Psalm 79 – The first stage on the journey to trauma recovery

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Psalm 79 (NIV)

A psalm of Asaph.

1  O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; 
            they have defiled your holy temple,
            they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2  They have given the dead bodies of your servants 
            as food to the birds of the air,
            the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth.
3  They have poured out blood like water 
            all around Jerusalem,
            and there is no one to bury the dead.
4  We are objects of reproach to our neighbours, 
            of scorn and derision to those around us.

5  How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? 
            How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6  Pour out your wrath on the nations 
            that do not acknowledge you,
   on the kingdoms
            that do not call on your name;
7  for they have devoured Jacob 
            and destroyed his homeland.
8  Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers; 
            may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
            for we are in desperate need.

9  Help us, O God our Saviour, 
           for the glory of your name;
   deliver us and forgive our sins 
           for your name's sake.
10 Why should the nations say, 
           "Where is their God?"
   Before our eyes, make known among the nations 
           that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you; 
           by the strength of your arm
           preserve those condemned to die.

12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbours seven times 
           the reproach they have hurled at you, O Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, 
           will praise you forever;
   from generation to generation 
           we will recount your praise.

Notes

1. Psalm 79 was written in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem (1) and the captivity of many of the people (2 Kings 25:8-12, 2 Chronicles 36:17-19), by someone who was left behind, saw the city’s devastation (2-3) and heard the derision (4) of their Edomite neighbours (Obadiah 1:8-14).

2. It is addressed to God and once he is addressed by name, Yahweh, but English translations commonly follow the Jewish custom of rendering this as ‘LORD.’ That turns the name into a title and obscures the reality that Yahweh is the name God revealed to his people (Exodus 3:13-15). It is the name given for us to use and it is the commonest way God is addressed in the Old Testament. I have chosen to adopt this.

3. The psalm is a lament, a complaint, addressed to Yahweh (1, 5, 9 and 12) and about Yahweh himself (5). It is not softened or balanced by a review of Yahweh’s faithfulness in the past or any apology or confession of personal contribution to the disaster. And the final vow to praise God throughout generations to come cannot be trusted as it is impossible to fulfil. It is really a blatant attempt to blackmail Yahweh to satisfy his demands. Yes, they are demands, not polite and humble requests, as is shown by the verb forms used.

4. Here is the analysis of the lament features of Psalm 79:

5. Psalm 79 was written after a personal and national calamity. The psalmist is deeply disturbed and shocked so speaks out of his horror, grief and anguish. This is not a measured, carefully thought out reflection but expresses the passion of his heart as he sees his nation, city and people destroyed. It is a lament.

6. Psalm 137 is a similar psalm but is written from the perspective of those who were taken captive to Babylon.

7. Both psalms illustrate behaviour that is associated with those who are on a Journey of Grief,[1] and in particular in the first stage of the journey when sufferers focus back to the calamity that had overtaken them, are absorbed with their own feelings, may even express unbelief about what had taken place and may be consumed by despair and anger. That anger will be expressed, of course, against the perpetrators of their suffering, but may also be expressed against Yahweh. After all, Yahweh is the God who knows everything and is all-powerful so he could easily have stepped in and turned the situation around. Given that is now seemingly impossible, surely he will see the necessity to wreak vengeance on the enemy! So the human mind and heart reason when in the throes of denial and anger. This does not denote apostacy or lack of faith. It is normal human behaviour in such devastating circumstances.

8. Notice that the psalmist still addresses Yahweh (1, 5, 9 and 12), makes requests/demands of Yahweh (6-12) and commits himself and generations to come to trust Yahweh and praise him (13). This really is faith in action, though from the comfort and remoteness of life in UK in the 21^st century it may be hard to accept.

