TRV
Translation
King James Version
O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
Complete Jewish Bible
Don't count past iniquities against us, but let your compassion come quickly to meet us, for we have been brought very low.
Berean Standard Bible
Do not hold past sins against us; let Your compassion come quickly, for we are brought low.
American Standard Version
Remember not against us the iniquities of our forefathers: Let thy tender mercies speedily meet us; For we are brought very low.
World English Bible Messianic
Don’t hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Remember not against vs the former iniquities, but make haste and let thy tender mercies preuent vs: for we are in great miserie.
Young's Literal Translation
Remember not for us the iniquities of forefathers, Haste, let Thy mercies go before us, For we have been very weak.
In the KJVVerse 15,194 of 31,102
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Commentary on Psalms 79 verses 6–13
6 ¶ Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
8 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
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.
10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;
12 And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.
The petitions here put up to God are very suitable to the present distresses of the church, and they have pleas to enforce them, interwoven with them, taken mostly from God's honour.
I. They pray that God would so turn away his anger from them as to turn it upon those that persecuted and abused them (Psa 79:6): "Pour out thy wrath, the full vials of it, upon the heathen; let them wring out the dregs of it, and drink them." This prayer is in effect a prophecy, in which the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Observe here, 1. The character of those he prays against; they are such as have not known God, nor called upon his name. The reason why men do not call upon God is because they do not know him, how able and willing he is to help them. Those that persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly, who live without God in the world. There are kingdoms that know not God and obey not the gospel, but neither their multitude nor their force united will secure them from his just judgments. 2. Their crime: They have devoured Jacob, Psa 79:7. That is crime enough in the account of him who reckons that those who touch his people touch the apple of his eye. They have not only disturbed, but devoured, Jacob, not only encroached upon his dwelling place, the land of Canaan, but laid it waste by plundering and depopulating it. (3.) Their condemnation: "Pour out thy wrath upon them; do not only restrain them from doing further mischief, but reckon with them for the mischief they have done."
II. They pray for the pardon of sin, which they own to be the procuring cause of all their calamities. How unrighteous soever men were, God was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. They pray, 1. That God would not remember against them their former iniquities (Psa 79:8), either their own former iniquities, that now, when they were old, they might not be made to possess the iniquities of their youth, or the former iniquities of their people, the sins of their ancestors. In the captivity of Babylon former iniquities were brought to account; but God promises not again to do so (Jer 31:29, Jer 31:30), and so they pray, "Remember not against us our first sins," which some make to look as far back as the golden calf, because God said, In the day when I visit I will visit for this sin of theirs upon them, Exo 32:34. If the children by repentance and reformation cut off the entail of the parents' sin, they may in faith pray that God will not remember them against them. When God pardons sin he blots it out and remembers it no more. 2. That he would purge away the sins they had been lately guilty of, by the guilt of which their minds and consciences had been defiled: Deliver us, and purge away our sins, Psa 79:9. Then deliverances from trouble are granted in love, and are mercies indeed, when they are grounded upon the pardon of sin and flow from that; we should therefore be more earnest with God in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of our afflictions, and the pardon of them is the foundation and sweetness of our deliverances.
III. They pray that God would work deliverance for them, and bring their troubles to a good end and that speedily: Let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us, Psa 79:8. They had no hopes but from God's mercies, his tender mercies; their case was so deplorable that they looked upon themselves as the proper objects of divine compassion, and so near to desperate that, unless divine mercy did speedily interpose to prevent their ruin, they were undone. This whets their importunity: "Lord, help us; Lord, deliver us; help us under our troubles, that we may bear them well; help us out of our troubles, that the spirit may not fail. Deliver us from sin, from sinking." Three things they plead: - 1. The great distress they were reduced to: "We are brought very low, and, being low, shall be lost if thou help us not." The lower we are brought the more need we have of help from heaven and the more will divine power be magnified in raising us up. 2. Their dependence upon him: "Thou art the God of our salvation, who alone canst help. Salvation belongs to the Lord, from whom we expect help; for in the Lord alone is the salvation of his people." Those who make God the God of their salvation shall find him so. 3. The interest of his own honour in their case. They plead no merit of theirs; they pretend to none; but, "Help us for the glory of thy name; pardon us for thy name's sake." The best encouragements in prayer are those that are taken from God only, and those things whereby he has made himself known. Two things are insinuated in this plea: - (1.) That God's name and honour would be greatly injured if he did not deliver them; for those that derided them blasphemed God, as if he were weak and could not help them, or had withdrawn and would not; therefore they plead (Psa 79:10), "Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? He has forsaken them, and forgotten them; and this they get by worshipping a God whom they cannot see." (Nil praeter nubes et coeli numen adorant. Juv. - They adore no other divinity than the clouds and the sky.) That which was their praise (that they served a God that is every where) was now turned to their reproach and his too, as if they served a God that is nowhere. "Lord," say they, "Make it to appear that thou art by making it to appear that thou art with us and for us, that when we are asked, Where is your God? we may be able to say, He is nigh unto us in all that which we call upon him for, and you see he is so by what he does for us." (2.) That God's name and honour would be greatly advanced if he did deliver them; his mercy would be glorified in delivering those that were so miserable and helpless. By making bare his everlasting arm on their behalf he would make unto himself an everlasting name; and their deliverance would be a type and figure of the great salvation, which in the fulness of time Messiah the Prince would work out, to the glory of God's name.
IV. They pray that God would avenge them on their adversaries, 1. For their cruelty and barbarity (Psa 79:10): "Let the avenging of our blood" (according to the ancient law, Gen 9:6) "be known among the heathen; let them be made sensible that what judgments are brought upon them are punishments of the wrong they have done to us; let this be in our sight, and by this means let God be known among the heathen as the God to whom vengeance belongs (Psa 94:1) and the God that espouses his people's cause." Those that have intoxicated themselves with the blood of the saints shall have blood given them to drink, for they are worthy. 2. For their insolence and scorn (Psa 79:12): "Render to them their reproach. The indignities which by word and deed they have done to the people of God himself and his name let them be repaid to them with interest." The reproach wherewith men have reproached us only we must leave it to God whether he will render to them or no, and must pray that he would forgive them; but the reproach wherewith they have blasphemed God himself we may in faith pray that God would render seven-fold into their bosoms, so as to strike at their hearts, to humble them, and bring them to repentance. This prayer is a prophecy, of the same import with that of Enoch, that God will convince sinners of all their hard speeches which they have spoken against him (Jde 1:15) and will return them into their own bosoms by everlasting terrors at the remembrance of them.
V. They pray that God would find out a way for the rescue of his poor prisoners, especially the condemned prisoners, Psa 79:11. The case of their brethren who had fallen into the hands of the enemy was very sad; they were kept close prisoners, and, because they durst not be heard to bemoan themselves, they vented their griefs in deep and silent sighs. All their breathing was sighing, and so was their praying. They were appointed to die, as sheep for the slaughter, and had received the sentence of death within themselves. This deplorable case the psalmist recommends, 1. To the divine pity: "Let their sighs come up before thee, and be thou pleased to take cognizance of their moans." 2. To the divine power: "According to the greatness of thy arm, which no creature can contest with, preserve thou those that are appointed to die from the death to which they are appointed." Man's extremity is God's opportunity to appear for his people. See Co2 1:8-10.
Lastly, They promise the returns of praise for the answers of prayer (Psa 79:13): So we will give thee thanks for ever. Observe, 1. How they please themselves with their relation to God. "Though we are oppressed and brought low, yet we are the sheep of thy pasture, not disowned and cast off by thee for all this: We are thine; save us." 2. How they promise themselves an opportunity of praising God for their deliverance, which they therefore desired, and would bid welcome, because it would furnish them with matter for thanksgiving and put their hearts in tune for that excellent work, the work of heaven. 3. How they oblige themselves not only to give God thanks at present, but to show forth his praise unto all generations, that is, to do all they could both to perpetuate the remembrance of God's favours to them and to engage their posterity to keep up the work of praise. 4. How they plead this with God: "Lord, appear for us against our enemies; for, if they get the better, they will blaspheme thee (Psa 79:12); but, if we be delivered, we will praise thee. Lord, we are that people of thine which thou hast formed for thyself, to show forth thy praise; if we be cut off, whence shall that rent, that tribute, be raised?" Note, Those lives that are entirely devoted to God's praise are assuredly taken under his protection.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 6–13. Public domain.
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Gregory of NazianzusAD 390
ON THE HOLY SPIRIT, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 5[31].22
Some things mentioned in the Bible are not factual; some factual things are not mentioned; some nonfactual things receive no mention there; some things are both factual and mentioned. Do you ask for my proofs here? I am ready to offer them. In the Bible, God “sleeps,” “wakes up,” “is angered,” “walks” and has a “throne of cherubim.” Yet when has God ever been subject to emotion? When do you ever hear that God is a bodily being? This is a nonfactual, mental picture. We have used names derived from human experience and applied them so far as we could, to aspects of God. His retirement from us, for reason known to himself into an almost unconcerned inactivity, is his “sleeping.” Human sleeping, after all, has the character of restful inaction. When he alters and suddenly benefits us, that is his “waking up.” Waking up puts an end to sleep, just as looking at somebody puts an end to turning away from him. We have made his punishing us, his “being angered”; for with us, punishment is born of anger. His acting in different places, we call “walking,” for walking is a transition from one place to another. His resting among the heavenly powers, making them almost his haunt, we call his “sitting” and “being enthroned”; this too is human language. The divine, in fact, rests nowhere as he rests in the saints. God’s swift motion we call “flight;” his watching over us is his “face”;12 his giving and receiving is his “hand.” In short every faculty or activity of God has given us a corresponding picture in terms of some thing bodily.
Augustine of HippoAD 430
Exposition on Psalm 79
...He subjoins, "Remember not our iniquities of old" [Psalm 79:8]. He says not bygone, which might have even been recent; but "of old," that is, coming from parents. For to such iniquities judgment, not correction, is owing. "Speedily let Your mercies anticipate us." Anticipate, that is, at Your judgment. For "mercy exalts above in judgment." [James 2:13] Now there is "judgment without mercy," but to him that has not showed mercy. But whereas he adds, "for we have become exceeding poor:" unto this end he wills that the mercies of God should be understood to anticipate us; that our own poverty, that is, weakness, by Him having mercy, should be aided to do His commandments, that we may not come to His judgment to be condemned.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Psalms 79:8 is a profound communal lament, articulating a nation's desperate plea to God in the wake of catastrophic devastation, most likely the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. It begins with a humble confession of past corporate iniquities, immediately transitioning to an urgent appeal for God's profound and proactive "tender mercies" to intervene swiftly. The verse underscores the people's utter helplessness and dire circumstances, expressing a deep reliance on God's compassionate character as their sole hope for deliverance from humiliation and suffering.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalm 79:8 masterfully employs several literary devices to convey its profound message of lament and desperate appeal. The entire psalm is a prime example of a Communal Lament, a genre characterized by an address to God, a vivid complaint, a confession of sin, an urgent petition for deliverance, and an expression of trust. Within this specific verse, the psalmist uses Personification when asking for "tender mercies" to "speedily prevent us," attributing the capacity for swift movement and anticipatory intervention to an abstract quality of God. The phrase "brought very low" functions as Hyperbole, emphasizing the extreme depth of the nation's distress, humiliation, and utter helplessness, going beyond a literal description to convey the profound psychological and spiritual impact of their suffering. There is also an implicit Parallelism in the structure of the plea: a humble confession ("remember not iniquities") is immediately followed by an urgent petition ("let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us"), which is then justified by their desperate state ("for we are brought very low"), creating a logical and emotionally compelling flow that builds in intensity.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 79:8 offers profound theological insights into the nature of God, humanity, and the dynamics of prayer. It reveals a God who, while just in allowing consequences for sin, is ultimately characterized by profound mercy and compassion, always accessible to those who humble themselves and seek Him. The verse underscores the concept of corporate responsibility, where the sins of a community can lead to collective suffering, yet it simultaneously highlights God's willingness to forgive and restore upon sincere repentance. It teaches that even in the deepest valleys of despair, when human strength is utterly depleted and hope seems lost, the most potent recourse is an urgent, humble appeal to God's inherent "tender mercies." This divine attribute is not merely a passive feeling but an active, redemptive force that can "prevent" (anticipate and intervene) even the most dire circumstances. The psalmist's plea is a testament to the enduring biblical truth that God's compassion is unfailing, providing a pathway to restoration even when judgment is deserved.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 79:8 provides a timeless template for how individuals and communities can approach God in times of deep distress, whether brought on by personal failings or external circumstances. It first calls us to a posture of humble confession, acknowledging that our "former iniquities"—be they past sins, neglect, or corporate failings—may indeed contribute to our present difficulties. This is not about wallowing in guilt but about honest self-assessment before a holy God. Secondly, it compels us to turn with profound urgency to God's "tender mercies," recognizing that His compassion is our ultimate hope when we are "brought very low." This encourages persistent, fervent prayer, trusting that God's nature is to be merciful and to act swiftly on behalf of His desperate children. When we feel overwhelmed, helpless, or at rock bottom, this verse reminds us that these are precisely the moments when our dependence on God is most acute, and His willingness to intervene is most evident. It assures us that even when we feel undeserving, God's boundless compassion can "prevent" (anticipate and rescue) us from further ruin, offering hope and restoration that transcends our circumstances.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "prevent" mean in this verse?
