Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 79:9
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
9. for the glory of thy name ] Lit. for the sake of the glory of thy name (Psa 29:2; Psa 66:2). If Thou art not moved by the sight of our sufferings, at least be jealous for Thine own honour, lest the heathen should think that Israel’s God is powerless to help His people.
purge away ] Or, make atonement for. See note on Psa 65:3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9 12. Repeated prayers for deliverance for the honour of God’s Name.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Help us, O God of our salvation – On whom our salvation depends; who alone can save us.
For the glory of thy name – That thy name may be honored. We are thy professed people; we have been redeemed by thee; and thine honor will be affected by the question whether we are saved or destroyed, It is the highest and purest ground for prayer, that the glory or honor of God may be promoted. See the notes at Mat 6:9, notes at Mat 6:13; notes at Joh 12:28; notes at Dan 9:19.
And deliver us – From our enemies.
And purge away our sins – Forgive our sins, or cleanse us from them. The original word is that which is commonly used to denote an atonement. Compare in the Hebrew, Dan 9:24,; Eze 45:20; Exo 30:15; Exo 32:30; Lev 4:20; 5:26; Lev 16:6, Lev 16:11, Lev 16:24.
For thy names sake – See the notes at Dan 9:19.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 79:9
Help us, O God of our salvation.
The highest Divine title, and the highest human privilege
I. The highest Divine title. God of our salvation. God in creation appears transcendently great; but in salvation we see–
1. A higher kind of power: moral power; the power to manage, master, and mould free rebellious intelligences.
2. A higher love. The love of compassion, forbearance, forgiveness.
II. The highest human privilege. To be saved involves the restoration oral.
1. A lost moral life.
2. Lost harmony.
3. Lost usefulness. (Homilist.)
A nations prayer in time of distress
I. The petition itself.
1. It is very fit for nations under heavy pressures and calamities to confess their sins to God publicly.
2. It is very proper for such an afflicted nation to pray earnestly to God for help and deliverance.
II. The motive or argument used.
1. By the Name of God, in Scripture, is frequently to be understood God Himself in all His excellences, attributes and perfections; and the glory of His name is the rendering those perfections conspicuous and observable; so that to move God for His names sake, or the glory of His name, is to move Him, that the effects of His Divine attributes may be made visible and illustrious in the sight of men, so that they may be had in just esteem and veneration.
2. What particular reasons the Jewish nation had to petition God, to glorify those His attributes on their behalf.
(1) As they were a nation selected from the rest of the world, and made the peculiar people of God.
(2) As the people of the Jews were politically united to God, their Sovereign in a national bond, or covenant, so He expressed Himself frequently to have a particular kindness for them, giving them many repeated promises of establishing their government and the succession of their kings in the royal line of David to perpetual generations.
3. Inquire what general encouragement there is for other nations to address to God upon the same motive. And the encouragement is sufficient, in that God has upon occasions declared by His holy prophets that He is not a little concerned for His own honour, He would have His name known and published in all the world, He would have that honour given to Him, which is due unto His name, to all His names; for He is styled in Scripture by many names, not only with respect to His essence, and existence, but also to His supereminent attributes and properties.
4. Inquire, as far as it is fit for us, upon what occasions, and at what seasons it may be proper for a nation to use this motive in their addresses to God.
(1) When the existence and providence of God is called in question, denied by some, and exposed and profaned by others.
(2) When they themselves or others, whom common humanity and Christian charity oblige to commiserate, lie under great oppressions; in this case men may confidently apply themselves to God, for the sake of His honour and for His holy name.
III. Application.
1. If Almighty God have such a respect to the honour of His name, as to accept the addresses that are made to Him upon that motive, it is a great encouragement to us to make use of it upon all occasions; especially upon occasion of using some extraordinary offices of devotion.
2. Let us be careful that we do not as publicly dishonour Him by our sins as we pretend publicly to honour Him by our devotions. (Bp. Gardiner.)
Deliver us, and purge away our sins.
Sins forgiven for Jesus sake
There is an old book in Paris called the Chancellerie Book. It is like our own Doomsday Book, in which all the records are inscribed–all the records of William the Conquerors division of the land of England. The Chancellerie Book does likewise for France. It has the record of the cities, towns, and villages, with the amount of taxes to be paid by each. As you turn over the old pages of that book, you come to Domremy, and, behold! there are no taxes to be paid by Domremy. Across the page there is written in bold writing, Free, for the maids sake. No taxes for the sake of Joan of Arc, the heroine who flung the English out. Ah, me! when those books are opened when the Lord takes His place on the great white throne, and He comes to my life on earth, behold! across the otherwise condemning page there is written, with letters of His own atoning blood, Sins forgiven for His names sake.
