Psalms 79:1

“O God, the Heathen are come into thine inheritance, etc.] 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 <198935>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 inheritance; or the city of Jerusalem, which was the place the Lord chose to put his name in; or the temple, where he had his residence, called the mountain of his inheritance, (<021517>Exodus 15:17),…”

“Shoshannim--"Lilies" (see on Psa 45:1, title). Eduth--Testimony, referring to the topic as a testimony of God to His people (compare Psa 19:7). This Psalm probably relates to the captivity of the ten tribes, as the former to that of Judah. Its complaint is aggravated by the contrast of former prosperity, and the prayer for relief occurs as a refrain through the Psalm. (Psa. 80:1-19) Joseph--for Ephraim (Ch1 7:20-29; Psa 78:67; Rev 7:8), for Israel. Shepherd--(Compare Gen 49:24). leadest, &c.-- (Psa 77:20). dwellest . . . cherubim-- (Exo 25:20); the place of God's visible glory, whence He communed with the people (Heb 9:5). shine forth--appear (Psa 50:2; Psa 94:1).”

“O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance - The nations; a foreign people. See Psalms 2:1, note; Psalms 2:8; note; Psalms 78:55, note. The term is one that would be applicable to the Chaldeans, or Babylonians, and the probable allusion here is to their invasion of the holy land under Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Chronicles 36:17-21. Thy holy temple have they defiled - They have polluted it. By entering it; by removing the sacred furniture; by cutting down the carved work; by making it desolate. See 2 Chronicles 36:17-18. Compare the notes at Psalms 74:5-7. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps - See 2 Chronicles 36:19 : “And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and…”

“Ps 79 This lament describes the occasion of Jerusalem’s fall in 586 BC. The early history of Israel’s rebellions described in Ps 78 provoked God’s wrath, resulting in the desolation of Zion described here as the defilement of the Temple and the disgraced bodies that littered the landscape. The psalmist then prays for forgiveness and rescue (79:8-9), as well as for God to pay back the nation’s enemies (79:12-13). Other psalms lamenting the Exile include Pss 42–44, 102, 107, 126, 137. 79:1-4 The poet laments the desecration of the Temple and the success of the enemy. 79:1 your special possession: This phrase might refer to the land, the Temple (see 61:5), or the people (see 79:2; 78:71).”

“of Asaph: or, for Asaph, Psa 74:1 \*title, marg: the heathen: Psa 74:3, Psa 74:4, Psa 80:12, Psa 80:13; Kg2 21:12-16, Kg2 25:4-10; Ch2 36:3, Ch2 36:4, Ch2 36:6, Ch2 36:7, Ch2 36:17; Luk 21:24; Rev 11:2 into: Psa 74:2, Psa 78:71; Exo 15:17; Isa 47:6 holy: Psa 74:7, Psa 74:8; Kg2 24:13; Lam 1:10; Eze 7:20, Eze 7:21, Eze 9:7 have laid: Kg2 25:9, Kg2 25:10; Ch2 36:19; Jer 26:18, Jer 39:8, Jer 52:13; Mic 3:12 Psalms 79:2”

“The Psalm begins with a plaintive description, and in fact one that makes complaint to God. Its opening sounds like Lam 1:10. The defiling does not exclude the reducing to ashes, it is rather spontaneously suggested in Psa 74:7 in company with wilful incendiarism. The complaint in Psa 79:1 reminds one of the prophecy of Micah, Mic 3:12, which in its time excited so much vexation ( Jer 26:18); and Psa 79:2, Deu 28:26. עבדיך confers upon those who were massacred the honour of martyrdom. The lxx renders לעיים by εἰς ὀπωροφυλάκιον, a flourish taken from Isa 1:8. Concerning the quotation from memory in 1 Macc. 7:16f., vid., the introduction to Ps 74. The translator of the originally Hebrew…”