May 28, 2018 · 00:03:20
Tehilim Perek 79 Welcome to NachDaily, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, and today we’ll be discussing Tehilim, Chapter 79. This perek is primarily about the destruction of Yerushalyim. Asaph said it, with divine insight, as a lament over the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. All of the Meforshim ask why this is called a mizmor, song, as it really should be considered a kina, lament? The Midrash Socher Tov answers with the following parable: A king became angry at his son, the prince, and wanted to kill him. Instead, the king banished his son from the palace and destroyed all of the prince’s possessions. The king knew that he could always rebuild his son’s quarters and replace his possessions. So too, instead of destroying Am Yisrael, Hashem took out His wrath on sticks and stones. The perek opens with mizmor l’Asaph, Asaph’s song, because Hashem poured his anger out on sticks and stones and didn’t destroy His children. We each need to take to heart God’s amazing love for every member of the Jewish nation. Asaph begins by describing what the destruction looks like. Yerushalyim has been turned into heaps of rubble. Corpses have become food for animals. Blood is flowing in the streets. We’ve become a disgrace. Asaph now asks God how long we will suffer. Why does He allow us to be devoured by our enemies? Asaph pleads with Hashem not to hold our sins against us, asking Him to rescue us and lift us up from degradation. The perek ends with a