Psalms 79:7

For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place. FOR THEY HAVE DEVOURED JACOB, AND LAID WASTE. In the Hebrew "devoured" is singular; whereas "laid waste" is plural. The singular implies that the enemies of Israel, though many, are animated by the one spirit of enmity against God and His people; just as, on the other hand, the members of the Church, though many, form one body animated by one spirit. The several 'nations' and "kingdoms" () served under Babylon against Jerusalem. So in the last days it shall be under Antichrist (Revelation 17:12; Revelation 17:15). Through ignorance of the design of the singular, most of the old versions and some manuscript...

6-13 Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had no hopes but from God's mercies, his tender mercies. They plead no merit, they pretend to none, but, Help us for the glory of thy name; pardon us for thy name's sake. The Christian forgets not that he is often bound in the chain of his sins. The world to him is a prison; sentence of death is passed upon him, and he knows not how soon it may be executed. How fervently should he at all times pray, O let the sighing of a prisoner come before thee, according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that a...

Verse Psalms 79:7. _LAID WASTE HIS DWELLING-PLACE._] The _Chaldee_ understands this of the _temple_. This, by way of eminence, was Jacob's _place_. I have already remarked that these two verses are almost similar to Jeremiah 10:25, which has led many to believe that _Jeremiah_ was the author of this Psalm....

FOR THEY HAVE DEVOURED JACOB - literally, “They have eaten.” That is, they have eaten up what the land produced. AND LAID WASTE HIS DWELLING-PLACE - His home; his habitation; the residence of Jacob, or of the people of Israel....

EXPOSITION THIS is "a psalm of complaint, closely parallel to Psalms 74:1." (Cheyne), and must, like that psalm, be referred to the time of the Babylonian conquest. It shows us the Holy Land occupied by the heathen, the temple desecrated, Jerusalem laid in ruins, the special servants of God put to death, and the whole nation of the Israelites become an object of scorn and reproach to their neighbours (Psalms 74:1). Some critics have supposed that it might have been written after the invasion of Shishak; but the condition of things is far worse than can be reasonably supposed to have been reached at that period. Others incline to assign it to the age of the Maccabees; but Jerusalem was not then destroyed, much less "laid on heaps" ...

FOR THEY HAVE DEVOURED JACOB,.... The posterity of Jacob, the people of the Jews, typical of the church of God, made havoc of by the Romish antichrist: and laid waste his dwelling place; both Jerusalem and the temple, which was done both by the Chaldeans and the Romans, and also in the times of Antiochus; see the Apocrypha: "38 Insomuch that the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them: whereupon the city was made an habitation of strangers, and became strange to those that were born in her; and her own children left her. 39 Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, her feasts were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into reproach her honour into contempt.'' (1 Maccabees 1) "4 In his acts he was like a lion, and like a lion's whelp roaring for his prey. 5 For He pursued the wicked, and sought them out, and burnt up those that vexed his people.'' (1 Maccabees 3) which were ty...

Psalms 79 Lamentation and Prayer on Account of the Enemy _ 1. The Enemy in Jerusalem (Psalms 79:1)_ 2. How Long, Lord? (Psalms 79:5) Zion, the place He loves, mentioned in the preceding Psalm, is here prophetically seen in desolation. The nations have come into the inheritance, Jerusalem is become a heap of ruins, the temple is defiled. The dead bodies of His servants and His saints lie unburied, and the people are a reproach, a scorn and a derision. A similar prophecy we found in the Seventy-fourth Psalm, which should be compared with this Psalm. While Jerusalem and the temple has seen more than once such desolations, we must view these predicted calamities as being the final disaster which is yet to

LXXIX. THE SANCTUARY PROFANED. The Ps. is of the same date as Psalms 74. It does not suit the earlier destruction of the city and the Temple in 586 B.C. The words war, overthrow, and the like do not occur: the Temple is profaned, not destroyed. On the other hand, Psalms 79:3 is in striking accord with the picture drawn in 1Ma_1:37. Notice also the mention of the godly or Asideans in 2 (see Psalms 4:3). PSALMS 79:2 F. is quoted in 1Ma_7:17_._ Psalms 79:6 f. is from Jeremiah 10:25, and was perhaps inserted here by a later hand.

THEY HAVE. So some codices, with Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. Compare Jeremiah 10:25. But other codices read "he hath": i.e. the enemy. JACOB. Put by Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Subject), App-6, for the riches of his descendants. DWELLING PLACE. pasture....

Prayer that God will cease to be angry with His own people and will punish their destroyers....