Matthew Henry's Complete Bible Commentary

Psalms 79

This psalm, if penned with any particular event in view, is with most probability made to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and the woeful havoc made of the Jewish nation by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar. It is set to the same tune, as I may say, with the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and that weeping prophet borrows two verses out of it (Psalms 79:6, 79:7) and makes use of them in his prayer, Jeremiah 10:25. Some think it was penned long before by the spirit of prophecy, prepared for the use of the church in that cloudy and dark day. Others think that it was penned then by the spirit of prayer, either by a prophet named Asaph or by some other prophet for the sons of Asaph. Whatever the particular occasion was, we have here, I. A representation of the very deplorable condition that the people of God were in at this time, Psalms 79:1-79:5. II. A petition to God for succour and relief, that their enemies might be reckoned with (Psalms 79:6, 79:7, 79:10, 79:12), that their sins might be pardoned (Psalms 79:8, 79:9), and that they might be delivered, Psalms 79:11. III. A plea taken from the readiness of his people to praise him, Psalms 79:13. In times of the church’s peace and prosperity this psalm may, in the singing of it, give us occasion to bless God that we are not thus trampled on and insulted. But it is especially seasonable in a day of treading down and perplexity, for the exciting of our desires towards God and the encouragement of our faith in him as the church’s patron. MHBCC 558.1