提要
詩篇第七九篇與第七四篇是有密切的關係。兩者都為亞薩所撰，並且描述有預言指出，耶路撒冷會遭到可怕的毀滅（79：1~2；耶9：11；彌3：12），後來，巴比倫人果然毀滅了耶城（代下36：16~20）。詩篇第七四篇主要地是描述耶城被毀後的悲傷，但是詩篇第七九篇的主旨是側重在說明人民受到的逼迫和毀滅。
這一詩篇的主要目的是要求上帝行使祂的公義，報復祂的仇敵（79：6、12）。他們祇求上帝要做一位流血的復仇者，因為祂的仇敵屠殺了無數信徒，流無辜人的血（79：2~3；10下；比較申19：11~13）。他們祇求上帝這樣做，因為祂是有同情心、憐憫人的上帝，一定會聽到生還者的嘆息，也會保存那些仇敵要殺的人（79：11）。不過，他們的第一個要求就是祈求上帝寬恕他們的過犯，因為他們承認，所有的災難是因他們的罪而起，以及上帝的憤怒要臨在他們的身上（79：5、8）。他們明白，那些尚未認識上帝，也未求過上帝的人，要受到上帝更大更多的憤怒（79：6）。
猶大百姓祈求上帝毀滅仇敵的另一個理由就是，容許那些拜偶像的人繼續做勝利者，這樣將使事奉上帝的人受到羞辱和責備。不過，一個更重要的事實乃是它使上帝受到責備，以及他們擔心上帝是否受到榮耀。他們不想看到鄰近異教徒國家，因上帝百姓的毀滅，懷疑上帝的存在，及嘲笑祂（比較結25章；俄12章）。他們祈求：「求您因您名的榮耀」，「幫助」我們、「拯救」我們、「搭救」我們，並且赦免我們的罪（79：9）當他們接受這一點，並且看到上帝報復仇敵時，上帝草原上的羊群就會說，他們會永遠讚美祂、也感謝祂。
利未人亞薩心裡有拯救北方各支派的負擔，尤其是要搭救以法蓮和瑪拿西支派。在詩篇第八十篇中，他祈求上帝要做他們的牧羊人。不過，這篇詩篇的寫成日期似乎在王國分裂之後，因此，作者也許是亞薩的後裔；否則，他就是以預言的方式來撰寫這一詩篇。這裡所描述的悲慘情況似乎是指北國為亞述大軍戰敗，及被擄他國的情景（王下18：9~12）。
亞薩再度求上帝幫助他們（「求您的臉發光」），好使失喪的羊群得到拯救。詩人對這些絕望支派的慈愛使他同情自己的同胞，並要他們作悔改的禱告：「上帝啊，求您使我們回轉」（80：3；比較耶31：18）。有趣的是，每次這句話出現時，他們用來求上帝的名就會反映出更加接近上帝。在第二次副歌中，他們向祂祈求：「哦，萬軍之上帝啊！」（80：7），承認祂是全能的上帝，會成功地搭救他們。在第三次副歌中，他們使用他們立約之上帝的名：「雅威」(Yahweh)；此字通常被翻譯成「耶和華」(Lord)（80：19）。
就像詩篇七十九篇第五節所述，戰敗的以色列人祈求耶和華：「您動怒要到幾時呢？」（字面是「發煙」Smoking；80：4）。他們很想知道，到什麼時候他們的禱告才能勸止上帝不要向他們發怒。他們就像一座葡萄園，在上帝責備他們時，燒了起來，因為祂臉上的光已不再照亮他們（80：16；比較44：3）。如果葡萄藤接受不到陽光，它就會枯死。上帝不用光照它的原因乃是，祂高品質的葡萄藤已經變質了（比較耶2：21）。
葡萄藤的比喻經常為以色列人所用（比較賽5：1~7；何10：1；路20：9下）；雅各用它指約瑟的以法蓮與瑪拿西支派（創49：22）。亞薩指出，上帝眼看祂的百姓就像葡萄園園丁看顧葡萄樹一樣，因為它們將要從埃及移植到迦南地，並且要使他們在應許之地生根茁壯，進而繁盛，覆蓋從地中海到幼發拉底河的地區（80：11）。不過，現在它周圍的牆已經倒塌了，外圍的野獸已經進來了，把它糟蹋了，連根拔起來了，並且把它摧毀了（80：12~13）。亞薩再度祈求上帝訪問祂的葡萄園，也接納它，特別提到枝子（以法蓮）；上帝曾經使它強壯過（80：15）。
這棵絕望的、行將枯萎的葡萄樹得到什麼樣的回答呢？耶穌臨世是作真葡萄樹，就是為了世上墮落的人。祂就是亞薩所謂「右手邊的人」（比較來1：3；10：12；徒7：56）及「人子」（太18：11），上帝要為自己堅固祂（人子）（80：17）。葡萄樹的枝子現在是指凡是信靠耶穌的人；如果他們住在祂的裡面，他們就會有生命，也能結出果子（參看約15：1~11）。祂是上帝的光，以及由於祂在我們的裡面發光，「我們便要得救」（80：19）。
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Overview
Psalm 79 is closely related to Psalm 74. Both were composed by Asaph and deal with the terrible destruction of Jerusalem, which had been prophesied (79:1-2; Jer. 9:11; Micah 3:12) and later fulfilled by the Babylonians (2 Chronicles 36:16-20). Psalm 74 is mainly a lamentation for the destruction of the city, but Psalm 79 concentrates more on the destruction and persecution of the people.