9. Complaining as a feature of faith is discussed in more detail in Psalm 13.

10. That promise that future generations will continue to praise Yahweh (13) if Yahweh yields to his increasingly desperate pleas for help could not, of course, be kept for it is patently obvious that no one can predict how their descendants will behave. The psalmist is attempting to bribe Yahweh he is so desperate. This is a feature of the ‘Bargaining’ stage in the Journey of Grief.  It does not appear in the diagram above or in Healing the Wounds of Trauma but it does feature in Kubler-Ross’s studies of grief referred to in Psalm 137. Kubler-Ross refers to Bargaining as the third stage (out of five) after Denial and Anger.[2] In the simplified three-stage version in Healing the Wounds of Trauma bargaining should be regarded as an aspect of ‘Village 1, Denial and Anger.’ It could have been mentioned in the list of ‘Maybe’s’ on page 37[3] as it occurs on only some occasions.

11. Bargaining is not a major feature of the Journey of Grief. Certainly in my 34 years as a UK General Medical Practitioner I met it only a few times in the many consultations held with patients or relatives who were experiencing loss. I do not recall ever hearing of it in trauma healing ministry in UK or abroad in the last 14 years.

12. However, while reflecting on this an old memory came to mind. In my mid-teens I ‘lost’ half a crown (two shillings and sixpence).[4] That was a significant amount as we were a low income family so as a newish believer I promptly prayed asking God to help me find it and promised I would give a double tithe if I was successful. I was and did but I remember feeling guilty afterwards that I had behaved badly by trying to ‘do a deal’ with my Saviour and Lord.

13. We cannot, of course, ‘do deals’ with Yahweh. However, he is full of compassion (Psalm 116:5). It is in his very character to want to help (Hosea 11:1-11). But it is always on his terms.

14. Bargaining, may be, therefore, not so much an infrequent feature of the first stage of loss, but an embarrassing one that sufferers may be loathe to reveal.

15. As far as I am aware so far, Psalm 79 and Psalm 58 are the only psalms that feature this aspect of the Journey of Grief.

16. Although many modern English translations divide psalms into stanzas (usually shown by a space as in the NIV translation above) this may not coincide with the Hebraic stanza and strophe structure so the English verse and stanza structure that was introduced in the 16^th century AD needs to be ignored. But there is more to discover in this psalm when we consider its Hebraic poetic structure.

17. Hebrew poetry is set out in lines that have two or three parts. The second and third parts repeat, contrast or develop the first. They are shown above and in translations that show the line structure (eg. NIV and NRSV) with the subsequent parts inset.

18. Most strophes, the basic unit of Hebrew poetry that promote a particular idea, are single lines but on three occasions, A1, E1 and E2 the strophe is a couplet but it still has only one idea.

19. Strophes are combined into a stanza in which each idea expressed in the strophe is an aspect of the theme of the stanza. Short psalms will have a single stanza but longer psalms may have multiple stanzas. Each has its own theme that is an aspect of the overall theme of the psalm.

20. The Hebraic structure is found by looking for patterns. These seem to discoverable without having to know Hebrew as they depend on parallel (matching) ideas not on rhythm or rhyme.

21. Ancient Hebrew did not have any punctuation, there was no differentiation between upper and lower case letters and no separation between lines. These have all been introduced during the translation process so inevitably influence interpretation and understanding. However, it is the idea expressed in each line that is the key to separating lines or combining them into a strophe.

22. There is no significant flow from one line to the next as is expected in English poetry.

23. I noticed four ‘the nations’ and three (1, 6 and 10) were spread out evenly so I wondered if this was the key to recognising the stanza divisions. Experimenting with different layouts and comparing it with other psalms suggested how the psalm was constructed.

24. This led to the recognition of three stanzas each with their own theme: the experience of trauma, expectation of Yahweh’s retribution and a bargaining proposal, while the overall theme of the Psalm features the first stage on the journey of recovery from loss and grief.

25. The idea of each strophe is an aspect of the theme and there are further parallels between the ideas in each stanza shown by the lines designated with the same letter, eg A, A1 and A2 etc.

Psalm 79 – The first stage on the journey to trauma recovery

A psalm of Asaph.

