This is a cry of distress. The conditions described are those of overwhelming national calamity. The country and the city of God are overrun and spoiled by ruthless enemies. The people have been slain and left without burial. Out of the midst of these circumstances the psalmist prays to God for pardon, help, and deliverance.
It gives a pathetic picture of the calamities that have fallen upon God's people (v. 1~4), entreats God to withdraw His anger from them, to forgive their sins, and to avenge them on the heathen (v. 5~12), that they may give Him perpetual praise (v. 13).
Beginning with this psalm, we find another series of psalms that prophetically determine the time when the LORD will use Assyria, which is in the future the king of the North, as a disciplinary rod (Isaiah 10:5) over Israel, which is in unbelief under the government of the antichrist. The king of the North will kill two-thirds of the people (Zeceriah 13:8) and destroy Jerusalem and the third temple (Zeceriah 14:2). These are labor pains necessary for the birth of the remnant or new Israel (Isaiah 66:8).
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.
Psalms 79:2
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.
Psalms 79:3
Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.
Psalms 79:4
We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
Psalms 79:5
How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
Psalms 79:6
Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
Psalms 79:7
For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
Psalms 79:8
O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
Psalms 79:9
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.
Psalms 79:10
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.
Psalms 79:11
Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;
Psalms 79:12
And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
Psalms 79:13
So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.
This Psalm is about the invasion of Israel by the nations who destroy Jerusalem and the temple. The emphasis here is not so much on the judgment on God's people because of their sins, but on the means God uses.
The structure of the psalm can be presented as follows:
1. Psalm 79:1-7 contain a complaint about the destruction.
2. Pslm 79:8-13 contain the prayer for restoration.
1. The center of the first section is Psa_79:4, where they say that they have become a reproach to their neighbors. That is the substance of their complaint.
2. The center of the second section is Psa_79:10, where they ask God to make the shed blood of His servants known before their eyes among the nations. That is the essence of their plea.
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