Mans need of cleansing from sin met in Christ
A rough parable of Luther, grafted on an older legend, runs somewhat in this fashion:–A mans heart is like a foul stable. Wheelbarrows and shovels are of little use, except to remove some of the surface filth, and to litter all the passages in the process. What is to be done with it? Turn the Elbe into it, says he. The flood will sweep away all the pollution. Not my own efforts, but the influx of that pardoning, cleansing grace which is in Christ will wash away the accumulation of years, and the ingrained evil which has stained every part of my being. We cannot cleanse ourselves.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. Purge away our sins] capper, be propitiated, or receive an atonement ( al chattotheynu) on account of our sins.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
O God of our salvation; from whom we have oft received, and from whom alone we now expect, salvation.
Thy name; which is now obscured by the insolency and blasphemy of thine enemies, who ascribe this conquest to their idols, and triumph over thee no less than over thy people, as one unable to deliver them out of their hands. See Dan 3:15.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. for . . . glory of thy name[and for] thy name’s sakeboth mean for illustrating Thyattributes, faithfulness, power, &c.
purge . . . sinsliterally,”provide atonement for us.” Deliverance from sin andsuffering, for their good and God’s glory, often distinguish theprayers of Old Testament saints (compare Eph1:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name,…. Help us out of the troubles in which we are; enable us to bear them with patience, and without murmuring, while it is thy pleasure to continue them; assist us against our powerful enemies, and strengthen us to do our duty; afford us more grace, and fresh supplies of it in our time of need: the arguments enforcing these petitions are, because God is “the God of salvation”, to whom it belongs, of whom it is, and of him only to be expected; he is the sole author and giver of it; and because to help and save is for the glory of his name, which is great in the salvation of his people:
and deliver us; out of the hands of all our enemies, and out of all our afflictions, and out of this low estate in which we are:
and purge away our sins for thy name’s sake; which were the cause of all calamities and distress, and which can only be purged away by the blood and sacrifice of Christ, Heb 1:3, the word signifies to “expiate” i sin, or atone for it; which was the work and business of Christ our High Priest, who has made reconciliation for sin, finished, made an end of it, and put it away by the oblation of himself, for the sake of which God is propitious; and so the words may be rendered, “be propitious to our sins” k: or merciful to our unrighteousnesses, for the sake of Christ the great propitiation; or through the propitiatory sacrifice to be offered up by him; or, in other words, “cover our sins” l; which is also the sense of the phrase, that they may be seen no more; pardon and forgive them for Christ’s sake; see Ps 32:1.
i “expiationem fac”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis. k “Propitiare”, Pagninus, Montanus “propitius esto”, V. L. Musculus; so Tigurine version. l metaph. “texit”, Amama.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The victory of the world is indeed not God’s aim; therefore His own honour does not suffer that the world of which He has made use in order to chasten His people should for ever haughtily triumph. is repeated with emphasis at the end of the petition in Psa 79:9, according to the figure epanaphora. = , as in Psa 45:5, cf. Psa 7:1, is a usage even of the language of the Pentateuch. Also the motive, “wherefore shall they say?” occurs even in the Tra (Exo 32:12, cf. Num 14:13-17; Deu 9:28). Here (cf. Psa 115:2) it originates out of Joe 2:17. The wish expressed in Psa 79:10 is based upon Deu 32:43. The poet wishes in company with his contemporaries, as eye-witnesses, to experience what God has promised in the early times, viz., that He will avenge the blood of His servants. The petition in Deu 32:11 runs like Psa 102:21, cf. Psa 18:7. individualizingly is those who are carried away captive and incarcerated; are those who, if God does not preserve them by virtue of the greatness ( , cf. Exo 15:16) of His arm, i.e., of His far-reaching omnipotence, succumb to the power of death as to a patria potestas .
(Note: The Arabic has just this notion in an active application, viz., ben el – mot = the heroes (destroyers) in the battle.)
That the petition in Psa 79:12 recurs to the neighbouring peoples is explained by the fact, that these, who might most readily come to the knowledge of the God of Israel as the one living and true God, have the greatest degree of guilt on account of their reviling of God. The bosom is mentioned as that in which one takes up and holds that which is handed to him (Luk 6:38); – ( ) ( ) , as in Isa 65:7, Isa 65:6; Jer 32:18. A sevenfold requital (cf. Gen 4:15, Gen 4:24) is a requital that is fully carried out as a criminal sentence, for seven is the number of a completed process.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
9 Help O God of our salvation! They again repeat in this verse, that whatever afflictions they endured were to be traced to the anger of God, and that they could have no comfort under them unless He were reconciled to them. Being deeply sensible that they had committed many transgressions, to strengthen their hope of obtaining pardon, they employ a variety of expressions. In the first place, as an argument to induce God to show them favor, they address him as the God of their salvation. In the second place, they testify that they bring nothing of their own to influence him to have mercy upon them; and that the only plea which they present before him is his own glory. From this we learn, that sinners are not reconciled to God by satisfactions or by the merit of good works, but by a free and an unmerited forgiveness. The observation which I have made a little before, and which I have explained more at length on the sixth psalm, is here to be kept in mind, — That when God visits us with the rod, instead of being merely desirous to be relieved from external chastisements, our chief concern ought to be to have God pacified towards us: nor should we follow the example of foolish sick persons, who are anxious to have merely the symptoms of their disease removed, and make no account of being delivered from the source and cause of it. With respect to the word כפר, chapper, (376) which expositors translate, Be merciful, or propitious, I have had an opportunity of speaking in another place. It properly signifies to cleanse, or expiate, and is applied to sacrifices. Whenever, therefore, we desire to obtain the favor of God, let us call to remembrance the death of Christ; for “without shedding of blood is no remissions” (Heb 9:22.)
