Psalms
Chapter 79
Supplication for Mercy for Jerusalem
O God, the pagans have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
They have given your servants’ corpses to the birds, and the flesh of your saints, to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out the blood of your faithful, like water around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
Mocked and reviled by those around us, we are scorned by our neighbors.
How long will this last, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your wrath always burn to avenge your rights?
Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you; on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.
For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his homeland.
Do not remember against us the sins of our fathers. Let your compassion hurry to us, for we have been brought very low.
Help us, God, our savior, for the glory of your name; forgive us, for the sake of your name.
Give not the nations a chance to say, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, let them know that you avenge the blood of your servants.
Listen to the groans of the prisoners; by the strength of your arm, deliver those doomed to die.
Return our neighbors sevenfold, O Lord, the taunts with which they have taunted you.
Then we, your people, the flock of your pasture, will thank you forever. We will recount your praise from generation to generation.
Commentaries
79
This psalm almost certainly refers to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. It includes a confession of guilt—the guilt of an earlier generation. Interestingly, this aspect should be part of the solution to the problem of suffering: Has this man sinned, or his parents? And indeed, we may blame our ancestors for some of our circumstances, as long as we understand that we can, and do, contribute to the unhappiness of our children. We are the context into which they will be born, for better or worse. But the psalmist does not call God’s attention to the sins of his generation except in passing (v. 9). There is also a certain devout cleverness when he (v. 10) reminds God of what people will say if He abandons his people, as if God cared! However, such a prayer is very human and likely to bring a smile to heaven.