Psalm 79:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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!

NIV: Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.

NASB: Why should the nations say, 'Where is their God?' Let vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been shed Be known among the nations in our sight.

CSB: Why should the nations ask, "Where is their God?" Before our eyes, let vengeance for the shed blood of your servants be known among the nations.

NLT: Why should pagan nations be allowed to scoff, asking, 'Where is their God?' Show us your vengeance against the nations, for they have spilled the blood of your servants.

KJV: Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.

NKJV: Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let there be known among the nations in our sight The avenging of the blood of Your servants which has been shed.

Psalm 79:9–11 continues a prayer that God would turn His wrath on the godless empire which defeated Israel. Here the psalmist asks for salvation. Earlier passages noted that many Israelites were killed (Psalm 79:1–4). In this section, attention turns to those taken away as captives (Jeremiah 52:29). Israel is beaten down and humiliated, so the psalmist asks God to avenge His chosen people.

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.