 (BSB)“For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care. Today, if you hear His voice,”Israel is described as the people God pastures and the flock under His care.
General
What concern drives the petitions of 79:10-12?
Answer: That the nations stop mocking God as if He were absent
Verse 10 asks why the nations should be allowed to say, in effect, that Israel's God is nowhere to be found. The psalmist wants God to show His justice openly by avenging the blood of His servants. Verse 11 asks God to hear the groaning of the captives and preserve those sentenced to die, and verse 12 asks Him to repay the neighbors sevenfold for the insults they threw at the Lord Himself. The main concern is God's honor, which the nations' mockery has attacked. Joel's priests make the same plea (Joel 2:17), another psalm says the LORD hears prisoners' groans (Psalm 102:19-20), and in Revelation the martyrs likewise cry out for God to avenge their blood (Revelation 6:10).
- Psalm 79:10-12 (BSB)“Why should the nations ask, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations Your vengeance for the bloodshed of Your servants. May the groans of the captives reach You; by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death. Pay back into the laps of our neighbors sevenfold the reproach they hurled at You, O Lord.”The psalmist asks God to act so the nations cannot mock Israel's God, to avenge His servants' blood, hear the captives, and repay the reproach hurled at Him.
- Joel 2:17 (BSB)“Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’””Joel's priests plead with God not to let the nations ask where Israel's God is.
- Revelation 6:10 (BSB)“And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood?””The martyrs in Revelation ask God how long until He avenges their blood.
- Psalm 102:19-20 (BSB)“For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary; the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,”Another psalm says the LORD hears the groaning of prisoners and releases those condemned to death.
Theological
What motive underlies the requests of 79:10-12?
Answer: That the nations stop mocking God as if He were absent
The petitions of 79:10-12 center on God Himself. The nations' taunt questions God's presence and power (79:10a), so the psalmist asks for visible vindication of the blood of God's servants (79:10b), for God to hear the captives and preserve those appointed to death (79:11), and for sevenfold repayment of the reproach aimed at the Lord Himself (79:12). God's glory, not Israel's pride, is the controlling concern. Joel 2:17 voices the same plea, Psalm 102:19-20 confirms God's ear for prisoners, and Revelation 6:10 shows the same cry for justice on the lips of the martyrs.
- Psalm 79:10-12 (BSB)“Why should the nations ask, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations Your vengeance for the bloodshed of Your servants. May the groans of the captives reach You; by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death. Pay back into the laps of our neighbors sevenfold the reproach they hurled at You, O Lord.”The psalmist asks God to act so the nations cannot mock Israel's God, to avenge His servants' blood, hear the captives, and repay the reproach hurled at Him.
- Joel 2:17 (BSB)“Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’””Joel's priests plead with God not to let the nations ask where Israel's God is.
- Revelation 6:10 (BSB)“And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood?””The martyrs in Revelation ask God how long until He avenges their blood.
- Psalm 102:19-20 (BSB)“For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary; the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,”Another psalm says the LORD hears the groaning of prisoners and releases those condemned to death.
General
On what grounds does the psalmist ask God in 79:6-7 to turn His anger against the surrounding peoples?
Answer: They do not acknowledge God and have devoured His people
In 79:6-7 the psalmist asks God to turn His anger on peoples who neither know Him nor call on His name, because they have consumed Jacob and laid waste his homeland. He does not take revenge himself; he hands the matter to God, trusting His justice against violent wickedness. Jeremiah's prayer uses almost the same words (Jeremiah 10:25). God had declared that vengeance belongs to Him (Deuteronomy 32:35), and Paul quotes this when he tells believers not to avenge themselves but to let God's wrath do its work (Romans 12:19). Jesus also calls His followers to love their enemies and to intercede for their persecutors (Matthew 5:44), and Christians have understood how such prayers relate to that command in different ways.
- Psalm 79:6-7 (BSB)“Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, on the kingdoms that refuse to call on Your name, for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.”The psalmist asks God to pour out His wrath on the nations that do not know Him, because they have devoured Jacob.
- Jeremiah 10:25 (BSB)“Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished him off; they have devastated his homeland.”Jeremiah's prayer uses nearly identical words, asking God to pour out wrath on the nations that do not know Him.
- Deuteronomy 32:35 (BSB)“Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.””God declares that vengeance belongs to Him and that He will repay.
- Romans 12:19 (BSB)“Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.””Paul tells believers not to take revenge but to leave room for God's wrath, quoting Deuteronomy.
- Matthew 5:44 (BSB)“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”Jesus commands His followers to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors.
Theological
What reasons does 79:6-7 give for the petition that God's wrath fall on the nations?
Answer: They do not acknowledge God and have devoured His people
The imprecation of 79:6-7 is grounded twice: the nations do not know God or call on His name, and they have consumed Jacob and laid his dwelling waste. The prayer commits vengeance to God rather than taking it into human hands, in keeping with Deuteronomy 32:35, which Paul cites in Romans 12:19. Jeremiah 10:25 contains a nearly identical petition. Christians have understood the relationship between such prayers and Jesus' command to love enemies (Matthew 5:44) in different ways; the psalm itself appeals to God's justice against those who have shed His people's blood.
- Psalm 79:6-7 (BSB)“Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, on the kingdoms that refuse to call on Your name, for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.”The psalmist asks God to pour out His wrath on the nations that do not know Him, because they have devoured Jacob.
- Jeremiah 10:25 (BSB)“Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished him off; they have devastated his homeland.”Jeremiah's prayer uses nearly identical words, asking God to pour out wrath on the nations that do not know Him.
- Deuteronomy 32:35 (BSB)“Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.””God declares that vengeance belongs to Him and that He will repay.
- Romans 12:19 (BSB)“Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.””Paul tells believers not to take revenge but to leave room for God's wrath, quoting Deuteronomy.
- Matthew 5:44 (BSB)“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”Jesus commands His followers to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors.