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Psalm 79[a]

A Prayer for Jerusalem

A psalm of Asaph.

I

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
    they have defiled your holy temple;
    they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.(A)
They have left the corpses of your servants
    as food for the birds of the sky,
    the flesh of those devoted to you for the beasts of the earth.(B)
They have poured out their blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and no one is left to do the burying.(C)
We have become the reproach of our neighbors,
    the scorn and derision of those around us.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 79 A communal lament complaining that the nations have defiled the Temple and murdered the holy people, leaving their corpses unburied (Ps 79:1–4). The occasion is probably the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in 587 B.C. The people ask how long the withdrawal of divine favor will last (Ps 79:5), pray for action now (Ps 79:6–7), and admit that their own sins have brought about the catastrophe (Ps 79:8–9). They seek to persuade God to act for reasons of honor: the nations who do not call upon the Name are running amok (Ps 79:6); the divine honor is compromised (Ps 79:1, 10, 12); God’s own servants suffer (Ps 79:2–4, 11).