Psalms 79 WEB
Summary: A communal lament of Asaph mourning Jerusalem's destruction: "O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled... Jerusalem in heaps" (v. 1), with the dead left unburied and given "to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven" (v. 2). The psalmist begs God not to remember past iniquities and to pour out wrath instead on the surrounding nations that devoured Jacob, pleading for mercy "for we are brought very low" (v. 8). It closes with a vow that the rescued flock will thank God forever, alongside a raw request for sevenfold vengeance on the neighboring peoples who reproached him.
1God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
2They 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.
3They have shed their blood like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them.
4We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.
5How long, Yahweh? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you, on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name;
7for they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland.
8Don’t hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need.
9Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake.
10Why 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.
11Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you. According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death.
12Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord.
13So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.
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