Psalm 79

Prayer during the Day Thursday Week 3

The Holy Land has been devastated by an invading army. The psalmist pleads with
God to defend God’s honour by intervening to save his people and punish the invaders.
A likely setting for this psalm is the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian king,
Nebuchadnezzar in 587BC. Comparisons can be made with Psalms 44, 74 and 102, but
note here the explicit confession of sin (79:9). It is important to read the article ‘Anger
of YHWH’ in the Introduction, which treats also of God’s so-called ‘punishment’. The
title reads: ‘A Psalm* of Asaph*.
Part One. The destruction of the city and the temple
1
O God, the nations have The Israelites saw themselves as the special posses-
invaded your inheritance. sion of God:
You brought them in and planted them on the moun-
tain of your own possession, the place, YHWH, that
you made your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, that
your hands have established.
– Exodus 15:17
Our inheritance is from God,
our pride given to Jacob out of love.
– Psalm 47:4
They have defiled your holy Enemies have stretched out their hands over all
temple, they have laid Jeru- her precious things; she has even seen the nations in-
salem in ruins. vade her sanctuary, those whom you forbade to enter
your congregation.
– Lamentations 1:10
Zion shall be ploughed as a field; Jerusalem shall
become a heap of ruins.
– Micah 3:12
2
They have given the bodies The ‘faithful’ are the asdm [Myˆdyˆs≈j]: those who
of your servants to the birds are faithful to God’s loving-kindness and to the cov-
of the air for food, the flesh enant. Verses two and three are quoted in 1Maccabees
of your faithful to the wild 7:17 in relation to the destruction brought about by
animals of the earth. the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes IV, in 168BC.
3
They have poured out their See also 1Maccabees 1:37-40 and 2:10-13; Revela-
blood like water all around tion 11:7-9.
Jerusalem, and there was no
one to bury them.
4
We have become a taunt All your enemies open their mouths against you;
to our neighbours, mocked they hiss, they gnash their teeth, they cry: ‘We have
and derided by those devoured her! Ah, this is the day we longed for; at
last we have seen it!’
around us.
– Lamentation 2:16
It seems unfair that the punishment is out of propor-
tion to their sin.

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 Psalm 79
Part Two. When is God going to turn his anger against the enemy?
It seems unfair, too, that the enemy triumphs 5
How long, YHWH*? Will you
even though they do not honour YHWH. Verses be angry* forever? Will your
six and seven are not used in the Mass or the Di- jealous wrath* burn like fire?
vine Office. The pharaoh is a classical example 6
Pour out your anger* on the
of one who did not know YHWH: nations that do not know you,
Pharaoh said, ‘Who is YHWH, that I should heed and on the kingdoms that do
him and let Israel go? I do not know YHWH, and not call on your name.
I will not let Israel go.’ 7
For they have devoured Jacob
– Exodus 5:2 and laid waste his habitation.
YHWH, YHWH, a God tenderly compassionate 8
Do not hold against us the
and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in guilt of our ancestors.
steadfast love and faithfulness. Let your tender compassion
– Exodus 34:6 come speedily to meet us, for
As far as the east is from the west, so far he we are brought very low.
removes our transgressions from us. As a father
has compassion for his children, so YHWH has
compassion for those who fear him.
– Psalm 103:12-13
‘Forgive’ in verse nine translates the Hebrew 9
Help us, O God of our salva-
kipper [r…®…pˆk]. The image is of the high priest tion*, for the glory* of your
seeking forgiveness for the people before the name. Deliver us, and forgive
mercy-seat of YHWH in the inner sanctuary. It our sins*, for your name’s
is sometimes translated by ‘expiate’ or ‘atone’. sake.
The seraph touched my mouth with it and said:
‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt
has departed and your sin is forgiven.’
– Isaiah 6:7 (also 22:14)
By this the guilt of Jacob will be expiated, and
this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin.
– Isaiah 27:9
The following texts speak of confession of sin:
Ezra 9; Nehemiah 9-10; Daniel 3,9; Baruch 2:15
- 3:8.
God’s ‘name’ is YHWH, the God of the Exo-
dus, the God who redeems those caught in slav-
ery. When others witness God’s forgiveness of
Judah, they will honour and praise God.

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Seeking vengeance
Part Three. A final plea
Why should the nations
10 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests,
say, ‘Where is their God?’ the ministers of YHWH, weep. Let them say, ‘Spare
your people, YHWH, and do not make your herit-
age a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why
should it be said among the peoples, “Where is their
God?”’
– Joel 2:17
Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her
who said to me, ‘Where is YHWH your God?’ My
eyes will see her downfall; now she will be trodden
down like the mire of the streets.
– Micah 7:10
My tears have been my food by day and by night, as
they say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God? …
My enemies taunt me, as they say to me all day long,
‘Where is your God?’
– Psalm 42:3,10
Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’
– Psalm 115:2

Let us see you punishing On the subject of vengeance see Numbers 35:9-34.
the nations, avenging the Praise, O heavens, his people, worship him, all you
poured out blood of your gods! For he will avenge the blood of his children,
servants. and take vengeance on his adversaries. He will repay
those who hate him, and cleanse the land for his
people.
– Deuteronomy 32:43
You shall strike down the house of your master
Ahab, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of
my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the
servants of YHWH.
– 2Kings 9:7
When they resolved to kill the infants of your holy
ones … you in punishment took away a multitude of
their children; and you destroyed them all.
– Wisdom 18:5 (referring to Egypt)
Surely there is a reward for the just;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.
– Psalm 58:11

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 Psalm 79
Verse 12 is not used in the Mass or the Divine Office. 11
Let the groans of the
Remember, YHWH, the Edomites on the day of Jerusa- prisoners come before
lem’s fall, how they said, ‘Tear it down! Tear it down! you.
Down to its foundations!’ O daughter Babylon, you According to your great
devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what power preserve those
you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your doomed to die.
little ones and dash them against the rock! 12
Return sevenfold into
– Psalm 137:7-9 the bosom of our neigh-
On the day that you stood aside, on the day that stran- bours the taunts with
gers carried off his wealth, and foreigners entered his which they taunted you,
gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you too were like one O Lord!
of them. But you should not have gloated over your
brother on the day of his misfortune.You should not
have rejoiced over the people of Judah on the day of
their ruin. You should not have boasted on the day of
distress. You should not have entered the gate of my
people on the day of their calamity You should not have
joined in the gloating over Judah’s disaster on the day
of his calamity You should not have looted his goods on
the day of his calamity. You should not have stood at the
crossings to cut off his fugitives You should not have
handed over his survivors on the day of distress.
– Obadiah 11-14
The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter Zion, is
accomplished, he will keep you in exile no longer. But
your iniquity, O daughter Edom, he will punish, he will
uncover your sins.
– Lamentations 4:22
‘Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep Then we your people,
13

of my pasture!’ says YHWH. the flock of your pasture,

– Jeremiah 23:1 will give endless thanks
‘You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture and I am to you.
your God’, says YHWH God. From generation to gen-
– Ezekiel 34:31 eration we will continue
Why do you blaze with anger to praise you.
against the sheep of your pasture?
– Psalm 74:1
He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he feeds by hand.
– Psalm 95:7
Know that YHWH is God. He that made us,
we belong to him. We are his people,
the sheep of his fold.
– Psalm 100:3

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