1 <A Psalm. Of Asaph.> O God, the nations have come into your heritage; they have made your holy Temple unclean; they have made Jerusalem a mass of broken walls.
For this reason, Zion will be ploughed like a field because of you, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like a high place in the woods.
The hand of her hater is stretched out over all her desired things; for she has seen that the nations have come into her holy place, about whom you gave orders that they were not to come into the meeting of your people.
Micah the Morashtite, who was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, said to all the people of Judah, This is what the Lord of armies has said: Zion will become like a ploughed field, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like the high places of the woodland.
And the house of God was burned and the wall of Jerusalem broken down; all its great houses were burned with fire and all its beautiful vessels given up to destruction.
And he had the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned with fire:
You will take them in, planting them in the mountain of your heritage, the place, O Lord, where you have made your house, the holy place, O Lord, the building of your hands.
As for their beautiful ornament, they had put it on high, and had made the images of their disgusting and hated things in it: for this cause I have made it an unclean thing to them. And I will give it into the hands of men from strange lands who will take it by force, and to the evil-doers of the earth to have for themselves; and they will make it unholy.
And they will be put to death with the sword, and will be taken as prisoners into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be crushed under the feet of the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles are complete.
And he said to them, Make the house unclean, make the open places full of dead: go forward and send destruction on the town.
For this cause, says the Lord, the God of Israel, I will send such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of all to whom the news comes will be burning. And over Jerusalem will be stretched the line of Samaria and the weight of Ahab; Jerusalem will be washed clean as a plate is washed, and turned over on its face. And I will put away from me the rest of my heritage, and give them up into the hands of their haters, who will take their property and their goods for themselves; Because they have done evil in my eyes, moving me to wrath, from the day when their fathers came out of Egypt till this day. More than this, Manasseh took the lives of upright men, till Jerusalem from one end to the other was full of blood; in addition to his sin in making Judah do evil in the eyes of the Lord.
And the Chaldaeans put the king's house on fire, as well as the houses of the people, and had the walls of Jerusalem broken down.
I was angry with my people, I put shame on my heritage, and gave them into your hands: you had no mercy on them; you put a cruel yoke on those who were old;
From looking after the sheep which were giving milk, he took him to give food to Jacob his people, and to Israel his heritage.
They have put on fire your holy place; they have made the place of your name unclean, pulling it down to the earth. They have said in their hearts, Let us put an end to them all together; they have given over to the fire all God's places of worship in the land.
<Maschil. Of Asaph.> Of God, why have you put us away from you for ever? why is the fire of your wrath smoking against the sheep who are your care? Keep in mind your band of worshippers, for whom you gave payment in the days which are past, whom you took for yourself as the people of your heritage; even this mountain of Zion, which has been your resting-place. Go up and see the unending destruction; all the evil which your haters have done in the holy place; Sending out their voices like lions among your worshippers; they have put up their signs to be seen.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up against him, and took him away in chains to Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar took away some of the vessels of the Lord's house, and put them in the house of his god in Babylon.
Then the king of Egypt took the kingdom from him in Jerusalem, and put on the land a tax of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, changing his name to Jehoiakim. And Neco took his brother Jehoahaz away to Egypt.
So an opening was made in the wall of the town, and all the men of war went in flight by night through the doorway between the two walls which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldaeans were stationed round the town:) and the king went by the way of the Arabah. But the Chaldaean army went after the king, and overtook him in the lowlands of Jericho, and all his army went in flight from him in every direction. And they made the king a prisoner and took him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah to be judged. And they put the sons of Zedekiah to death before his eyes, and then they put out his eyes, and chaining him with iron bands, took him to Babylon. Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem; And he had the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned with fire; And the walls round Jerusalem were broken down by the Chaldaean army which was with the captain.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 79
Commentary on Psalms 79 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 79
Ps 79:1-13. This Psalm, like the seventy-fourth, probably depicts the desolations of the Chaldeans (Jer 52:12-24). It comprises the usual complaint, prayer, and promised thanks for relief.
1. (Compare Ps 74:2-7).
2, 3. (Compare Jer 15:3; 16:4).
4. (Compare Ps 44:13; Jer 42:18; La 2:15).
5. How long—(Ps 13:1).
be angry—(Ps 74:1-10).
jealousy burn—(De 29:20).
6, 7. (Compare Jer 10:25). Though we deserve much, do not the heathen deserve more for their violence to us (Jer 51:3-5; Zec 1:14)? The singular denotes the chief power, and the use of the plural indicates the combined confederates.
called upon—or, "by"
thy name—proclaimed Thy attributes and professed allegiance (Isa 12:4; Ac 2:21).
8. former iniquities—literally, "iniquities of former times."
prevent us—literally, "meet us," as in Ps 21:3.
9. for … glory of thy name [and for] thy name's sake—both mean for illustrating Thy attributes, faithfulness, power, &c.
purge … sins—literally, "provide atonement for us." Deliverance from sin and suffering, for their good and God's glory, often distinguish the prayers of Old Testament saints (compare Eph 1:7).
10. This ground of pleading often used (Ex 32:12; Nu 14:13-16).
blood … shed—(Ps 79:3).
11. prisoner—the whole captive people.
power—literally, "arm" (Ps 10:15).
12. into their bosom—The lap or folds of the dress is used by Eastern people for receiving articles. The figure denotes retaliation (compare Isa 65:6, 7). They reproached God as well as His people.
13. sheep … pasture—(Compare Ps 74:1; 78:70).