(376) “ כפר, chapper, be propitiated, or receive an atonement ( על הטאתינו, al chatoteinu) on account of our sins. ” — Dr Adam Clarke
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) Purge away.Rather, put a cover on. So Cicero speaks of political crimes being covered by the plea of friendship.
Our sins.How is this to be taken in connection with Psa. 79:8? Does the psalmist admit guilt in his own generation, as well as in those of former times? Or is he thinking only of the inherited guilt and punishment? The general tone of post-exile psalms inclines towards the latter view.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Help us, O God of our salvation This divine title was the ground of their theocracy. They had forgotten it in their sins and idol worship, but recall it now in their affliction and reproach.
For the glory of thy name A fundamental reason governing all the acts of God, and which is now urged as cause of immediate action; (Exo 9:16; Num 14:21😉 for “wherefore should the heathen say among the people, Where is their God?” Psa 79:10; Joe 2:17.
Purge away our sins A confession that there could be no political restoration without a spiritual cleansing of the nation.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 79:9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
Ver. 9. Help us for the glory of thy name] A speeding argument. God will do much for his own glory, his wife, as it were.
Purge away our sins
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
purge away = cover, or atone for. Hebrew. kaphar. See note on Exo 29:33.
Thy name’s sake = Thine own sake. See Psa 20:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 79:9
Psa 79:9
“Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name;
And deliver us, and forgive our sins, for thy name’s sake.”
Significantly, the psalmist pleads no merit of his wicked generation, basing his plea for forgiveness upon the character and glory of God Himself. This attitude must be hailed as profoundly correct. On account of the consciousness of sins so evident here, Leupold believed that Psa 79:8 a should be translated, “`Remember not against us our past iniquities,’ instead of `Remember not against us the iniquity of our forefathers.’
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 79:9. Again David did not deny any guilt but pleaded for mercy. He based his prayer on the glory and for the sake of the Lord’s name. For the argument with reference to the name of the Lord see the comments at Psa 23:3.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
for the: Psa 115:1, 2Ch 14:11, Mal 2:2, Eph 1:6
purge: Psa 25:11, Psa 65:3, Dan 9:9, Dan 9:19
for thy: Jos 7:9, Isa 43:25, Isa 48:9, Jer 14:7, Jer 14:21, Eze 20:9, Eze 20:14
Reciprocal: Exo 32:12 – should 1Ch 16:35 – Save us Psa 6:4 – for Psa 18:46 – the God Psa 23:3 – for his Psa 25:5 – God Psa 31:3 – for thy Psa 60:1 – O turn Psa 74:22 – Arise Psa 85:2 – forgiven Psa 88:1 – Lord Psa 109:21 – But do Isa 17:10 – the God Jer 30:17 – they Eze 20:22 – wrought Eze 20:44 – when I Joh 17:11 – thine
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 79:9-10. Help us, O God of our salvation From whom we have often received, and from whom alone we now expect salvation, that is, deliverance, or protection; for the glory of thy name Which is now obscured by the insolence and blasphemy of thine enemies, who ascribe their conquest to their idols, and triumph over thee, no less than over thy people, as one unable to deliver them out of their hands: see Dan 3:15. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God He whom they served, and of whom they boasted? He is lost and gone, or grown impotent or idle. Let him be known among the heathen By the execution of his judgments upon them, according to Psa 9:16; in our sight That we may live to see it, and praise thy name for it; by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed Or, rather, Let the vengeance (Hebrew, , nikmath dam) of thy servants blood which is shed be known among the heathen that are in our sight. It is for the glory of Gods name to deliver his church; because, while she is in trouble, that name is blasphemed by the enemy, as if he wanted either power or will to prevent or remove the calamities of his servants. Prayer is therefore here made by the faithful, that God, not to gratify any vindictive spirit of theirs, but to vindicate his own attributes, would break the teeth of the oppressor, and work a public and glorious salvation for his chosen; at beholding which the very adversaries themselves might possibly be converted. Horne.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
79:9 Help us, O God of our {h} salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
(h) Seeing we have no other Saviour, neither can we help ourselves, and also by our salvation your Name will be praised: therefore O Lord, help us.