Answer: In modern English, "prevent" typically means to stop or hinder something. However, in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, "prevent" uses an archaic meaning derived from the Latin word praevenire, which means "to come before," "to anticipate," or "to go ahead of." So, when the psalmist prays, "let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us," they are not asking God's mercy to hinder them, but rather to arrive quickly and proactively, to precede their further suffering, and to intervene on their behalf before their situation worsens. It's a desperate plea for urgent, anticipatory divine help, emphasizing God's initiative in salvation.
Is this psalm only about national sin, or does it apply to individuals?
Answer: While Psalm 79 is indeed a communal lament, expressing the distress and sin of the Israelite nation, the principles embedded in Psalms 79:8 are profoundly applicable to individuals. Every person experiences moments of being "brought very low" due to personal sin, life's challenges, or the consequences of a fallen world. The humble acknowledgment of "former iniquities," the urgent plea for God's "tender mercies," and the honest declaration of helplessness are universal human experiences. Thus, this verse serves as a powerful model for individual prayer, encouraging personal confession, reliance on God's compassion, and urgent petition in times of deep need, knowing that God responds to those who cry out to Him from a place of humility and desperation, as seen in Psalm 107:6.
How does God "remember not" iniquities?
Answer: The phrase "O remember not against us former iniquities" is a plea for God not to hold their past sins against them for the purpose of current judgment and punishment. It does not mean God literally forgets, as He is omniscient and all-knowing. Instead, it speaks to God's redemptive act of choosing not to impute sin to those who genuinely repent and seek His mercy. In a covenantal context, it signifies a divine decision to set aside the record of transgression, to forgive, and to restore the relationship. This concept is beautifully expressed elsewhere in Scripture, where God promises to "blot out" transgressions or "cast them behind his back," signifying a complete and effective removal of the guilt and condemnation associated with sin, as promised in Isaiah 43:25. It is a theological statement about God's merciful choice to forgive and not punish, rather than a literal act of forgetting.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The desperate plea of Psalms 79:8 finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The "former iniquities" that plagued Israel and continue to plague humanity are fully and finally addressed in the person and work of the Messiah. Jesus is the ultimate Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, bearing the full weight of our transgressions on the cross. Through His atoning sacrifice, God can indeed "remember not against us former iniquities" because the righteous demands of His justice have been perfectly satisfied in Christ's substitutionary death (Romans 3:25-26). The "tender mercies" for which the psalmist yearned are embodied in Christ, who, being fully God, also became fully human, experiencing our weaknesses and sufferings, and thus perfectly capable of sympathizing with us in our "low" state (Hebrews 4:15). His life, death, and resurrection constitute God's ultimate and "speedy prevention" against the eternal consequences of sin, offering grace and salvation proactively to all who believe (Romans 5:8). In Christ, we are not merely spared judgment, but are reconciled to God, receiving the outpouring of His Spirit, which is the very essence of His tender mercy poured into our hearts (Romans 5:5), granting us new life and an eternal hope that transcends any earthly "low."