26. Stanza 1 describes the experiences that have caused the trauma. Jerusalem was captured and destroyed and many residents were killed (2 Kings 25: 4, 9-10, 2 Chronicles 36: 17-19). The cream of the nation were taken to Babylon so only the weakest and poorest remained to remake their lives (2 Kings 25:11-12). There were many bodies to be buried. Homes needed to be rebuilt. The land needed to be cultivated if they were not to starve. Their culture had been destroyed. Their Temple was gone. They were suffering physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

27. Whereas Kings and Chronicles provide some historical details of what happened, in Psalm 79 we learn something about the psalmist’s inner emotional and spiritual life that was deeply scarred by trauma due to living through these experiences.

28. The reason for these sufferings is given in Ezekiel 5:5-17 though any personal or communal guilt is not acknowledged in the narrative texts while, although the psalm features a confession (strophe E), it is very brief and the psalmist is more concerned to blame his oppressors and his forefathers.

29. His complaint extends to Yahweh himself (strophe E) whom he accuses of being slow to help. Perhaps he recognises that Yahweh had been justifiably angry but thinks that should end. He accuses Yahweh of jealousy. Now that can have positive connotations about zealousness (Exodus 34:14) but as it is followed by ‘burn like fire’ it seems to be used in a negative sense. It may even hint that Yahweh has sinned or somehow had not lived up to his usual standards! Preposterous? Yes, of course; but not when understood as an aspect of the first stage of the Journey of Grief. In reality, in the first throes of grief after a major loss, it is common for God to be blamed.[5] This is not due to loss of faith or apostacy. As the Journey of Grief continues he will move on. Examples of later stages are seen in Psalm 88 and Psalm 91.

30. In his grief at such appalling loss the psalmist still turns to Yahweh in stanza 2 and demands retribution on the perpetrators of their suffering (strophe A1). He recognises that their sufferings were the result of his forefathers’ sins but seeks Yahweh’s mercy and expects it promptly (strophe D1). But just in case Yahweh will not be moved by their desperate condition he begs Yahweh to act for his own reputation’s sake (strophe E1).

31. This stanza too, demonstrates further features of the first stage of grief. The community is in desperate need for everyone to buckle to and start clearing the devastation, repair homes and plant seeds so they had a dependable source of food. Life must go on. But no! What fills the psalmist’s mind is the priority to inflict retribution on the perpetrators of their suffering. ‘Pour out’ (strophe A1) is an imperative demand. He dismisses ‘the sins of the fathers,’ that were the foundational reason for his people’s suffering and demands ‘mercy’ (strophe D1) for himself and his own generation. There is no acceptance of culpability, no consideration of the need for justice. He is consumed with anger and focussed on revenge, he is in denial and will blame anyone and everyone except himself.

32. These are all absolutely normal features of the first stage of grief.

33. Perhaps sensing he needs further arguments to persuade Yahweh to take action, in stanza 3 he draws attention to the mocking nations (strophe A2) who have killed many (strophe B2) and the best of the rest have been taken captive that he assumes will lead to their deaths (strophe C2). Well, they were weak and defeated and would have had to travel by foot 800 miles to an unknown country. That could easily take 3-6 months. How many would survive the journey? And what fate awaited those who did survive? He argues that such suffering and the neighbouring nations’ criticism of God, their Lord, warrants retribution seven times what they had inflicted (strophe D2).

34. As a final bonus argument, he promises future generations will be so impressed they will continue with the praise that he promises his own generation will commence when God does as he is told (strophe E2)! Truly, there is no sense of a polite request or any pleading. The psalmist rudely and aggressively demands God’s immediate action. Wow! Such bargaining is patently insincere, dishonest and devious.

35. There is nothing commendable about the psalmist’s attitude but it reflects the typical behaviour of even godly people who go through severe trauma especially when they have been slack in their devotion to Yahweh and his ways so they have come to expect a comfortable life on earth as the epitome of God’s blessing and their own idea of fulfilment.

36. There is no happy ending to this psalm. It ends abruptly. We leave the psalmist still looking back at the calamities that had occurred. Psychologically and poetically that is right and proper because that is what if feels like in the first stage of grief. The psalm accurately reflects life as it actually happens.

