Psalm 79:1 - Printer Friendly

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

NIV: A psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

NASB: God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance; They have defiled Your holy temple; They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

CSB: A psalm of Asaph. God, the nations have invaded your inheritance, desecrated your holy temple, and turned Jerusalem into ruins.

NLT: O God, pagan nations have conquered your land, your special possession. They have defiled your holy Temple and made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.

KJV: A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.

NKJV: {A Psalm of Asaph.} O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have defiled; They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.

Psalm 79:1–4 opens a song of mourning. This apparently refers to the Babylonian invasion of 586 BC. The defeat resulted in the destruction of Solomon's temple and the ruin of Jerusalem. The psalmist expresses grief about the defiled temple and the many Israelites who have been killed. Israel has been completely humiliated by their enemies.

In 586 BC, the Babylonian Empire broke the defenses of Jerusalem. The city was burned and Solomon's temple was destroyed. Death and misery were everywhere. Many Israelites were taken captive. The psalmist struggles to grasp what has happened. He begs God for rescue and forgiveness. The song pleads for God to enact vengeance for Israel on the pagan nations that have humiliated His chosen people.

This psalm grieves over Jerusalem's ruin and the temple's destruction at the hands of Babylon in 586 BC. Similar emotions were also expressed in Psalm 74. Other psalms associated with Asaph (Psalm 73; 74; 77) tend to move from angst into assurance. This one, however, only barely includes a sense of confidence in God's eventual rescue.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.

Accessed 11/21/2024 8:44:04 AM