As I mentioned last week, Dr. Kevin Watson will be filling in for me in this space for most of the rest of our daily psalm commentary through the summer. Today, however, you’re still stuck with me! —Andrew

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.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
    to 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.
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?
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.
8 Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
    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!
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!
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.

In 586 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried off its citizens into exile. That event is the background to today’s psalm. You can read the account in 2 Kings 25, but be warned—it’s not for the faint of heart. The Babylonians even put out the king’s eyes!

Beth Tanner has a helpful comment:

“We all know the dual cries of desire for rescue from our situation mixed with desires for payback. This poem offers a look at the feelings surrounding loss and our very human desire to see those who gave the corpses of your servants as food for the birds to receive sevenfold what has been done to us. This psalm looks into the depths of our souls and tells it exactly as it is. We might think this is too “un-Christian,” for it tells of anger and a desire for revenge, but we too have had those feelings. But it also tells in a final quick burst another way of looking beyond fear and desire for retribution. It tells of praise and it encourages us, no matter how long it may take, to make praise the last word to God. It teaches that praise will eventually replace words of hurt and pain."