Psalm 79

Faith amid Confusion

A psalm of Asaph.(A)

God, the nations have invaded your inheritance,
desecrated your holy temple,
and turned Jerusalem into ruins.(B)
They gave the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky for food,
the flesh of your faithful ones
to the beasts of the earth.(C)
They poured out their blood
like water all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.(D)
We have become an object of reproach
to our neighbors,
a source of mockery and ridicule
to those around us.(E)

How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy keep burning like fire?(F)
Pour out your wrath on the nations
that don’t acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name,(G)
for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.(H)
Do not hold past iniquities[a] against us;
let your compassion come to us quickly,
for we have become very weak.(I)

God of our salvation, help us,(J)
for the glory of your name.
Rescue us and atone for our sins,
for your name’s sake.(K)
10 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?” (L)
Before our eyes,
let vengeance for the shed blood of your servants
be known among the nations.(M)
11 Let the groans of the prisoners reach you;
according to your great power,
preserve those condemned to die.(N)

12 Pay back sevenfold to our neighbors(O)
the reproach they have hurled at you, Lord.(P)
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,(Q)
will thank you forever;
we will declare your praise
to generation after generation.(R)

Footnotes

  1. 79:8 Or hold the sins of past generations

23 These sayings also belong to the wise:(A)
It is not good to show partiality in judgment.(B)
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”(C)
peoples will curse him,(D) and nations will denounce him;
25 but it will go well with those who convict the guilty,
and a generous blessing will come to them.

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The Light of the Gospel

Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy,(A) we do not give up.(B) Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting(C) deceitfully or distorting the word of God,(D) but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth.(E) But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age(F) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,[a](G) who is the image of God.(H) For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord,(I) and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”(J) has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge(K) of God’s glory(L) in the face of Jesus Christ.

Treasure in Clay Jars

Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power(M) may be from God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. 10 We always carry the death of Jesus(N) in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death(O) for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life in you. 13 And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke,[b](P) we also believe, and therefore speak. 14 For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus(Q) and present us with you. 15 Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving(R) to increase to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not give up.(S) Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person(T) is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction(U) is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.(V) 18 So we do not focus on what is seen,(W) but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Footnotes

  1. 4:4 Or the gospel of the glorious Christ, or the glorious gospel of Christ
  2. 4:13 Ps 116:10 LXX

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