Psalm 79

A Psalm of Asaph

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

The placement of Psalm 79 is striking. In the previous psalm Asaph cataloged the history of Israel’s glory and shame, their faith and their faithlessness. The psalm concluded with the reminder that God has selected a place and a person, Jerusalem and David, a location for his people to meet with him and a king to shepherd them. Immediately after this promising statement, the psalmist tells God what’s just happened. The nations have invaded God’s place, defiled his temple and left his city as a pile of rubble. The historical event here is the Babylonian invasion of 586 BC. Psalm 74 is a companion to this psalm and goes into greater detail regarding the destruction of the temple itself. This psalm focuses on the human toll in the form of a classic lament. The psalmist begins by stating his complaint, telling God what he already knows. It feels like God has abandoned his people, as if he has failed as a shepherd, allowing an invading army to cross their borders, lay siege to their cities, conquer them and level them, and worst of all, defile his temple. How could God leave his house unguarded? How could he allow his promises to their ancestors to be broken? These were questions that were undoubtedly in the psalmist’s mind even though they are not stated here. Unlike other psalms, the writer does not accuse God. He just states the facts, asks how long until God does something, asks for forgiveness, prays for justice, and anticipates redemption. It is an important model for us to pray when calamity comes our way. Tell God how you feel, ask for forgiveness, pray for justice and then give thanks. 

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

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

The psalmist describes one of the horrors of war, dead bodies left to be scavenged and unburied. The enemies of Israel had no regard for life or the humanity of their victims. They had pent up anger and they took it out on everyone. There are accounts of this battle in Jeremiah and the historical books describing pregnant women being cut open, their little ones dashed against the rocks. Old men, women, children, animals -- all were put to the sword. Death was not quick and merciful from a well-placed bullet or instant from an explosion. Everyone who died in that battle most likely was cut by a crude knife or sword and left to bleed out. Yes, blood poured out like water all around Jerusalem. As is often common in war there was no one left alive or willing to bury the dead when there were so many mass casualties. The inhumanity of it all is striking, and this goes back to the biblical understanding that there is something that is sacred about the human body, even a dead body. The human body is to be treated with care and respect as a vessel of the image of God. It was shameful for a body to be left in the elements to be devoured by animals or dried in the sun. Burial was to be immediate, before the sun went down. But in this case, that just wasn’t possible. Such a calamity is hard to imagine, but it happened then, and it has happened plenty of times since. Here the psalmist is not directly blaming God for what happened in Jerusalem (he does that in other psalms). Rather he is simply describing to God what his enemies have done. Not that God doesn’t know, but we need to say in prayer exactly what we are thinking and feeling. “They have given the bodies of your servants, your faithful ones, to the birds and the beasts”. Praying about injustice begins with describing that injustice, naming it and bringing it before God. Healing from trauma requires a revealing of that trauma, an acknowledgment of it so that we can be confident that God sees and knows. Stating it outloud and publicly helps us to acknowledge its reality, to cause us to bring it to the forefront of our thinking so that we may deal with it. These are not the verses that one typically memorizes and prays from the psalms. They are neither motivational nor inspirational. They are not comforting and encouraging. They are merely a statement of what is, of what has happened, and what the psalmist wants God to do about it. Look at the injustice and do something. 

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

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

Asaph moves from the physical toll of the exile to the psychological and emotional cost. Israel has become the butt of jokes, enduring the taunts and ridicule of others. Neighboring countries talk about how they couldn’t put up a fight, and how their faith in YHWH was misplaced. (Edom is mentioned specifically as doing this in Psalm 137:7-9). Other nations chose to pay tribute to Babylonia and remain under their boot. Judah chose rebellion and suffered dramatically for it, hoping that Egypt would come to their rescue. Trusting in Egypt was a bad idea and Jeremiah warned them of it. Egypt chose to sit out the conflict with Babylon and Judah took the death blow. Neighboring countries were eager now to cash in and plunder what was left. It was humiliating, a failed state, a rebellion that never stood a chance. From the perspective of the Asaph what happened had to do with the jealous anger of God. Judah had been unfaithful to God, and the prophets warned them of the consequences of their idolatry. The jealousy of God is not like the jealousy of man. Jealousy is wanting something that someone else has for your own sake. It is motivated by selfishness. But the jealousy of God is pure. He is motivated for our good, not his. He desires what is best for us, and what is best for us is Him. The burning jealousy of God is a common theme in scripture. The New Testament as well portrays him as a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). The psalmist can see no end to the righteous anger and jealousy of God. It is just. It is deserved. As his people are carried away into captivity and his beloved city is razed to the ground, he asks, “how long?” We can endure a lot of things if we know there is an endpoint. You can run a race if you know that each step puts you closer to the finish line. But the psalmist doesn’t know. No one knows when YHWH’s anger will subside and his fiery jealousy will be quenched. It turns out the answer is 70 years, but even that is several generations. Suffering has an endpoint -- either in this life or the next. Endure suffering knowing that the jealous, purifying fire of God is for your good. 

