Psalms 79:6 - Exposition

Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee . It is not the heathen that had never heard of God who are intended, but those who, having heard of him, had refused to "know" him (comp. Exodus 5:2 ), as was the case with all the nations round about Canaan. And upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy Name. Now that we are punished, go on to punish those who have persecuted us, and who are at least as guilty as ourselves. "The prayer rests," as Hengstenberg remarks, "upon what God does constantly. Judgment begins at the house of God; but it proceeds thence to those whom God has employed as the instrument of his punishment. The storm of the wrath of God always remains to fall at last upon the world at enmity with his Church."