Jerusalem, Jerusalem!

O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; Thy holy temple have they defiled; They have laid Jerusalem on heaps. 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. Their blood have they shed like water Round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them. We are become a reproach to our neighbours, A scorn and derision to them that are round about us. How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire? Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, And upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. For they have devoured Jacob, And laid waste his dwelling place. O remember not against us former iniquities: Let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: For we are brought very low. 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. 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. Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; According to the greatness of thy power Preserve thou those that are appointed to die; And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom Their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord. So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture Will give thee thanks for ever: We will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

Introduction:

Three periods have been assigned to the condition of things here reflected—(a) the invasion of Shishak; (b) the Babylonian conquest; (c) the ravages of Antiochus Epiphanes. [Scroggie takes it as with] All things considered, the second of these is the most likely, and so, [that we] should read 2 Kings 25, and Lamentations. [W. Graham Scroggie, The Guide to the Psalms, A Comprehensive Analysis of the Psalms, vol. 2, The Scroggie Studies of the Psalms and the Gospels Library (Kregel Publications, 2014), 176.]

[However:]

There is no unanimity among commentators as to when this psalm was written or by whom. The theme of the psalm clearly is after a conquest of Jerusalem. Therefore, some think that the Asaph noted was a psalmist living at the time of Jeremiah. Others have suggested that this was the Asaph of David 's time who was rather writing prophetically. However, the more likely event was when Shishak overran Jerusalem as recorded in This may be the same aged Asaph who had served under David in his youth. The psalm is a prayer of lamentation over the invasion of Jerusalem. It is a prayer for God to avenge His people, to deliver them, and to encourage them. The psalm ends with a vow to thank God for His help. [David H. Sorenson, Understanding the Bible, An Independent Baptist Commentary - Job through Psalms, vol. 4, Understanding the Bible, An Independent Baptist Commentary (Northstar Ministry, 2007), 525.]

[And furthermore, this Psalm may also have] a prophetical setting (that it reflects the conditions which will be prevailing in the days of the Great Tribulation, when the righteous Jewish remnant in Palestine will be undergoing great persecution at the hand of the Beast). Perhaps there is a double reference and both beliefs are true, [and I will therefore interweave history with prophecy as we walk through the Song [Roy E. Gingrich, The Book of Psalms (Book Three) (Memphis, TN: Riverside Printing, 1995), 16.]

Body:

I. Lament of the Remnant (Ps. 79:1-6)

A. Persecution ()

1. God's Holy Place Defiled (v. 1)

Psalm 79:1 KJV 1900

O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; Thy holy temple have they defiled; They have laid Jerusalem on heaps.

2. God's Holy People Dead (v. 2)

Psalm 79:2 KJV 1900

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.

3. God's Holy People Desecrated (v. 3)

Psalm 79:3 KJV 1900

Their blood have they shed like water Round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.

[Historically:] The last phrase has the thought 'they have left Jerusalem in ruins.' The time clearly was when Jerusalem had been overrun by invading gentiles. God used Egypt, under Shishak, to chasten Rehoboam about 40 years after David died. It may be that this Asaph, now an old man, was the same Asaph who served under David. Shishak not only defiled the temple by entering it, but he also looted the treasury thereof. [Sorenson, 525–526.]]

[Prophetically:] At the mid-point of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, the armies of the Beast will invade and occupy the Holy Land, ; , ; . This heathen presence will defile the land...“The abomination that maketh desolate” (the image of the Beast) will be set in the temple at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, ; ; ...See [Gingrich, 16–17.]

B. Petitions ()

1. Their Testimony Destroyed (v. 4)

Psalm 79:4 KJV 1900

We are become a reproach to our neighbours, A scorn and derision to them that are round about us.

2. Their Testing Unendurable (v. 5)

Psalm 79:5 KJV 1900

How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

The remnant will know that they are suffering for their sins and that God in His jealousy is chastening them for their sins, but in their sufferings they will want to know how long this chastisement will continue. [Gingrich, 17.]

3. What Their Tormenters Deserve (v. 6-7)

a. Wrath of God (v. 6)

Psalm 79:6 KJV 1900

Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, And upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.

b. Why - For Devouring His People (v. 7)

Psalm 79:7 KJV 1900

For they have devoured Jacob, And laid waste his dwelling place.

The remnant will pray that the Lord cease chastening them and that He punish their heathen persecutors (1) because these persecutors have not called upon God’s name and (2) because they have devoured God’s people and laid His land waste. God uses pagan, wicked peoples to chasten His people but when His purpose has been accomplished, He then punishes these persecutors of Israel, . Why? For 2 reasons: (1) They chasten the Israelites too severely and (2) they chasten them with the wrong motive. [Gingrich, 17.]

All that was dearest to these Israelites was taken from them; desolation and ruin were on every hand. Have you ever felt thus overwhelmed? Well, at such a time, what are we to do? What the Psalmist did: we should pray (5-8). In this prayer intertwine two ideas; one, that Jacob is being punished for his sins (5, 8), and the other, that the heathen should be punished for punishing them, though, without doubt, these heathen were the instruments of Providence. All sin must be judged, and often the agents are the greatest sinners. This was Habakkuk's problem (ch. 1). It will be well for us to attend to our end of the matter, and to leave the other end to God. [Scroggie, 176.]

