Psa 79:6 | KingComments | STEP | The exclamation “how long, O LORD?” is an exclamation of faith made in despair ( ). It is not the language of impatience, but of fear. It is not a complaint, but one of amazement. They ask the LORD: “Will You be angry forever?” The psalmist here uses the covenant name of God: LORD, Yahweh. In doing so, he is appealing to the faithfulness of God to His covenant. The question of “how long” is an expression of their faith that the anger of God is coming to an end. What the enemies have done, they rightly see as an expression of God’s anger on their sins. Therefore, they do not ask ‘why’. They know that they have aroused His “jealousy” by their idolatry, which is unfaithfulness to Him. His jealousy burns like fire, but how long will it still last? The God-fearing then ask God to pour out His “wrath upon the nations which do not know You and upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Your name” ( ; cf. ; ). The nations do not cry to God, but to their self-made idols. The request for God to pour out His wrath is not an expression of vindictiveness, but the request for the exercise of justice. The righteous one does not do it himself, but leaves it to God (cf. ). Justice must be done, because the nations ignore God and act according to their own will. The fact that God uses them as a disciplinary rod for His people (cf. ) does not mean that He approves of the conduct of those nations. God can use man’s sinful actions to fulfill His plans. They deserve God’s judgment, “for they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation”, that is God’s habitation in their midst ( ). Jacob is the name for the people as the object of God’s discipline. In that people is also the “habitation” of Jacob. God’s own land He has given Jacob to dwell in. In the dwellings of Jacob He dwells among them (cf. ; ). The God-fearing acknowledges that the destruction of the city and temple are the result of the sins of the people ( ). They ask God not to remember “the iniquities of [our] forefathers against us”. Those iniquities are there, they realize. Their asking God not to remember them is a humble request for forgiveness, by which God removes these iniquities from His remembrance. Past iniquities – that is, the transgressions against the covenant – means the iniquities done by their ancestors. These iniquities are the cause of the judgment of God on them. In fact, the psalmist acknowledges that God’s judgment on them was righteous. This is the first step to restoration. Now they appeal to God to hurry and come to their aid with His compassion. This appeal they make because they are “brought very low”. There is no strength left in them. They are exhausted. Their appeal to God’s compassion is the only appropriate appeal they can make. A person needs compassion when he is in miserable circumstances, as is the case with them.

‏ Psalms 79:6

How Long?

The exclamation “how long, O LORD?” is an exclamation of faith made in despair (Psa 79:5). It is not the language of impatience, but of fear. It is not a complaint, but one of amazement. They ask the LORD: “Will You be angry forever?” The psalmist here uses the covenant name of God: LORD, Yahweh. In doing so, he is appealing to the faithfulness of God to His covenant.

The question of “how long” is an expression of their faith that the anger of God is coming to an end. What the enemies have done, they rightly see as an expression of God’s anger on their sins. Therefore, they do not ask ‘why’. They know that they have aroused His “jealousy” by their idolatry, which is unfaithfulness to Him. His jealousy burns like fire, but how long will it still last?

The God-fearing then ask God to pour out His “wrath upon the nations which do not know You and upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Your name” (Psa 79:6; cf. 2Thes 1:8; Jer 10:25). The nations do not cry to God, but to their self-made idols. The request for God to pour out His wrath is not an expression of vindictiveness, but the request for the exercise of justice. The righteous one does not do it himself, but leaves it to God (cf. 2Tim 4:14).

Justice must be done, because the nations ignore God and act according to their own will. The fact that God uses them as a disciplinary rod for His people (cf. Isa 10:5) does not mean that He approves of the conduct of those nations. God can use man’s sinful actions to fulfill His plans.

They deserve God’s judgment, “for they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation”, that is God’s habitation in their midst (Psa 79:7). Jacob is the name for the people as the object of God’s discipline. In that people is also the “habitation” of Jacob. God’s own land He has given Jacob to dwell in. In the dwellings of Jacob He dwells among them (cf. Num 24:5; Psa 83:12).

The God-fearing acknowledges that the destruction of the city and temple are the result of the sins of the people (Psa 79:8). They ask God not to remember “the iniquities of [our] forefathers against us”. Those iniquities are there, they realize. Their asking God not to remember them is a humble request for forgiveness, by which God removes these iniquities from His remembrance.

Past iniquities – that is, the transgressions against the covenant – means the iniquities done by their ancestors. These iniquities are the cause of the judgment of God on them. In fact, the psalmist acknowledges that God’s judgment on them was righteous. This is the first step to restoration.

Now they appeal to God to hurry and come to their aid with His compassion. This appeal they make because they are “brought very low”. There is no strength left in them. They are exhausted. Their appeal to God’s compassion is the only appropriate appeal they can make. A person needs compassion when he is in miserable circumstances, as is the case with them.