King James Version
Psalms 79
13 verses with commentary
How Long, O Lord?
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. of: or, for
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.</strong> This communal lament opens with a description of devastating invasion. Like Psalm 74, it likely responds to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, though the language is applicable to any catastrophic violation of the holy city.<br><br>"The heathen...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Inheritance.**—Probably intended to embrace both *land *and *people. *(Exodus 15:17; Psalm 74:2, &c.)
**Heaps**—*i.e., ruins. *(Comp. Micah 3:12; Jeremiah 26:18; and in singular, Micah 1:6.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4-6. For--**The reason is given. Though the kings (perhaps of Moab and Ammon, compare Psa 83:3-5) combined, a conviction of God's presence with His people, evinced by the unusual courage with which the prophets (compare 2Ch 20:12-20) had inspired them, seized on their minds, and smitten with sudden and intense alarm, they fled astonished.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 79
Chapter Outline
The deplorable condition of the people of God.(1-5)
A petition for relief.(6-13)
**Verses 1-5**
God is complained to: whither should children go but to a Father able and willing to help them? See what a change sin made in the holy city, when the heathen were suffered to pour in upon them. God's own people defiled it by their sins, therefore he suffered ...
Read full commentary →The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.</strong> This horrifying image depicts covenant violation of the most extreme kind. The Hebrew <em>nevelah</em> (נְבֵלָה) for "dead bodies" specifically refers to corpses denied proper burial—an unspeakable disgrace in ancient Near Eastern culture. ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) In addition to references in Margin see Deuteronomy 28:26.
**Saints.**—Heb., *chasîdîm. *(See Note, Psalm 16:10.) Here with definite allusion to the *Assdœans *of 1 Maccabees 7.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4-6. For--**The reason is given. Though the kings (perhaps of Moab and Ammon, compare Psa 83:3-5) combined, a conviction of God's presence with His people, evinced by the unusual courage with which the prophets (compare 2Ch 20:12-20) had inspired them, seized on their minds, and smitten with sudden and intense alarm, they fled astonished.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 79
Chapter Outline
The deplorable condition of the people of God.(1-5)
A petition for relief.(6-13)
**Verses 1-5**
God is complained to: whither should children go but to a Father able and willing to help them? See what a change sin made in the holy city, when the heathen were suffered to pour in upon them. God's own people defiled it by their sins, therefore he suffered ...
Read full commentary →Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.</strong> The simile "like water" (כַּמַּיִם, <em>kamayim</em>) indicates blood poured out abundantly, carelessly, without value—as common and cheap as water. The Hebrew verb <em>shaphak</em> (שָׁפַךְ, "shed/poured out") appears frequently in contexts of violence and murder, especially innocent blo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Their blood.**—In 1 Maccabees 7:17, we read “The flesh of thy saints and their blood have they shed round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them,” introduced by “according to the word which he wrote.” This is evidently a free quotation from this psalm, and seems to imply a reference to a contemporary.
**None to bury.**—For this aggravation of the evil comp. Jeremiah 14:16; Jeremiah...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. ships of Tarshish--**as engaged in a distant and lucrative trade, the most valuable. The phrase may illustrate God's control over all material agencies, whether their literal destruction be meant or not.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 79
Chapter Outline
The deplorable condition of the people of God.(1-5)
A petition for relief.(6-13)
**Verses 1-5**
God is complained to: whither should children go but to a Father able and willing to help them? See what a change sin made in the holy city, when the heathen were suffered to pour in upon them. God's own people defiled it by their sins, therefore he suffered ...
Read full commentary →We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.</strong> This verse shifts from physical violence to social humiliation. Three synonyms—"reproach" (<em>cherpah</em>, חֶרְפָּה), "scorn" (<em>la'ag</em>, לַעַג), and "derision" (<em>qeles</em>, קֶלֶס)—intensify the sense of utter disgrace. The perfect tense "we are become" (הָיִינוּ, <em>hayin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) This verse occurs Psalm 44:13. Also possibly a Maccabæan psalm. (See Introduction to that psalm.)
