John Calvin Commentary Psalms 79

O God! the heathen have come into thy inheritance. Here the prophet, speaking for the faithful, complains that the temple was defiled and the city destroyed. In the second and third verses, he complains that the saints were murdered indiscriminately, and that their dead bodies were thrown out upon the face of the earth, deprived of the honor of burial.

Almost every word expresses the cruelty of these enemies of the Church. When it is considered that God had chosen the land of Judea as a possession for his own people, it seemed inconsistent with this choice to abandon it to the heathen nations, so that they might shamefully trample it underfoot and lay it waste as they pleased.

The prophet, therefore, complains that when the heathen came into the heritage of God, the order of nature was, as it were, inverted. The destruction of the temple, of which he speaks in the second clause, was even less to be endured, for in this way the service of God on earth was extinguished, and religion destroyed.

He adds that Jerusalem, which was the royal seat of God, was reduced to heaps. These words denote a hideous overthrow. The profanation of the temple and the destruction of the holy city, involving as they did heaven-daring impiety which justly ought to have provoked God’s wrath against these enemies—the prophet begins with these, and then proceeds to speak of the slaughter of the saints.

The atrocious cruelty of these persecutions is highlighted by the fact that they not only put God’s servants to death but also exposed their dead bodies to the beasts of the field and to birds of prey to be devoured, instead of burying them. People have always had such a sacred regard for the burial of the dead as to shrink from depriving even their enemies of the honor of burial.

From this it follows that those who take a barbarous delight in seeing the bodies of the dead torn to pieces and devoured by beasts more resemble these savage and cruel animals than human beings. It is also shown that these persecutors acted more atrociously than enemies ordinarily do, since they made no more account of shedding human blood than of pouring forth water. From this we learn their insatiable thirst for slaughter.

When it is added, there was none to bury them, this is to be understood as applying to the brothers and relatives of the slain. The inhabitants of the city were struck with such terror by the indiscriminate butchery perpetrated by these ruthless assassins upon all who came in their way, that no one dared to go out.

Since God intended that the burial of people should bear some testimony to the resurrection on the last day, it was a double indignity for the saints to be stripped of this right after their death.

But it may be asked: Since God often threatens the reprobate with this kind of punishment, why did he allow his own people to be devoured by beasts?

We must remember, as we have stated elsewhere, that the elect, as well as the reprobate, are subjected to the temporal punishments which pertain only to the flesh. The difference between the two cases lies solely in the outcome, for God converts that which in itself is a sign of his wrath into the means of salvation for his own children.

The same explanation, then, is to be given for their lack of burial as is given for their death. The most eminent of God’s servants may be put to a cruel and shameful death—a punishment which we know is often carried out on murderers and other despisers of God.

But still, the death of the saints does not cease to be precious in his sight. And when he has allowed them to be unrighteously persecuted in the flesh, he shows, by taking vengeance on their enemies, how dear they were to him.

In the same way, God, to stamp the marks of his wrath on the reprobate even after their death, deprives them of burial. Therefore, he threatens a wicked king, He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 22:19).

When he exposes his own children to a similar indignity, he may seem for a time to have forsaken them. But he afterwards converts it into the means of furthering their salvation, for their faith, being subjected to this trial, achieves a fresh triumph.

In ancient times, when the bodies of the dead were anointed, that ceremony was performed for the sake of the living they left behind. It was to teach them, when they saw the bodies of the dead carefully preserved, to cherish in their hearts the hope of a better life.

The faithful, then, by being deprived of burial, suffer no loss when they rise by faith above these lesser aids, so that they may advance with swift steps to a blessed immortality.

We have been a reproach to our neighbors. Here another complaint is expressed, to stir God's mercy. The more proudly the ungodly mock and triumph over us, the more confidently we may expect that our deliverance is near, because God will not tolerate their insolence when it breaks out so audaciously, especially when it brings reproach upon his holy name, just as it is said in Isaiah:

This is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him: The virgin, the daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Israel.
(Isaiah 37:22, 23)

And certainly, their neighbors, who were partly apostates, or the degenerate children of Abraham, and partly the avowed enemies of religion, when they harassed and reproached this miserable people, did not refrain from blaspheming God. Let us, therefore, remember that the faithful do not here complain of the derision with which they were treated as individuals, but of that which they saw to be indirectly directed against God and his law. We will again find a similar complaint in the concluding part of the psalm.

