6 Pour Thy fury on the nations who have not known Thee, And on kingdoms that have not called in Thy name.
in flaming fire, giving vengeance to those not knowing God, and to those not obeying the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Pour out Thy fury on the nations that have not known Thee, And on the families that have not called in Thy name, For they have eaten up Jacob, Yea, they have eaten him up, yea, they consume him, And his habitation they have made desolate!
Pour upon them Thine indignation, And the fierceness of Thine anger doth seize them.
Have not workers of iniquity known, Those eating my people have eaten bread, God they have not called.
And I heard a great voice out of the sanctuary saying to the seven messengers, `Go away, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God to the earth;' and the first did go away, and did pour out his vial upon the land, and there came a sore -- bad and grievous -- to men, those having the mark of the beast, and those bowing to his image. And the second messenger did pour out his vial to the sea, and there came blood as of `one' dead, and every living soul died in the sea. And the third messenger did pour out his vial to the rivers, and to the fountains of the waters, and there came blood, and I heard the messenger of the waters, saying, `righteous, O Lord, art Thou, who art, and who wast, and who shalt be, because these things Thou didst judge, because blood of saints and prophets they did pour out, and blood to them Thou didst give to drink, for they are worthy;' and I heard another out of the altar, saying, `Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous `are' Thy judgments.' And the fourth messenger did pour out his vial upon the sun, and there was given to him to scorch men with fire, and men were scorched with great heat, and they did speak evil of the name of God, who hath authority over these plagues, and they did not reform -- to give to Him glory. And the fifth messenger did pour out his vial upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom did become darkened, and they were gnawing their tongues from the pain, and they did speak evil of the God of the heaven, from their pains, and from their sores, and they did not reform from their works. And the sixth messenger did pour out his vial upon the great river, the Euphrates, and dried up was its water, that the way of the kings who are from the rising of the sun may be made ready; and I saw `come' out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs -- for they are spirits of demons, doing signs -- which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to bring them together to the battle of that great day of God the Almighty; -- `lo, I do come as a thief; happy `is' he who is watching, and keeping his garments, that he may not walk naked, and they may see his unseemliness,' -- and they did bring them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Armageddon. And the seventh messenger did pour out his vial to the air, and there came forth a great voice from the sanctuary of the heaven, from the throne, saying, `It hath come!' and there came voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and a great earthquake came, such as came not since men came upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake -- so great! And it came -- the great city -- into three parts, and the cities of the nations did fall, and Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the wrath of His anger, and every island did flee away, and mountains were not found, and great hail (as of talent weight) doth come down out of the heaven upon men, and men did speak evil of God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague is very great.
to the assembly of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all those calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place -- both theirs and ours:
for there is no difference between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord of all `is' rich to all those calling upon Him, for every one -- whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, he shall be saved.' How then shall they call upon `him' in whom they did not believe? and how shall they believe `on him' of whom they did not hear? and how shall they hear apart from one preaching?
And, according as they did not approve of having God in knowledge, God gave them up to a disapproved mind, to do the things not seemly;
for passing through and contemplating your objects of worship, I found also an erection on which had been inscribed: To God -- unknown; whom, therefore -- not knowing -- ye do worship, this One I announce to you.
and these things they will do to you, because they did not know the Father, nor me.
Therefore, wait for Me -- an affirmation of Jehovah, For the day of My rising for prey, For My judgment `is' to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them Mine indignation, All the heat of Mine anger, For by the fire of My jealousy consumed is all the earth.
That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations, For Egypt, concerning the force of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, that hath been by the river Phrat, in Carchemish, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: `Set ye in array shield and buckler, And draw nigh to battle. Gird the horses, and go up, ye horsemen, And station yourselves with helmets, Polish the javelins, put on the coats of mail. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed -- They are turned backward, And their mighty ones are beaten down, And `to' a refuge they have fled, and not turned the face? Fear `is' round about -- an affirmation of Jehovah. The swift do not flee, nor do the mighty escape, Northward, by the side of the river Phrat, They have stumbled and fallen. Who is this? as a flood he cometh up, As rivers do his waters shake themselves! Egypt, as a flood cometh up, And as rivers the waters shake themselves. And he saith, I go up; I cover the land, I destroy the city and the inhabitants in it. Go up, ye horses; and boast yourselves, ye chariots, And go forth, ye mighty, Cush and Phut handling the shield, And Lud handling -- treading the bow. And that day `is' to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts A day of vengeance, To be avenged of His adversaries, And the sword hath devoured, and been satisfied, And it hath been watered from their blood, For a sacrifice `is' to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the north, by the river Phrat. Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt, In vain thou hast multiplied medicines, Healing there is none for thee. Nations have heard of thy shame, And thy cry hath filled the land, For the mighty on the mighty did stumble, Together they have fallen -- both of them!' The word that Jehovah hath spoken unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming in of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to smite the land of Egypt: `Declare ye in Egypt, and sound in Migdol, Yea, sound in Noph, and in Tahpanhes say: Station thyself, yea, prepare for thee, For a sword hath devoured around thee, Wherefore hath thy bull been swept away? He hath not stood, because Jehovah thrust him away. He hath multiplied the stumbling, Yea one hath fallen upon his neighbour, And they say: Rise, and we turn back to our people, And unto the land of our birth, Because of the oppressing sword. They have cried there: Pharaoh king of Egypt `is' a desolation, Passed by hath the appointed time. I live -- an affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts `is' His name, Surely as Tabor `is' among mountains, And as Carmel by the sea -- he cometh in, Goods for removal make for thee, O inhabitant, daughter of Egypt, For Noph becometh a desolation, And hath been burnt up, without inhabitant. A heifer very fair `is' Egypt, Rending from the north doth come into her. Even her hired ones in her midst `are' as calves of the stall, For even they have turned, They have fled together, they have not stood, For the day of their calamity hath come on them, The time of their inspection. Its voice as a serpent goeth on, For with a force they go, And with axes they have come in to her, As hewers of trees. They have cut down her forest, An affirmation of Jehovah -- for it is not searched, For they have been more than the grasshopper, And they have no numbering. Ashamed hath been the daughter of Egypt, She hath been given into the hand of the people of the north. Said hath Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am seeing after Amon of No, And after Pharaoh, and after Egypt, And after her gods, and after her kings, And after Pharaoh, and after those trusting in him, And I have given them into the hand of those seeking their life, And into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of his servants, And afterwards it is inhabited, As `in' days of old -- an affirmation of Jehovah. And thou, thou dost not fear, my servant Jacob, Nor `art' thou dismayed, O Israel, For lo, I am saving thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity, And Jacob hath turned back, And hath been at rest, and been at ease, And there is none disturbing. Thou, thou dost not fear, My servant Jacob, An affirmation of Jehovah -- for with thee I `am', For I make an end of all the nations Whither I have driven thee, And of thee I do not make an end, And I have reproved thee in judgment, And do not entirely acquit thee!'
For lo, in the city over which My name is called, I am beginning to do evil, And ye -- ye are entirely acquitted! Ye are not acquitted, for a sword I am proclaiming, For all inhabitants of the land, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.
For the sake of my servant Jacob, And of Israel My chosen, I call also thee by thy name, I surname thee, And thou hast not known Me. I `am' Jehovah, and there is none else, Except Me there is no God, I gird thee, and thou hast not known Me.
The Burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, For it hath been destroyed, Without house, without entrance, From the land of Chittim it was revealed to them. Be silent, ye inhabitants of the isle, Trader of Zidon, passing the sea, they filled thee. And in many waters `is' the seed of Sihor, The harvest of the brook `is' her increase, And she is a mart of nations. Be ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea spake, The strength of the sea, saying: `I have not been pained, nor have I brought forth, Nor have I nourished young men, `nor' brought up virgins.' As `at' the report of Egypt they are pained, So `at' the report of Tyre. Pass over to Tarshish, howl, ye inhabitants of the isle, Is this your exulting one? From the days of old `is' her antiquity, Carry her do her own feet afar off to sojourn. Who hath counselled this against Tyre, The crowning one, whose traders `are' princes, Her merchants the honoured of earth?' Jehovah of Hosts hath counselled it, To pollute the excellency of all beauty, To make light all the honoured of earth. Pass through thy land as a brook, Daughter of Tarshish, there is no more a girdle. His hand He hath stretched out over the sea, He hath caused kingdoms to tremble, Jehovah hath charged concerning the merchant one, To destroy her strong places. And He saith, `Thou dost not add any more to exult, O oppressed one, virgin daughter of Zidon, To Chittim arise, pass over, Even there -- there is no rest for thee.' Lo, the land of the Chaldeans -- this people was not, Asshur founded it for the Ziim, They raised its watch-towers, They lifted up her palaces, -- He hath appointed her for a ruin! Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, For your strength hath been destroyed. And it hath come to pass, in that day, That forgotten is Tyre seventy years, According to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years there is to Tyre as the song of the harlot. Take a harp, go round the city, O forgotten harlot, play well, Multiply song that thou mayest be remembered. And it hath come to pass, At the end of seventy years Jehovah inspecteth Tyre, And she hath repented of her gift, That she committed fornication With all kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground. And her merchandise and her gift have been holy to Jehovah, Not treasured up nor stored, For to those sitting before Jehovah is her merchandise, To eat to satiety, and for a lasting covering!
