Psalm 79:1-3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 79:1-5

We have here a sad complaint exhibited in the court of heaven. The world is full of complaints, and so is the church too, for it suffers, not only with it, but from it, as a lily among thorns. God is complained to; whither should children go with their grievances, but to their father, to such a father as is able and willing to help? The heathen are complained of, who, being themselves aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, were sworn enemies to it. Though they knew not God, nor owned him,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 79:1

O God, the Heathen are come into thine inheritance ,.... The land of Canaan, divided among the children of Israel by lot and line for an inheritance, out of which the Heathen were cast, to make room for them; but now would come into it again; see Psalm 89:35 , and this is called the Lord's inheritance, because he gave it as such to the people of Israel, and dwelt in it himself; and the rather this is observed as something marvellous, that he should suffer Heathens to possess his own... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 79:2

The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven ,.... For such there were, both at the time of the Babylonish captivity, and in the times of Antiochus, who were good men, and served the Lord, and yet suffered in the common calamity. Nicanor, a general of Demetrius, in the time of the Maccabees, seems to have been guilty of such a fact as this, since, when he was slain, his tongue was given in pieces to the fowls, and the reward of his madness was hung... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 79:3

Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem ,.... Without any concern of mind, or remorse of conscience; without any fear of God or man; as if it had been so much water only; and this they shed in great abundance: from the Apocrypha: "And when he had taken all away, he went into his own land, having made a great massacre, and spoken very proudly.' (1 Maccabees 1:24) "And spake peaceable words unto them, but all was deceit: for when they had given him credence, he fell... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 79:1

The heathen are come into thine inheritance - Thou didst cast them out, and take thy people in; they have cast us out, and now taken possession of the land that belongs to thee. They have defiled the temple, and reduced Jerusalem to a heap of ruins; and made a general slaughter of thy people. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 79:2

The dead bodies of thy servants - It appears that in the destruction of Jerusalem the Chaldeans did not bury the bodies of the slain, but left them to be devoured by birds and beasts of prey. This was the grossest inhumanity. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 79:3

There was none to bury them - The Chaldeans would not; and the Jews who were not slain were carried into captivity. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 79:1

Verse 1 1.O God! the heathen have come into thy inheritance. Here the prophet, in the person of the faithful, complains that the temple was defiled, and the city destroyed. In the second and third verses, he complains that the saints were murdered indiscriminately, and that their dead bodies were cast forth upon the face of the earth, and deprived of the honor of burial. Almost every word expresses the cruelty of these enemies of the Church. When it is considered that God had chosen the land of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 79:1

O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance (comp. Psalms 74:2 ; Psalms 78:62 ). Israel—alike the people and the land—is "God's inheritance." Thy holy temple have they defiled . The Babylonians defiled the temple by breaking into it, seizing its treasures and ornaments ( Jeremiah 52:17-23 ), and finally setting fire to it ( Jeremiah 52:13 ). They have laid Jerusalem on heaps. This was certainly not done either by Shishak or by Antiochus Epiphanes; but was done, as... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 79:1-4

Times of persecution. Such times have been repeated over and over again. They must be recognized as parts of the Divine administration, and we must inquire how they are made to bear on the spiritual interests of God's Church in the world. They are not merely historical incidents. They are not merely isolated calamities. They are only seen and apprehended aright when they are seen to be Divine permissions, and even taken up and used for high moral ends by Divine power. They are one form in... read more

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