How long, O Jehovah! will you be angry for ever? I have already observed that these two expressions, how long and for ever, when joined together, denote a long and uninterrupted continuation of calamities, and that, looking to the future, there is no sign of them coming to an end.

Therefore, we may conclude that this complaint was not voiced only a month or two after persecution against the Church began, but at a time when the hearts of the faithful were almost broken by the weariness produced by prolonged suffering. Here they confess that the great accumulation of calamities with which they are overwhelmed is to be traced to God's wrath.

Being fully convinced that the wicked, whatever they may plot, cannot inflict injury except as God permits them—from this, which they regard as an indubitable principle, they immediately conclude that when He allows their heathen enemies such wide scope to persecute them, His anger is greatly provoked.

Nor would they, without this conviction, have looked to God in the hope that He would stretch out His hand to save them, for it is the work of Him who has given loose reins to draw in the bridle. Whenever God visits us with the rod, and our own conscience accuses us, it is especially fitting for us to look to His hand.

Here His ancient people do not charge Him with being unjustly displeased, but acknowledge the justice of the punishment inflicted on them. God will always find in His servants just grounds for chastising them. He often, however, in the exercise of His mercy, pardons their sins and tries them with the cross for a purpose other than to testify His displeasure against their sins, just as it was His will to test the patience of Job, and as He graciously called the martyrs to an honorable warfare.

But here the people, of their own accord, summoning themselves before the Divine tribunal, trace the calamities they endured to their own sins as the procuring cause. Hence, it may with probability be conjectured that this psalm was composed during the time of the Babylonian captivity. Under the tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanes, they employed, as we have previously seen, a different form of prayer, saying:

“All this has come upon us; yet we have not forgotten you, neither have we dealt falsely in your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, neither have our steps declined from your way,” (Psalms 44:17–18).

We should not suppose that, in the passage just quoted, the faithful murmured against God, but they use this language because they knew that He had another end in view than simply to punish their sins; for by means of these severe conflicts, He prepared them for the prize of their high calling.

Pour out thy fury upon the heathen, who have not known thee. This prayer is apparently inconsistent with the rule of charity; for, while we feel anxious about our own calamities and desire to be delivered from them, we ought to desire that others may be relieved as well as ourselves.

It would seem, therefore, that the faithful are to be blamed for wishing here for the destruction of unbelievers, for whose salvation they ought rather to have been concerned.

But we should remember what I have stated previously: that the person who would offer up such a prayer as this in a right manner must be under the influence of zeal for the public welfare. He must ensure that personal wrongs do not stir up his sinful desires or allow him to be carried away by rage against his enemies. Instead, forgetting his individual interests, he must have a sole regard for the common salvation of the Church and for what contributes to it.

Secondly, he must implore God to grant him the spirit of discretion and judgment, so that in prayer he may not be driven by a thoughtless zeal—a subject we have discussed more fully elsewhere.

Besides, it is to be observed that the pious Jews here not only set aside their own particular advantage to consider the good of the whole Church, but also primarily focus their eyes on Christ, asking Him to devote to destruction His enemies whose repentance is hopeless. Therefore, they do not rashly burst out with this prayer, that God would destroy these or other enemies, nor do they presume upon God's judgment.

But desiring that the reprobate be involved in the condemnation they deserve, they, at the same time, patiently wait until the heavenly Judge separates the reprobate from the elect. In doing this, they do not cast aside the love that charity requires; for, although they would desire all to be saved, they nevertheless know that the reformation of some of Christ's enemies is hopeless, and their perdition absolutely certain.

The question, however, is not yet fully answered; for when in the seventh verse they denounce the cruelty of their enemies, they seem to desire vengeance.

