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

his people and preserve them, resulting in praise to God.

(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

none to bury them. (4) We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a

scorn and derision to those who are around us.

• 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

it out for them.

• 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
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elsewhere of how the people had turned away from the Lord and refused His

warnings, until finally He brought judgment upon them:

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

house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or

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

the Edomites, to whom they were related.

(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

remember not against us former iniquities; let Your tender mercies

speedily meet us, for we are brought very low.

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• 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

anger, comparing Him to a man angry with an unfaithful wife.

• 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

desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years.”

(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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(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

praise to all generations.

• Asaph prays, as David often did, that God would glorify His Name and not allow

His Name to be polluted by having them remain in such a terrible condition.

• 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

of idolatry, at least in its gross fashion, from Jewish life.

Psalm 80: Turn us again

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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

to the people and shine on them, a picture of His favor.

(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

Testimony, or Law.” This could be a reference to trumpets, because they opened

outward like a flower, or it could be a reference to the beauty of God’s Word.

• God is invoked as Shepherd and also as the Almighty God of Glorious Presence.

The reference to Joseph is meant to arouse God’s compassions, because he

suffered so much. The cherubim are the angels featured on the Ark of the

Covenant.

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• 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

His face to shine on them they would be greatly blessed!

(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,

and cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved.

• God is addressed as YHWH-Elohim-Sabaoth, the Lord the God of Armies, an

appeal to power in the aspect of His rulership of the angels.

• The people are made to drink tears by measure – the idea is that a portion or

perhaps a cup of tears has been allotted to them to drink.

• 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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(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

deep root, and it filled the land.

• 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

Amorites was full.

• Verse 8 is thought to have given rise to the state motto of Connecticut, which in

Latin says, “He who transplanted sustains [it].”

(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

and a boar ruins the vine.

• 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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(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

what we use it for, but meant to come with a purpose.

(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

away from Him.

• Once last time the prayer for the light of His Face is made.