“Praise.” This is the unexpected last word of Psalm 79, a testimony to the subtle faith that undergirds this prayer of bewilderment and outrage. Like Psalm 74, its setting is the fall of Jerusalem to the armies of Babylon in 586 BC. The tone is gloomy, but it never reaches despair. God’s “great power” (v 11) is kept in view; the only question is “how long” it will be until God’s people see it on display. The times are perplexing, but this is a cry of faith, not doubt. The disaster which the psalmist has witnessed is beyond anything we have ever experienced. We may have known terrible suffering and we may have endured substantial losses. But for the people of Judah, the catastrophe meant utter disgrace. So many of them had been killed that there were not enough survivors to properly bury the dead (v 3). Everything that could have been destroyed was destroyed. In reality, their entire civilization had come crashing down—politically, economically, socially, and religiously. Yet in the last verse of the psalm, the worshiper somehow anticipates a brighter, future day when God’s people will again praise Him with grateful hearts and fresh memories of all He has done for them. After all, the LORD is still their Shepherd; and they are His people, the sheep of His pasture (v 13). This confidence was evident even at the start of the psalm. The city has been destroyed, the temple defiled, and the people slaughtered. Yet the psalmist speaks to God of what has happened to “Your holy temple… Your servants… Your faithful” (v 1-2). He copes with tragedy by holding on to God, trusting that He will not abandon His own, nor allow their suffering to go on forever. “How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever?” (v 5). This is the primary question on the minds of God’s suffering or persecuted people. They do not complain that their treatment by God is unjust. They know they are sinners; and they know that God has shown mercy to them even in His discipline. They know they have suffered much less than they actually deserve. Still, they are hurting, and hoping their ordeal will soon come to an end. While convinced that righteous judgment should fall on those who practice evil (v 6-7, 12), they humbly acknowledge their own iniquities (v 8)—not making excuses, but pleading for an atonement to the glory of God (v 9). Someday the blood of God’s holy Son would also be shed in Jerusalem. When Christ died, a payment was made for the sins of all who would believe in Him. Forgiveness can be ours, enabling us to forgive enemies and praise the LORD! For further meditation: