Why read Psalm 79?
Read Psalm 79 when you seek renewal after a difficult period. The repeated plea for God's face to shine accompanies the image of a vine in need of His care.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
In the Eleventh Kathisma of the Psalter, Psalm 79 awaits its reader with 20 verses of prayer rising out of a real experience. It begins with "Thou that shepherdest Israel, give heed..." — and from there on, everything is dialogue between man and God.
The text of Psalm 79
1. Thou that shepherdest Israel, give heed! Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep,
2. Thou that sittest upon the cherubim, manifest Thyself before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
3. Stir up Thy might and come to save us.
4. Turn us, O God, and show us Thy face, and we shall be saved!
5. O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt Thou be wroth with the prayer of Thy servants?
6. Wilt Thou feed us with the bread of tears, and give us tears to drink in measure upon measure?
7. Thou hast made us a strife unto our neighbours, and our enemies have mocked us.
8. O Lord God of hosts, turn us and show us Thy face, and we shall be saved.
9. Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; Thou hast cast out the nations and planted it.
10. Thou madest room before it, and didst cause it to take root, and it filled the earth.
11. Its shadow covered the mountains, and its boughs the cedars of God.
12. It stretched forth its branches unto the sea, and its young shoots unto the river.
13. Why hast Thou broken down her hedge, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
14. The boar out of the wood hath ravaged her, and the wild beast of the field hath fed upon her.
15. O God of hosts, return, we pray Thee; look down from heaven and behold, and visit this vine,
16. And perfect that which Thy right hand hath planted, and upon the son of man whom Thou madest strong for Thyself.
17. It is burnt with fire and dug up; at the rebuke of Thy countenance they shall perish.
18. Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand, and upon the son of man whom Thou madest strong for Thyself.
19. So shall we not go back from Thee; quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name.
20. O Lord God of hosts, turn us and show us Thy face, and we shall be saved.
When Psalm 79 is read
- for the house of God and for the Church in trial.
- At the end of each psalm, the tradition adds: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Neighbouring psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