But what I have just observed must be remembered: that none can pray in this manner except those who have taken on a public role and who, setting aside all personal considerations, have embraced and are deeply concerned for the welfare of the whole Church.

Or, rather, they are those who have focused on Christ, the Head of the Church; and, lastly, none but those who, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, have raised their minds to God's judgment, so that, being ready to forgive, they do not indiscriminately condemn to death every enemy who injures them, but only the reprobate.

Regarding those who are quick to demand the execution of divine vengeance before all hope of repentance is lost, Christ has condemned them as guilty of thoughtless and poorly-controlled zeal, when He says, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of” (Luke 9:55).

Furthermore, the faithful do not here simply wish for the destruction of those who so wickedly persecuted the Church. Instead, using that familiarity God allows them in their dealings with Him, they explain how inconsistent it would be if He did not punish their persecutors, and they reason in this way: Lord, how is it that You afflict us so severely—we upon whom Your name is invoked—and spare the heathen nations who despise You?

In short, they mean to say that God has sufficient reason to execute His wrath elsewhere, since they were not the only people in the world who had sinned.

Although it is not for us to prescribe to God the rules of His conduct, but rather patiently to submit to this divine decree, “That judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17); yet He permits His saints to take the liberty of pleading that at least they may not be treated worse than unbelievers and those who despise Him.

These two phrases, who have not known thee, and which call not upon thy name, it is to be observed, are to be understood in the same sense. By these different forms of expression, it is implied that it is impossible for anyone to call upon God without a previous knowledge of Him, as the Apostle Paul teaches in Romans 10:14: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14).

It is not for us to answer, “Thou art our God,” until He has anticipated us by saying, “Thou art my people” (Hosea 2:23); but He opens our mouths to speak to Him in this manner, when He invites us to Himself.

Calling on the name of God is often synonymous with prayer, but it is not here to be exclusively limited to that exercise.

The sum of it is that unless we are directed by the knowledge of God, it is impossible for us sincerely to profess the true religion.

At that time the Gentiles everywhere boasted that they served God; but, being destitute of His word, and as they fabricated for themselves gods from their own corrupt imaginations, all their religious services were detestable.

Just as in our own day, the humanly invented religious observances of the blind and deluded followers of the Man of Sin—who have no true knowledge of the God whom they profess to worship, and who do not inquire from His mouth what He approves—are certainly rejected by Him, because they set up idols in His place.

Remember not against us the iniquities of former times. The godly Jews here confirm the sentiment they had previously, briefly and obscurely, touched upon: namely, that they had justly deserved the punishments inflicted upon them. And they present this prayer because they could only get relief from their calamities by obtaining reconciliation with God.

This is the sovereign remedy for every kind of adversity; for as long as He is angry with us, even our prosperity turns out to be unproductive of benefit and happiness. By the iniquities of former times, some understand the sins committed by the fathers. Others think that the sins which the suppliants themselves committed in their childhood and youth are intended.

But the expression, I presume, has a more extensive meaning, containing a confession not only of one or two offenses, and these only recently committed, but an acknowledgment that they had for a long time been involved, along with their fathers, in manifold and old transgressions. Thus they acknowledge a long-continued stubbornness, in which they had hardened themselves against God.

This acknowledgment corresponds with the rebukes the prophets administered to them, for sacred history testifies that the punishment of the captivity was suspended until God had proved from experience that their perversity was incurable.

Nor should it surprise us to find the children praying that God would not impute to them the iniquity of their fathers, when we consider that the law declares that God casts the sins of the fathers into the bosom of their children, and takes vengeance upon their iniquities unto the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20:5).

The contrast between the expressions make haste and the iniquities of former times is noteworthy. If God had called the Israelites to a strict account for all the sins they had committed during the three or four hundred years prior, the time of their deliverance would have been long delayed.

The faithful, therefore, implore Him to forget their former offenses and to make haste to help them. As their sins proved the great obstacle and cause of delay, we can see the appropriateness with which they further implore that the compassions of God might speedily meet them.