Christianity
Psalms 79Jerusalem Laid in Heaps
Summary
Psalm 79, attributed to Asaph, is a communal lament over the destruction of Jerusalem. Nations have defiled the temple, left the city in heaps, and given the bodies of God's servants to the birds and beasts. The people ask how long God will be angry, plead that he not remember former iniquities, and ask for help for the glory of his name. Most readers connect it with the Babylonian destruction in the sixth century BCE, though some have proposed later crises.
Key verse
“Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.”
Psalms 79:9
Themes
- National Lament
- Destruction of the Temple
- Plea for Forgiveness
- God's Honor Among the Nations
Text
O GOD, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.
The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.
We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;
And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.
Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.
Across traditions
Christianity
Lamentations 1: The Desolate CityLamentations mourns the same kind of catastrophe through the image of Jerusalem as a desolate widow. Psalm 79 is framed instead as a direct prayer for rescue and for justice on the nations.
Christianity
Jeremiah 10: Pour Out Thy FuryJeremiah 10:25 and Psalm 79:6 to 7 share nearly identical wording, a prayer that God pour out his fury on the nations that do not know him and have devoured Jacob.
Judaism
Psalm 79 in the JPS 1917 TanakhVerses 6 and 7 are recited at the Passover Seder when the door is opened near the end of the meal, in the passage known by its opening words, Pour Out Thy Wrath.
Questions about Psalms 79
Which destruction of Jerusalem does Psalm 79 describe?
The psalm names no date or enemy. Most interpreters link it to the Babylonian destruction of the temple in the sixth century BCE, while some commentators pointed to the persecution under Antiochus IV, and 1 Maccabees 7:17 applies verses 2 and 3 to that era.
What does 'remember not against us former iniquities' mean?
In Psalm 79:8 the community asks God not to hold the sins of earlier generations against them and to let his tender mercies come quickly. The plea admits past unfaithfulness while appealing to God's compassion rather than the people's merit.