Psalms 79:1

Psalms 79:1 « 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.

A Psalm ] Of like subject with Psalms 74:1-23 , bewailing the same calamity of the Jews, whether under Nebuchadnezzar or Antiochus is uncertain; but foreseen by Asaph, or described by some other prophet, and committed to some of Asaph’s successors to be sung. Cantant iusti etiam in adversis; as birds in the spring tune most sweetly when it raineth most sadly.

Ver. 1. O God, the heathen ] Ex abrupto orditur; q.d. Canst thou endure it? Is it not high time for thee to set in? Lo, they have filled the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel, Isaiah 8:8 , that is, O thou who art God with us, who givest with the Father, who prayest with the suitor ( Cum parte dater, inter nos petitor. Aug.), and who in all our afflictions art afflicted.

Thy holy temple have they defiled ] Spoliando, funestando, et omnia profana impiaque munera obeundo. See Psalms 74:7 .

They have laid Jerusalem on heaps ] In rudera, into an orchard keeper’s cottage, saith the Vulgate, οπωροφυλακιον (Sept.). An elegant hypotyposis.