37. However, the Journey of Grief is a journey. In God’s grace the psalmist will move on. His life has not ended. He will recover, hopefully, his reverence for Yahweh. He will turn, all being well, to the future and will start rebuilding and cultivating the land. But this will not happen overnight. Before then, there will be many dark days. Depression, hopelessness, a sense of helplessness and even a longing for death will have to be worked through. Psalm 88 is set in such circumstances.

38. Eventually, however, there will come a time of new beginnings when he will begin to look to the future and will see ways in which he can rebuild a life that has prospects and potential. All he has been through will not be forgotten but will be assimilated into his personality and character. It may change his attitudes, standards and expectations; hopefully for the better.

39. The psalmist will go through this journey and may feel alone for much of it and may especially feel that Yahweh is nowhere around. But that is not true. Yahweh is a compassionate and loving God even when we rebel and go against him (Hosea 11:1-11). He grieves over his people’s pain and suffering (2 Samuel 24:16). He never leaves us. That is his promise (Deuteronomy 31:6).

40. Yahweh as Creator designed humanity to experience grief. Denial allows us to absorb our loss in stages so we are not overwhelmed. Anger gives us energy to fight against adversity. Blaming others including God is an unconscious diversionary ploy that saves us from feeling even worse due to self-recrimination.

41. We know nothing about the individual who wrote Psalm 79. It is titled, ‘A psalm of Asaph’ but Asaph was a choirmaster and musician in David and Solomon’s time (2 Chronicles 6:12) three or more centuries before the destruction of Jerusalem so the title must refer to the music or poetic style or to a descendant of Asaph who had the same gifting.

42. We can only assume what happened to him because we understand so much more about the Journey of Grief. We know it applies to people the world over and throughout the centuries so we see our own experiences mirrored in the lament psalms.

43. Though we know nothing about what happened subsequently to the psalmist we do know something about the community he represented for they did live on, survive and recover their faith. We learn this from Psalms 107 and 147 for they are set maybe 120 years later in a time of ‘New Beginnings’ when both the people and the land were well recovered and were prospering and the people’s faith had been restored.  

In case you were wondering

44. You will notice some aspects of the poetic structure do not match. For example there is no line C in Stanza 2 and strophes A1, E1 and E2 are couplets instead of single lines. This jars with the expectation of ‘perfect’ matching in English style poetry (eg in the rhyming pattern) but seems to be a feature of Hebrew poetry where the message is more important than the medium. The reader’s attention is directed away from the poet’s skill to the ideas and themes being promoted. These anomalies may also have been a memorisation aid. Such apparent discrepancies make more sense when the details of the parallels are investigated.

45. A helpful overview of modern equivalents to the experiences of our friend, the author of Psalm 79, went through can be found in Diane Langberg’s book, Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores,[6] for still, in the 21^st century, bad thing do happen, sufferers are traumatised and they go on the Journey of Grief that leads to restoration and healing when God’s heart is revealed directly to them and through those who provide care and support.

Endnotes

[1] Ergenbright, Dana and others, Healing the Wounds of Trauma: How the Church Can Help – Stories from Africa, (Participant Book for Healing Groups) revised edn (Philadelphia, PA: SIL International and American Bible Society, 2021) pp. 34-46.

[2] Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler, ‘On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss, (Croydon; Simon and Schuster, 2014) pp.17-20.

[3] Ergenbright, Dana and others, Healing the Wounds of Trauma, p. 37.

[4] 2/6, as half a crown was expressed, is worth 12½p in decimal currency and would have the buying power of about £2 in 2020s.

[5] Frank Cole, The Stages of Grief, Stress Selfcare: Controlling the Pressures and Cares of Life <https://stress-selfcare.co.uk/the-stages-of-grief/> [11 Jan 2022]

[6] Diane Langberg, Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores, (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2015) pp. 175-191.

Written: 29 December 2021

Published: 27January 2023

Updated: 11 May 2023