Psalms 79
79
Prayer in a Time of National Disaster
Asaph’s poetic song
1God, won’t you do something?
Barbarians have invaded your inheritance.
Your temple of holiness has been violated,
and Jerusalem has been left in ruins.
2The corpses of your loving people are lying in the open—
food for the beasts and the birds.
3The shed blood of your servants has soaked the city,
with no one left to bury the dead.
4Now the nearby nations heap their scorn upon us,
scoffing, mocking us incessantly.
5How much longer, O Yahweh, must we endure this?
Does your anger have no end?
Will your jealousy burn like a raging fire?
6If you’re going to pour out your anger,
pour it out on all these nations around us, not on us!
They’re the ones who do not love you like we do!
7See how they’ve attacked us, consuming the land,
leaving it desolate.
8Please, God, don’t hold the sins of our fathers against us.
Don’t make us pay for their sins.
Hurry to our side, and let your tenderhearted mercy
meet us in our need, for we are devastated beyond belief.
9Our hero, come and rescue us!
O God of the breakthrough, for the glory of your name,
come and help us!
Forgive and restore us; heal us and cover us in your love.
10Why should all the nations sneer at us, saying,
“Where is this God of yours?”
Now is the time, Lord.
Show your people and all the world that
you will avenge this slaughter and bloodshed once and for all!
11Listen, Lord! Hear the sighing of all the prisoners of war,
all those doomed to die. Demonstrate your glory-power,
and come and rescue your condemned children!
12Lord God, take what these mocking masses have done to us
and pay it all back to them seven times over.
13Then we, your devoted lovers, will forever thank you,
praising your name from generation to generation!
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Psalms 79: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 79
79
Psalm 79#sn Psalm 79. The author laments how the invading nations have destroyed the temple and city of Jerusalem. He asks God to forgive his people and to pour out his vengeance on those who have mistreated them.
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, foreigners#tn Or “nations.” have invaded your chosen land;#tn Heb “have come into your inheritance.”
they have polluted your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. into a heap of ruins.
2 They have given the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky;#tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”
the flesh of your loyal followers
to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have made their blood flow like water
all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them.#tn Heb “they have poured out their blood like water, all around Jerusalem, and there is no one burying.”
4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.#tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.
5 How long will this go on, O Lord?#tn Heb “How long, O Lord?”
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage#tn Or “jealous anger.” burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you,#tn Heb “which do not know you.” Here the Hebrew term “know” means “acknowledge the authority of.”
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you!#sn The kingdoms that do not pray to you. The people of these kingdoms pray to other gods, not the Lord, because they do not recognize his authority over them.
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations!#tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.
Quickly send your compassion our way,#tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.
for we are in serious trouble!#tn Heb “for we are very low.”
9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!
For the sake of your glorious reputation,#tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation. rescue us!
Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation!#tn Heb “your name.”
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants
be avenged among the nations!#tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”
11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners!#tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die!#tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
12 Pay back our neighbors in full!#tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord!#tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will continually thank you.#tn Or (hyperbolically) “will thank you forever.”
We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts.#tn Heb “to a generation and a generation we will report your praise.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.
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