II. Prayer of the Remnant ()

A. Prayer (Ps. 79:8-9)

1. For Compassion (v. 8)

Psalm 79:8 KJV 1900

O remember not against us former iniquities: Let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: For we are brought very low.

God does not visit the guilt nor the condemnation of our ancestors’ sins upon us but He sometimes does visit the natural consequences of their sins upon us. [Gingrich, 17.]

Judgment has come upon the Israelites. It has come in the form of an invasion by foreign powers. The reason for the judgment is the sins of the Israelites. The Psalmist...prays an excellent prayer for deliverance from God. We note three things about the prayer.

FIRST—THE MEMORY OF GOD -“Remember not against us former iniquities.” Past sins often haunt us. Any time we experience a trial or trouble we wonder if it is God bringing chastisement judgment upon us for our past sins. God is [omniscient] and knows all about out past, even better than we do. We might have forgotten some of our sins but God does not forget like we do. But God can [choose not to remember] our sins if we seek forgiveness of them, for He not only forgives, but he also [chooses to never bring up] our sins [against us ever again]. “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (). When our sins are forgiven, Satan likes to remind us of them and make us miserable; but remember that God has blotted out our sins and has forgotten them and will not bring them back to haunt us. Asaph’s prayer will be answered. God will not remember against His people their former iniquities when they seek His forgiveness, which He will grant.

SECOND—THE MERCY OF GOD - “Let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us.” It will help us understand this phrase and text much better if we remember that the word translated “prevent” means to meet [or "go before"] something not stop something...The Psalmist prays that the mercies of God will [go before] him and speedily. It is wise to seek the mercy of God for our deliverances or for any request. We will have little foundation for the answer to our request if we plead merit, which many people do. You will get a whole lot more via the mercy route than than the merit route. Sinners need God’s mercies [to] speedily [clear the way for them] lest judgment come upon them before they are under the protection of Divine mercy. Sinners need to come speedily to the door of mercy for salvation lest the door of mercy be closed and it will be too late to be saved.

THIRD—THE METHOD OF GOD - “We are brought very low.” Sin advertises that it will promote and raise the sinner but all it does is lower him more. “We are brought very low” is the work of sin, not righteousness. The Divine method of judgment upon sin is to bring the sinner down low. Sin instills arrogancy and pride in the sinner, but God’s judgment humbles the sinner and shames him for his sin. If you are living in sin, one of the best things that can happen to you is for God to knock the props out from under you and let you fall low fast and hard. You will then be in an attitude of mind to listen to God speak to you. So it was with Israel. [John G. Butler, Sermon Starters, vol. 3 (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 2014), 67.]

Think of the people who have been "brought very low." Think of Job. and David, and Jeremiah, and of yourself. But there is a God on high for people who are low, and He will keep us from sin and from sinking. It is when we are very low that we should look very high. [Scroggie, 176.]

2. For Deliverance (v. 9a)

Psalm 79:9 KJV 1900

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.

3. For Atonement (v. 9b)

They, the remnant, will request that God’s mercy do three things for them:

(1) Help and deliver them

(2) Purge away their sins

(3) Avenge their shed blood (and so take away the reproach of their heathen neighbors)

Note that they will request that these three things be done for God’s name’s sake. [Gingrich, 17.]

Later in Isaiah and Jeremiah, God promised that He would not remember our sins ( and ). If that was true under the Old Testament dispensation, how much more so is it true in Christ. He has taken our sins as far as the east is from the west () and cast them in the deepest sea (). The psalmist therefore pleads with God to forget their sins for His mercies sake. [Sorenson, 527.]

B. Pleading ()

1. For Vengeance (v. 10)

Psalm 79:10 KJV 1900

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.

2. For Freedom (v. 11)

Psalm 79:11 KJV 1900

Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; According to the greatness of thy power Preserve thou those that are appointed to die;

3. For Retribution (v. 12)

Psalm 79:12 KJV 1900

And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom Their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.

C. Praise ()

Ps.

Psalm 79:13 KJV 1900

So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture Will give thee thanks for ever: We will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

When we sin and reap what we have sown, we find in clear instruction for experiencing restoration. We humble ourselves under the discipline of God, confessing our sins to him, lamenting the consequences we are reaping, and pleading for forgiveness and deliverance from our distress. And we can be certain that God will hear and answer our prayers, because Jesus has already experienced ultimate devastation in our place and has been raised to life that we might be restored. [Mark D. Futato, “The Book of Psalms,” in Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 7: The Book of Psalms, The Book of Proverbs (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2009), 263.]

Conclusion:

THE LESSONS TAUGHT BY THIS PSALM

[We can never understand effects by ignoring causes [Scroggie, 176.]]

1. We should pray when we are in trouble.

2. We should be concerned with God’s glory, and not our own selfish interests, when we pray.