Psalms 79:6

Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you; on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name;

World English Bible
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Other translations

WEBBE

Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you, on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name,

BSB

Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, on the kingdoms that refuse to call on Your name,

KJV

Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.

ASV

Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, And upon the kingdoms that call not upon thy name.

BBE

Let your wrath be on the nations who have no knowledge of you, and on the kingdoms who have not made prayer to your name.

Original Hebrew

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The early church

But that which he adds, "Pour forth Your anger upon the nations which have not known You, and upon the kingdoms which have not called upon Your name" [Psalm 79:6]; this too is a prophecy, not a wish. Not in the imprecation of malevolence are these words spoken, but foreseen by the Spirit they are predicted: just as in the case of Judas the traitor, the evil things which were to befall him have been so prophesied as if they were wished. For in like manner as the prophet does not command Christ, though in the imperative mood he gives utterance to what he says, "Gird Your sword about Your thigh, O Most Mighty: in Your beauty and in Your goodliness, both go on, and prosperously proceed, and reign:" so he does not wish, but does prophesy, who says, "Pour forth Your anger upon the nations which have not known You." Which in his usual way he repeats, saying, "And upon the kingdoms which have not called upon Your name." For nations have been repeated in kingdoms: and that they have not known Him, has been repeated in this, that they have not called upon His name. How then must be understood, what the Lord says in the Gospel [Luke 12:47-48] concerning stripes, "the many and the few"? If greater the anger of God is against the nations, which have not known the Lord? For in this which he says, "Pour forth Your anger," with this word he has clearly enough pointed out, how great anger he has willed that there should be understood. Whence afterwards he says, "Render to our neighbours seven times as much." Is it not that there is a great difference between servants, who, though they know not the will of their Lord, do yet call upon His name, and those that are aliens from the family of so great a Master, who are so ignorant of God, as that they do not even call upon God? For in place of Him they call upon either idols or demons, or any creature they choose; not the Creator, who is blessed for ever. For those persons, concerning whom he is prophesying this, he does not even intimate to be so ignorant of the will of their God, as that still they fear the Lord Himself; but so ignorant of the Lord Himself, that they do not even call upon Him, and that they stand forth as enemies of His name. There is a great difference then between servants not knowing the will of their God, and yet living in His family and in His house, and enemies not only setting the will against knowing the Lord Himself, but also not calling upon His name, and even in His servants fighting against it.
Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Expositions on the Psalms

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 6–13

Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had no hopes but from God's mercies, his tender mercies. They plead no merit, they pretend to none, but, Help us for the glory of thy name; pardon us for thy name's sake. The Christian forgets not that he is often bound in the chain of his sins. The world to him is a prison; sentence of death is passed upon him, and he knows not how soon it may be executed. How fervently should he at all times pray, O let the sighing of a prisoner come before thee, according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die! How glorious will the day be, when, triumphant over sin and sorrow, the church beholds the adversary disarmed for ever! while that church shall, from age to age, sing the praises of her great Shepherd and Bishop, her King and her God.

Read Matthew Henry on Psalm 79 →

Spurgeon · Verse 6

"Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee." If thou must smite look further afield; spare thy children and strike thy foes. There are lands where thou art in no measure acknowledged; be pleased to visit these first with thy judgments, and let thine erring Israel have a respite. "And upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name." Hear us the prayerful, and avenge thyself upon the prayerless. Sometimes providence appears to deal much more severely with the righteous than with the wicked, and this verse is a bold appeal founded upon such an appearance. It in effect says —Lord, if thou must empty out the vials of thy wrath, begin with those who have no measure of regard for thee, but are openly up in arms against thee; and be pleased to spare thy people, who are thine notwithstanding all their sins.

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Cross-references

22

Topics

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.