Bible Study Psalms 79
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Psalms 79 · WEB

The Nations Have Invaded Your Inheritance

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God, the nations have invaded your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
2They have given the dead bodies of your servants as food to the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth.
3Their blood have they shed like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them.
4We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.
5How long, Yahweh? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6Pour out your wrath on the nations that don't know you, on the kingdoms that don't call on your name.
7For they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland.
8Don't hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need.
9Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.
10Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let there be known among the nations, before our eyes, the avenging of the blood of your servants which has been shed.
11Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you. According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death.
12Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom their reproach, with which they have reproached you, Lord.
13So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, throughout all generations.
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Summary

Psalm 79 is a communal lament over the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple — likely reflecting the Babylonian conquest of 586 BC. The dead lie unburied, the holy temple is defiled, and the survivors are a mockery among the nations. The prayer has three movements: lament over the destruction (vv. 1-4), petition for God to act against the nations (vv. 5-10), and intercession for the prisoners and condemned (vv. 11-13). The appeal is consistently to God's name and glory rather than to human merit.

Themes

  • Total national catastrophe — temple destroyed, dead unburied, survivors mocked
  • The reproach question: "where is their God?" as theological wound
  • Appealing to God's name and glory as the basis for deliverance
  • Forgiveness of ancestral iniquity as part of the restoration prayer
  • Vow of eternal thanksgiving as the covenantal response to rescue

Key verses

  • Ps 79:1 — “God, the nations have invaded your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple.”
  • Ps 79:13 — “So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever.”
  • Ps 79:9 — “Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.”

Context & background

Psalm 79 is a companion to Psalm 74, both lamenting the destruction of the temple. The specific detail of the dead lying unburied (v. 2-3) is one of the most horrifying aspects of ancient warfare — burial was essential for dignity and for preventing ritual defilement. The prayer "for the glory of your name" (v. 9) — appearing twice — shows the psalmist has learned to ground intercession not in human suffering alone but in divine honor: when God's people are destroyed, God's reputation suffers before watching nations. Revelation 6:10 echoes verse 10's "how long?" from the martyrs under the altar.

Cross-references

  • 2 Kings 25:8-21 — Babylon's destruction of Jerusalem — the historical event
  • Daniel 9:7-19 — Daniel's prayer for restoration acknowledging sin — v. 8-9's petition
  • Jeremiah 10:25 — "pour out your wrath on the nations" — v. 6's parallel prayer
  • Lamentations 1-5 — the companion meditation on Jerusalem's fall
  • Revelation 6:10 — "how long, O Lord, before you judge?" — v. 5 and 10's cry from the martyrs

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What are the four calamities of verses 1-4?

  2. Observe

    What two reasons does the psalmist give for God to act (v. 9)?

  3. Interpret

    Why does the psalmist appeal to God's name and glory?

  4. Interpret

    How do corporate/generational sin (v. 8) and individual responsibility relate?

  5. Apply

    How can one answer the taunt "where is their God?" when circumstances seem to confirm it?

  6. Apply

    What would it look like to commit to future praise as present faith (v. 13)?

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