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. `Like hurricanes in the south for passing through, From the wilderness it hath come, From a fearful land. A hard vision hath been declared to me, The treacherous dealer is dealing treacherously, And the destroyer is destroying. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O Media, All its sighing I have caused to cease. Therefore filled have been my loins `with' great pain, Pangs have seized me as pangs of a travailing woman, I have been bent down by hearing, I have been troubled by seeing. Wandered hath my heart, trembling hath terrified me, The twilight of my desire He hath made a fear to me, Arrange the table, watch in the watch-tower, Eat, drink, rise, ye heads, anoint the shield, For thus said the Lord unto me: `Go, station the watchman, That which he seeth let him declare.' And he hath seen a chariot -- a couple of horsemen, The rider of an ass, the rider of a camel, And he hath given attention -- He hath increased attention! And he crieth -- a lion, `On a watch-tower my lord, I am standing continually by day, And on my ward I am stationed whole nights. And lo, this, the chariot of a man is coming, A couple of horsemen.' And he answereth and saith: `Fallen, fallen hath Babylon, And all the graven images of her gods He hath broken to the earth. O my threshing, and the son of my floor, That which I heard from Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, I have declared to you!' The burden of Dumah. Unto me is `one' calling from Seir `Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?' The watchman hath said, `Come hath morning, and also night, If ye inquire, inquire ye, turn back, come.' The burden on Arabia. In a forest in Arabia ye lodge, O travellers of Dedanim. To meet the thirsty brought water have Inhabitants of the land of Tema, With his bread they came before a fugitive. For from the face of destructions they fled, From the face of a stretched-out sword, And from the face of a trodden bow, And from the face of the grievousness of battle. For thus said the Lord unto me: `Within a year, as years of a hireling, Consumed hath been all the honour of Kedar. And the remnant of the number of bow-men, The mighty of the sons of Kedar are few, For Jehovah, God of Israel, hath spoken!'
The burden of Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz hath seen: `On a high mountain lift ye up an ensign, Raise the voice to them, wave the hand, And they go in to the openings of nobles. I have given charge to My sanctified ones, Also I have called My mighty ones for Mine anger, Those rejoicing at Mine excellency.' A voice of a multitude in the mountains, A likeness of a numerous people, A voice of noise from the kingdoms of nations who are gathered, Jehovah of Hosts inspecting a host of battle! They are coming in from a land afar off, From the end of the heavens, Jehovah and the instruments of His indignation, To destroy all the land. Howl ye, for near `is' the day of Jehovah, As destruction from the Mighty it cometh. Therefore, all hands do fail, And every heart of man doth melt. And they have been troubled, Pains and pangs they take, As a travailing woman they are pained, A man at his friend they marvel, The appearance of flames -- their faces! Lo, the day of Jehovah doth come, Fierce, with wrath, and heat of anger, To make the land become a desolation, Yea, its sinning ones He destroyeth from it. For the stars of the heavens, and their constellations, Cause not their light to shine, Darkened hath been the sun in its going out, And the moon causeth not its light to come forth. And I have appointed on the world evil, And on the wicked their iniquity, And have caused to cease the excellency of the proud, And the excellency of the terrible I make low. I make man more rare than fine gold, And a common man than pure gold of Ophir. Therefore the heavens I cause to tremble, And the earth doth shake from its place, In the wrath of Jehovah of Hosts, And in a day of the heat of his anger. And it hath been, as a roe driven away, And as a flock that hath no gatherer, Each unto his people -- they turn, And each unto his land -- they flee. Every one who is found is thrust through, And every one who is added falleth by sword. And their sucklings are dashed to pieces before their eyes, Spoiled are their houses, and their wives lain with. Lo, I am stirring up against them the Medes, Who silver esteem not, And gold -- they delight not in it. And bows dash young men to pieces, And the fruit of the womb they pity not, On sons their eye hath no pity. And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, The glory, the excellency of the Chaldeans, Hath been as overthrown by God, With Sodom and with Gomorrah. She doth not sit for ever, Nor continueth unto many generations, Nor doth Arab pitch tent there, And shepherds lie not down there. And Ziim have lain down there, And full have been their houses of howlings, And dwelt there have daughters of an ostrich, And goats do skip there. And Aiim have responded in his forsaken habitations, And dragons in palaces of delight, And near to come `is' her time, And her days are not drawn out!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 79
Commentary on Psalms 79 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 79
This psalm, if penned with any particular event in view, is with most probability made to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and the woeful havoc made of the Jewish nation by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar. It is set to the same tune, as I may say, with the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and that weeping prophet borrows two verses out of it (v. 6, 7) and makes use of them in his prayer, Jer. 10:25. Some think it was penned long before by the spirit of prophecy, prepared for the use of the church in that cloudy and dark day. Others think that it was penned then by the spirit of prayer, either by a prophet named Asaph or by some other prophet for the sons of Asaph. Whatever the particular occasion was, we have here,
In times of the church's peace and prosperity this psalm may, in the singing of it, give us occasion to bless God that we are not thus trampled on and insulted. But it is especially seasonable in a day of treading down and perplexity, for the exciting of our desires towards God and the encouragement of our faith in him as the church's patron.
A psalm of Asaph.
Psa 79:1-5
We have here a sad complaint exhibited in the court of heaven. The world is full of complaints, and so is the church too, for it suffers, not only with it, but from it, as a lily among thorns. God is complained to; whither should children go with their grievances, but to their father, to such a father as is able and willing to help? The heathen are complained of, who, being themselves aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, were sworn enemies to it. Though they knew not God, nor owned him, yet, God having them in chain, the church very fitly appeals to him against them; for he is King of nations, to overrule them, to judge among the heathen, and King of saints, to favour and protect them.
Psa 79:6-13
The petitions here put up to God are very suitable to the present distresses of the church, and they have pleas to enforce them, interwoven with them, taken mostly from God's honour.