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

7 For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.

Asaph calls upon YHWH to punish the nations that do not acknowledge Him. Using the same word “pour” in verse 2, he calls upon God to pour out his anger, just as the nations poured out the blood of God’s people. The just reason for this wrath-pouring is that the nations have eaten Jacob and laid waste his house. The Babylonian invasion and conquest of Judah was comprehensive. Ancient kingdoms stayed in power through fear and intimidation. They kept their vassal states in line by threat of annihilation. Judah rebelled and so Babylon took the opportunity to make an example of them. This meant that they could show no mercy or weakness if they wanted to maintain their terror regime. The outcome of rebellion needed to be so horrifying that no one else would ever attempt it. And so the Babylonian army executed the mission as planned. As they approached the citizens fled to the walled cities only to have them fall. Surely God’s city, Jerusalem, would never fall. Surely God would help her once more at the break of dawn (Psalm 46:5). But there was no answer from God. No help from above. The Babylonians entered the city and ate them alive. They set fire to everything and their demolition crews went to work making sure that no one could ever live there again. The cry for justice is understandable. And Babylon would experience the just wrath of God in less than 70 years at the hands of the Persians. Nations that conquer other nations often find themselves on the receiving end of God’s judgment eventually. God’s mission has always been the salvation of the nations from the beginning of scripture to the end. God’s mission is so brilliantly executed that multiple good outcomes happen at the same time. The Babylonian captivity resulted in the purification of the Jewish people. It also resulted in the salvation of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. It gave us Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It gave us the synagogue, a new way to worship that would become a pattern for the church. The psalmist wanted immediate justice on Babylon, but God had other plans. Yes, Babylon would experience justice, but in God’s perfect time, time that would give them the opportunity to repent, time that would allow God’s people to flourish within her to be an influence for God in a land that did not know him. 

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

9 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!

This psalm has lacked the element of blaming God that often accompanies laments. “If God is all-powerful and good, why did this terrible thing happen to us?” Verse 8 suggests an understanding that the terrible thing that happened was not undeserved. The psalmist acknowledges the iniquities of the nation and prays on its behalf for atonement. This is often the case when we are suffering and experiencing the justice of God -- it is the natural consequence of our own behavior, and we have no room for complaint. So the psalmist asks God to forget their iniquities. That’s technically impossible, so the request is more in the sense of “remove from the forefront of your attention.” He then implores God to come speedily toward them with compassion. One can’t help but think of the father of the prodigal son who came running toward his repentant child. “Run to us God, for we have been humbled.” The petitions for help and atonement are based in a desire for God’s good reputation to be restored. His name had been sullied in the eyes of the nations by the disobedience and failure of his people. By showing compassion, help and atonement, the nations would see the goodness, faithfulness, and power of Israel’s God, and they might come to know him as well. So we pray for salvation and atonement for the glory of his name that he might be famous as a God who saves and forgives, a God who speedily runs to those who humble themselves and call upon him. 

10 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!

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

Asaph continues his petitions with a plea for justice. In a reference to the outpoured blood of God’s servants in the third verse of the psalm, the psalmist prays for God’s vengeance to come upon the perpetrators. Furthermore, he prays that this vengeance would become known among the nations, just as the shame of Israel became known among the nations. The taunt of the nations is “Where is their God?” These words are also found in Psalm 42 and the theme is elaborated upon in Psalm 115. The logical conclusion to the Jews and to the nations was that God had abandoned or failed his people by allowing them to be subdued by a foreign power. Either he is not a very powerful God or he doesn’t really care that much for his people. In either case, he’s not worthy of worship and maybe he doesn’t even exist. The nations are saying this because of the apparent inactivity of God. So the psalmist prays for a turnaround, for justice to be done. He implores God to listen to the groans of the captives, to show compassion and preserve the next generation (lit. “sons doomed to die”). God is slow in answering this prayer. It will be 70 years before the captivity in Babylon ends. This prayer must have been prayed a million times during those 70 years. Daniel probably prayed this prayer as he knelt before an open window to the west. In our age we expect instant action and immediate solutions. God is not slow in keeping his promise, but his timetable is not the same as ours. Today we pray for justice in any variety of circumstances. We think of the believers who live under oppression in other nations, their daily lives made more difficult by government edict and social customs. We think of inmates who are suffering in prison for crimes they have committed and yet in their punishment they have come to know God. We think of myriad examples of injustice committed against children, the innocent who are bearing the consequences of adult selfishness, and we pray for justice. What are you doing today to bring God’s perfect justice to the world? You can certainly pray as the psalmist does, and you can do what you can in your world to see that the cries of the prisoner are heard, from the unborn to the inmate. 

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

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

The psalmist asks God to defend his own honor. The nations have been taunting Judah, but it is ultimately Judah’s god who is blamed for his impotence and uncaring attitude toward his people. While the psalmist cares about the Lord’s reputation, he would also like to see some vengeance, that much is clear from previous verses. It does feel a little presumptuous to tell God to avenge his own dishonoring, but I understand the sentiment. The final verse is absolutely amazing considering all that has happened and all that the psalmist has previously written. The metaphor of God’s people as sheep and God himself as shepherd is a thread that runs throughout Book 3, and in spite of the suffering and sense of abandonment he’s experienced, the psalmist clings to this truth: The Lord is our shepherd. Even when it feels like the shepherd has abandoned his flock to be ravaged by thieves and wild animals, the fact remains that the Lord is still our shepherd. We his sheep have done stupid things and gotten oursevles hurt. We’ve separated ourselves from our shepherd of our own will, and he has allowed us to wander. Still the psalmist vows fidelity and worship to the Shepherd. “We will give thanks to you forever and from generation to generation we will recount your praise.” He vows to remain grateful and to express that gratitude to his children and their children. The psalmist refuses to be the generation that breaks the connection between God and his people. He will tell his children and grandchildren what God has done. He will cultivate faith and model gratitude even in the worst of times. He will trust God to do his job whether that be avenging or shepherding.