Psalms 79

O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.

They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.

We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.

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

Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name!

For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.

Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!

Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes!

Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!

Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!

But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

← Previous chapter Next chapter →

Psalms 79

Psalm 79 is a communal lament mourning temple destruction and appealing to God for mercy and vengeance on desecrating nations, exemplifying the theological concerns of Book 3. The psalmist employs vivid imagery and direct address to God, establishing the intimate dialogue between worshiper and the divine that characterizes the psalmic tradition. The theological assertions center on God's character as both judge and redeemer, creating a comprehensive vision of divine justice and mercy integrated with human experience. The psalm reflects on both personal circumstance and communal identity, suggesting that individual faith finds validation through shared experience with the covenant community. The liturgical context indicates this psalm's function in worship where personal piety integrates with communal celebration of God's acts and attributes. The concluding movement typically affirms confidence in God's faithfulness, exemplifying the psalmic pattern of transformation through prayer and remembrance of divine acts throughout history.

Psalms 79:1

Psalm 79 opens with a communal lament describing national catastrophe: "O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins." The violation of the divine inheritance (the land) and the defilement of the temple represent the most profound form of covenantal crisis. The mention of the temple's defilement evokes imagery of foreign contamination of the sacred space; the city's destruction represents not merely military loss but theological rupture. This psalm likely responds to a historical destruction (possibly the Babylonian siege of 586 BCE) from the perspective of survivors attempting to articulate the theological meaning of catastrophe.

Psalms 79:2

The desecration continues: "They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the air for food, and the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth." The denial of proper burial—leaving corpses exposed to scavengers—represents a final indignity and violation of covenantal dignity. In ancient Near Eastern thought, the inability to bury the dead and the exposure of bodies to wild animals constituted the ultimate humiliation. The phrase "your servants" and "your faithful" emphasizes that these are God's own people being subjected to this degradation.

Psalms 79:3

The suffering extends to the living: "They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them." The profusion of blood spilled suggests not merely individual deaths but wholesale slaughter; the absence of anyone to perform burial rites indicates the totality of the catastrophe. The entire community structure has collapsed; survivors lack the capacity or safety to fulfill basic covenantal duties.

Psalms 79:4

The people's shame is public: "We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us." The military defeat has led to public humiliation; the surviving community is subjected to derision and mockery from surrounding peoples. In honor-shame cultures, this social shaming constitutes a harm as serious as the physical destruction itself.

Psalms 79

Psalms 79:5

Psalms 79:6

Psalms 79:7

Psalms 79:8

Psalms 79:9

Psalms 79:10

Psalms 79:11

Psalms 79:12

Psalms 79:13