Psalm 79: A Cry For Help
Psalm 79: A Cry For Help
Psalm 79: A Cry For Help
This is another song of which we know nothing except that it is another song of Asaph. It
is probably either prophetic or written by a descendant of his, since the original Asaph
did not see any such calamities that we know of. Its horrific scenes make us think of the
destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. There is a plea to God to hear the cries of
(1) <A Psalm of Asaph.> O God, the heathen have come into Your
inheritance; Your holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem
on heaps. (2) The dead bodies of Your servants they have given to be food to
the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
(3) Their blood have they shed like water around Jerusalem, and there was
• The word “heathen” was a general purpose term for anyone who was not a Jew.
It is not necessarily a pejorative word, although in a case like this the Psalmist
uses it to express his shock that the nations have been allowed to spoil the land
that God set aside for His people. For this reason he also uses the word
“inheritance,” an emotional word for them as the Almighty had literally parceled
• The temple was indeed defiled and the people slaughtered just as literally as the
writer says. In other words, this is not exaggerated poetic language. We read
Psalms Bible Study Psalms 79-80
elsewhere of how the people had turned away from the Lord and refused His
But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and
misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his
people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the
king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the
maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his
hand. 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. And they burnt the house of
God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces
thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. (2 Chron.
36:16-19)
• In addition to all this, they endured the scorn of unsympathetic neighbors like
(5) How long, LORD? Will You be angry forever? Shall Your jealousy burn
like fire? (6) Pour out Your wrath upon the heathen that have not known
You, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon Your name. (7) For
they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place. (8) O
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Psalms Bible Study Psalms 79-80
• One of the saddest questions in the Psalms is one which occasionally surfaces in
times of trouble is “How long?” The Psalmist expresses wonder at God’s anger
and jealousy. We saw in Psalm 78 that God’s jealousy had provoked Him to
• A pray is made for wrath against the wicked heathen. We know that in God’s
timing, when Daniel was elderly, perhaps 90 years old, Babylon was indeed
captured by the Medes and Persian – after a night of revelry in which, ironically,
the Babylonians were feasting using the vessels of the Lord’s House. Sadly, in
that part of the world hatred of Israel and her God is never far below the surface.
• The Psalmist prays that God will not remember the former iniquities, which can
mean those of former generations. Yet this is exactly what set the time
boundaries of the Babylonian Captivity. The people were exiled 70 years so that
the land could enjoy its sabbaths. In Leviticus 26 we read that the land was to lie
fallow every 7 years, thus enjoying a sabbath as people do. If the land did not get
its sabbaths God would ensure that the land did get them – by removing the
inhabitants out of the land! 2 Chron. 36:21 ties the length of the captivity into
this principle very directly: “To fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of
Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay
(9) Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name: and deliver
us, and purge away our sins, for Your name's sake. (10) Why should the
heathen say, “Where is their God?” Let Him be known among the heathen
in our sight by the avenging of the blood of Your servants which is shed.
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Psalms Bible Study Psalms 79-80
(11) Let the sighing of the prisoner come before You; according to the
greatness of Your power preserve those who are appointed to die; (12) And
render to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, with
which they have reproached You, O Lord. (13) So we Your people and
sheep of Your pasture will give You thanks forever; we will declare Your
• Asaph prays, as David often did, that God would glorify His Name and not allow
• This section contains another question which is repeated in other places, which is
to ask why the heathen should be allowed to say, “Where is their God?” The
seeming absence and inactivity of God was a source of shame to the Jews. All the
while God was fulfilling multiple intentions and purposes of His heart,
simultaneously dealing with Israel, Babylon, Edom and the surrounding peoples.
• As David also did, the Psalmist here seeks to make bargain with the Lord,
promising Him that they would worship and thank Him forever. However, this
prayer was sadly not to be answered for 70 years. Jewish life in the land was of
course not destroyed but, of course, many of the regular features of that life and
institutions such as the monarchy were wiped out and have never been recovered.
What it seems God did accomplish in the Captivity was the practical elimination
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Psalms Bible Study Psalms 79-80
Although we cannot tie this Psalm to a particular event as well as we can the preceding
Psalm, we can see that it is another song of Asaph complains of the condition of Israel.
The language is more poetic and hopeful than in Psalm 79, and we have the additional
element of prayer for the King. The nation will prosper as the King prospers – and so it
is with us. There is a threefold repetition of the chorus which asks God to turn His face
(1) <To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim Eduth, A Psalm of Asaph.>
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who
dwell between the cherubim, shine forth. (2) Before Ephraim and
Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us. (3)
Turn us again, O God, and cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved.
• The title of this Psalm we have seen before; the name means “Lily of the
• God is invoked as Shepherd and also as the Almighty God of Glorious Presence.
suffered so much. The cherubim are the angels featured on the Ark of the
Covenant.
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Psalms Bible Study Psalms 79-80
• Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph’s children, and Benjamin was his brother of
the full blood, and so these are Rachel’s children represented, the children of the
most beloved wife. This may be another appeal to the Lord for the sake of Jacob.
• Turning the face was, as we have seen, a sign of favor – and if God were to cause
(4) O LORD God of hosts, how long will You be angry against the prayer of
Your people? (5) You feed them with the bread of tears, and give them tears
to drink in great measure. (6) You make us a strife to our neighbors and
our enemies laugh among themselves. (7) Turn us again, O God of hosts,
• The people are made to drink tears by measure – the idea is that a portion or
• Verse 6 is poignant. It has been said that the idea of being a strife to their
neighbors means the neighboring peoples were fighting over their possessions.
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Psalms Bible Study Psalms 79-80
(8) You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the heathen,
and planted it. (9) You prepared room before it, and did cause it to take
• Another poetic appeal to the Lord based upon His work of bringing them out of
Egypt like a plant and transplanting it in ground which He had cleared. God had
told Abraham that they would serve 400 years in Egypt until the iniquity of the
• Verse 8 is thought to have given rise to the state motto of Connecticut, which in
(10) The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and its boughs were like
the goodly cedars. (11) She sent out her boughs to the sea, and her branches
to the river. (12) Why have You then broken down her hedges, so that all
those who pass by the way do pluck her? (13) The boar out of the wood does
waste it, and the wild beast of the field does devour it.
• The writer beautifully continues the analogy as he describes the growth and
flourishing state of the vine of Israel over time. God’s protection is then removed
• The vine was a well-known symbol for the nation here and in Isaiah and so when
Jesus told the parable of the vineyard workers the leaders knew it was directed
against them.
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Psalms Bible Study Psalms 79-80
(14) Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and
behold, and visit this vine; (15) And the vineyard which Your right hand has
planted, and the branch that thou made strong for Yourself. (16) It is
burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your
countenance.
• He prays that God will “visit” the vine – a word which once meant more than
(17) Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, upon the son of
man whom You made strong for Yourself. (18) So will not we go back from
You; quicken us, and we will call upon Your name. (19) Turn us again, O
LORD God of hosts, cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved.
• The son of man reference is a reference to the King. The right hand was the place
of choice, favor and authority. This man would execute the Lord’s will.
• Once strengthened, the people would remember God’s deliverance and not turn
• Once last time the prayer for the light of His Face is made.