The scenes still witnessed by travellers at the Jews’ wailing-place offer a striking illustration of the foregoing verses, showing, as they do, how deep-seated is the love of an ancient place in the Oriental mind. (See a striking description in Porter’s *Giant Cities of Bashan.*)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
8. This present experience assures of that perpetual care which God extends to His Church.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 79
Chapter Outline
The deplorable condition of the people of God.(1-5)
A petition for relief.(6-13)
**Verses 1-5**
God is complained to: whither should children go but to a Father able and willing to help them? See what a change sin made in the holy city, when the heathen were suffered to pour in upon them. God's own people defiled it by their sins, therefore he suffered ...
Read full commentary →How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?</strong> The desperate question "How long?" (<em>ad-mah</em>, עַד־מָה) appears throughout the Psalter, expressing anguish over apparently endless suffering. This is the lament's crucial pivot: from describing atrocity to demanding divine response. The psalmist addresses Yahweh directly by covenant name, asserti...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **How long, Lord?**—The dominant cry of the Maccabæan age. (See Psalm 74:9.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. thought of--**literally, "compared," or considered, in respect of former dealings.
**in the ... temple--**in acts of solemn worship (compare 2Ch 20:28).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 79
Chapter Outline
The deplorable condition of the people of God.(1-5)
A petition for relief.(6-13)
**Verses 1-5**
God is complained to: whither should children go but to a Father able and willing to help them? See what a change sin made in the holy city, when the heathen were suffered to pour in upon them. God's own people defiled it by their sins, therefore he suffered ...
Read full commentary →Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.</strong> This imprecatory prayer requests divine judgment redirect from Israel to pagan nations. The imperative "pour out" (<em>shefokh</em>, שְׁפֹךְ) deliberately echoes verse 3's language of blood being "poured out" like water. The psalmist asks God to pour His wrath as...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6-7) The poet prays in prophetical strain, that the fire of indignation may be turned from Israel and directed against the heathen oppressors, (For the relation to Jeremiah 10:25, see Introduction.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. According ... praise--**that is, As Thy perfections manifested (compare Psa 8:1; 20:1-7), demand praise, it shall be given, everywhere.
**thy right hand, &c.--**Thy righteous government is displayed by Thy power.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-13**
Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had n...
Read full commentary →For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.</strong> This verse provides justification for the previous imprecatory prayer. "Devoured" (<em>akhal</em>, אָכַל) uses consuming/eating imagery, suggesting voracious destruction—not merely defeating but consuming completely, like wild beasts devouring prey. "Jacob" employs Israel's covenant name, emphasizing that attacking I...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Dwelling place.**—Literally, *pasture, *as in Jeremiah 23:3; Jeremiah 49:20; Jeremiah 1:19. The figure is a favourite one in the Asaphic group of psalms.
**Former iniquities.**—Better, *iniquities of former ones, i.e., of ancestors. *(Comp. Leviticus 26:45, “covenant of their ancestors,” and for the thought Exodus 20:5; Leviticus 26:39.)
**Prevent.**—Better, *come to meet. *Daniel 9:16 seems...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. the daughters, &c.--**the small towns, or the people, with the chief city, or rulers of the Church.
**judgments--**decisions and acts of right government.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-13**
Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had n...
Read full commentary →O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low. former: or, the iniquities of them that were before us
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.</strong> This verse shifts from imprecatory prayer against enemies to penitential prayer for Israel. "Remember not" (<em>al-tizkor-lanu</em>, אַל־תִּזְכָּר־לָנוּ) asks God to refrain from covenant lawsuit based on accumulated guilt. "Former iniquities" (<em>avonot rishonim<...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12-14. The call to survey Zion, or the Church, as a fortified city, is designed to suggest "how well our God secures His fold." This security is perpetual, and its pledge is His guidance through this life.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-13**
Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had n...