The main purpose of the psalm is to plead for God's divine justice, in order to bring vengeance upon their enemy (79:6,12). They asked that He be their blood avenger since the enemy had killed many of God's saints and shed innocent blood (79:2-3; lOb; cf. Deut. 19:11-13). They based their request upon the compassion and mercy of God, who would hear the groaning of the survivors and preserve those whom the enemy had appointed to die (79:11). Their first order of business, however, was to ask God to forgive them of their iniquity, for they recognized that the calamity was because of their sin and the wrath of God upon them (79:5, 8). They reasoned that those who did not know God and had never called upon Him should receive even a greater portion of God's wrath (79:6).
Another reason the people of Judah asked for God to destroy the enemy was that by allowing these idolatrous people to remain the victors, it brought shame and reproach upon the people who served God. The fact of greater importance, however, was that it brought reproach upon God, and they were concerned that God's name be glorified. They did not want to see the neighbouring heathen nations question God's existence and mock Him because of the destruction of His people (cf. Ezekiel 25; Obadiah 12). They prayed: "For the glory of Your name", "help", "deliver", "save", "and provide atonement for our sins" (79:9). When they would receive this and see God's retribution upon their enemies, then the sheep of God's pasture said they would give Him praise and thanks forever.
The Levite Asaph had a burden in his heart for the salvation of the Northern tribes, particularly the Joseph tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. In Psalm 80, he pleads that God would be their Shepherd. The occasion of the psalm, however, appears to be after the division of the Kingdom, therefore the author may have been a descendant of the Asaph, unless he wrote it himself prophetically. The distressful situation portrayed here seems to be when the Northern Kingdom was defeated by the Assyrians and carried away captive (2 Kings 18:9-12).
Asaph petitions God to once again show His favour ("cause Your face to shine") so that His lost sheep might be saved. The psalmist's love for these desparate tribes causes him to identify himself with them and give voice to their prayers of repentance: "restore us, O God" (80:3; cf. Jeremiah31:18). Interestingly, each time this same refrain is repeated, the name they use to call upon God reveals that they are drawing closer to Him. In the second refrain, they call Him "O God of hosts" (80:7), recognizing Him as a mighty God who is victorious in bringing deliverance. In the third refrain, the personal name of their covenant God is used, "Yahweh", usually translated as "Lord" (80:19).
As in Psalm 79:5, the defeated Israelites ask God: "How long will You be angry? (literally "smoking"; 80:4). They wonder when all their prayers will finally stop God's wrath from fuming against them. They are like a vineyard that has been burned with fire at the mere rebuke of God, because His countenance had ceased to shine upon them (80:16; compare 44:3). If the vine does not receive the sunshine upon it, it will perish. The reason God did this was because His high quality vine had degenerated (cf. Jeremiah 2:21).
The metaphor of the vine has often been used for Israel (cf. Isaiah 5:1-7; Hosea 10:1; Luke 20:9ff), and Jacob used it for the Joseph tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 49:22). Asaph shows how God had nurtured His people as a caring vinedresser, who transplanted them from Egypt to Canaan and caused them to take root in the Promised Land and cover the large area from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River (80:11). Now, however, the walls around them have fallen and foreign beasts have entered, plundered, uprooted, and destroyed the vine (80:12-13). Asaph calls upon God to once again visit His vine and revive it, making special mention of the branch (Ephraim) that He had once made very strong (80:15).
What was the answer for this desparate and degenerate vine? Jesus came as the true vine for all the degenerate people of the world. He was what Asaph called "the man of Your right hand" (cf. Heb. 1:3; 10:12; Acts 7:56) and the "son of man" (Matt. 18:11), whom God would make strong for Himself (80:17). The branches of the vine are now all those who believe in Jesus, and if they abide in Him they will have life and be able to bear fruit (see John 15:1-11). He is the Light of God, and because He shines within us, "we shall be saved!" (80:19).
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