Read full commentary →Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.</strong> This verse represents the psalm's central petition, combining appeal for help with confession of sin. The prayer is grounded not in Israel's merit but in God's reputation and character.<br><br>"O God of our salvation" (<em>Elohey yish'enu</em>, אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׁעֵנ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Purge away.**—Rather, *put a cover on. *So Cicero speaks of political crimes being *covered *by the plea of friendship.
**Our sins.**—How is this to be taken in connection with Psalm 79:8? Does the psalmist admit guilt in his own generation, as well as in those of former times? Or is he thinking only of the inherited guilt and punishment? The general tone of post-exile psalms inclines toward...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12-14. The call to survey Zion, or the Church, as a fortified city, is designed to suggest "how well our God secures His fold." This security is perpetual, and its pledge is His guidance through this life.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-13**
Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had n...
Read full commentary →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. revenging: Heb. vengeance
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> This verse returns to the theological crisis introduced in verse 4: the nations' mockery of Israel becomes mockery of Yahweh. The question "Where is their God?" (<em>ayyeh Eloheihem</em>, אַיֵּה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם) was the ultim...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Wherefore.**—Taken from Joel 2:17.
**Let him be known.**—Better, *Let it be known, i.e., *where God is. Let the answer to the question be given in vengeance, and let us see it.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12-14. The call to survey Zion, or the Church, as a fortified city, is designed to suggest "how well our God secures His fold." This security is perpetual, and its pledge is His guidance through this life.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-13**
Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had n...
Read full commentary →Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die; thy: Heb. thine arm preserve: Heb. reserve the children of death
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;</strong> This verse shifts imagery from slaughtered dead to living prisoners awaiting execution. "Sighing" (<em>en'qat</em>, אֶנְקַת) derives from <em>anaq</em> (אָנַק), meaning groaning, sighing—the involuntary sounds of anguish too deep for words. This ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Appointed to die.**—See margin. This expression, as well as the “sighing of the prisoners,” occurs, Psalm 102:20, of the sufferers in the Captivity.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-13**
Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had n...
Read full commentary →And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.</strong> This concluding imprecatory prayer requests comprehensive justice. "Render...sevenfold" (<em>hashev shiv'atayim</em>, הָשֵׁב שִׁבְעָתַיִם) uses intensified language—not merely equivalent punishment but multiplied return. "Sevenfold" represents completeness in Hebr...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Neighbours.**—The sharpest pang of the suffering came from the taunts of “neighbours. (See Psalm 79:4.)
**Sevenfold.**—As in Genesis 4:15. We naturally contrast the law of Christian forgiveness.
**Into their bosom.**—The deep folds of the Eastern dress were used as a pocket. (Comp. Ruth 3:15; Isaiah 65:7; Jeremiah 32:18; Luke 6:38, &c)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 49 Psa 49:1-20. This Psalm instructs and consoles. It teaches that earthly advantages are not reliable for permanent happiness, and that, however prosperous worldly men may be for a time, their ultimate destiny is ruin, while the pious are safe in God's care.
1-3. All are called to hear what interests all.
**world--**literally, "duration of life," the present time.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-13**
Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had n...
Read full commentary →So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations. to all: Heb. to generation and generation
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.</strong> The psalm concludes with a vow of perpetual praise—the anticipated response to answered prayer. Having confessed sin, appealed to God's name, and requested deliverance, the community now promises thanksgiving that will extend through all generations.<br><br>"...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) “The last word of the psalm is *Tehillah; *the one crowning privilege of God’s people; the exulting and triumphant confidence in God, which only His chosen can entertain and express. It is here placed in splendid contrast with the reproach of the heathen, and of the malicious neighbours mentioned in the preceding verse. *Let them curse so long as thou dost bless *(Burgess, *Notes on the Hebre...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 49 Psa 49:1-20. This Psalm instructs and consoles. It teaches that earthly advantages are not reliable for permanent happiness, and that, however prosperous worldly men may be for a time, their ultimate destiny is ruin, while the pious are safe in God's care.
1-3. All are called to hear what interests all.
**world--**literally, "duration of life," the present time.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-13**
Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had n...
Read full commentary →