Help us, O God of our salvation - On whom our salvation depends; who alone can save us.

For the glory of thy name - That thy name may be honored. We are thy professed people; we have been redeemed by thee; and thine honor will be affected by the question whether we are saved or destroyed, It is the highest and purest ground for prayer, that the glory or honor of God may be promoted. See the notes at Matthew 6:9, notes at Matthew 6:13; notes at John 12:28; notes at Daniel 9:19.

And deliver us - From our enemies.

And purge away our sins - Forgive our sins, or cleanse us from them. The original word is that which is commonly used to denote an atonement. Compare in the Hebrew, Daniel 9:24,; Ezekiel 45:20; Exodus 30:15; Exodus 32:30; Leviticus 4:20; Leviticus 5:26; Leviticus 16:6, Leviticus 16:11, Leviticus 16:24.

For thy name's sake - See the notes at Daniel 9:19.

Purge away our sins - כפר capper, be propitiated, or receive an atonement (על חטאתינו al chattotheynu) on account of our sins.

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name,.... Help us out of the troubles in which we are; enable us to bear them with patience, and without murmuring, while it is thy pleasure to continue them; assist us against our powerful enemies, and strengthen us to do our duty; afford us more grace, and fresh supplies of it in our time of need: the arguments enforcing these petitions are, because God is "the God of salvation", to whom it belongs, of whom it is, and of him only to be expected; he is the sole author and giver of it; and because to help and save is for the glory of his name, which is great in the salvation of his people:

and deliver us; out of the hands of all our enemies, and out of all our afflictions, and out of this low estate in which we are:

and purge away our sins for thy name's sake; which were the cause of all calamities and distress, and which can only be purged away by the blood and sacrifice of Christ, Hebrews 1:3, the word signifies to "expiate" (i) sin, or atone for it; which was the work and business of Christ our High Priest, who has made reconciliation for sin, finished, made an end of it, and put it away by the oblation of himself, for the sake of which God is propitious; and so the words may be rendered, "be propitious to our sins" (k): or merciful to our unrighteousnesses, for the sake of Christ the great propitiation; or through the propitiatory sacrifice to be offered up by him; or, in other words, "cover our sins" (l); which is also the sense of the phrase, that they may be seen no more; pardon and forgive them for Christ's sake; see Psalm 32:1.

(i) "expiationem fac", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis. (k) "Propitiare", Pagninus, Montanus; "propitius esto", V. L. Musculus; so Tigurine version. (l) metaph. "texit", Amama.

The victory of the world is indeed not God's aim; therefore His own honour does not suffer that the world of which He has made use in order to chasten His people should for ever haughtily triumph. שׁמך is repeated with emphasis at the end of the petition in Psalm 79:9, according to the figure epanaphora. על־דּבר equals למען, as in Psalm 45:5, cf. Psalm 7:1, is a usage even of the language of the Pentateuch. Also the motive, "wherefore shall they say?" occurs even in the Tפra (Exodus 32:12, cf. Numbers 14:13-17; Deuteronomy 9:28). Here (cf. Psalm 115:2) it originates out of Joel 2:17. The wish expressed in Psalm 79:10 is based upon Deuteronomy 32:43. The poet wishes in company with his contemporaries, as eye-witnesses, to experience what God has promised in the early times, viz., that He will avenge the blood of His servants. The petition in Deuteronomy 32:11 runs like Psalm 102:21, cf. Psalm 18:7. אסיר individualizingly is those who are carried away captive and incarcerated; בּני תמוּתה are those who, if God does not preserve them by virtue of the greatness (גדל, cf. גּדל Exodus 15:16) of His arm, i.e., of His far-reaching omnipotence, succumb to the power of death as to a patria potestas.

(Note: The Arabic has just this notion in an active application, viz., benı̂ el-môt equals the heroes (destroyers) in the battle.)

That the petition in Psalm 79:12 recurs to the neighbouring peoples is explained by the fact, that these, who might most readily come to the knowledge of the God of Israel as the one living and true God, have the greatest degree of guilt on account of their reviling of God. The bosom is mentioned as that in which one takes up and holds that which is handed to him (Luke 6:38); חיק- (על) אל (שׁלּם) השׁיב, as in Isaiah 65:7, Isaiah 65:6; Jeremiah 32:18. A sevenfold requital (cf. Genesis 4:15, Genesis 4:24) is a requital that is fully carried out as a criminal sentence, for seven is the number of a completed process.

Help us, O God of our {h} salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.

(h) Seeing we have no other Saviour, neither can we help ourselves, and also by our salvation your Name will be praised: therefore O Lord, help us.

9. for . glory of thy name [and for] thy name's sake-both mean for illustrating Thy attributes, faithfulness, power, &c.

purge . sins-literally, "provide atonement for us." Deliverance from sin and suffering, for their good and God's glory, often distinguish the prayers of Old Testament saints (compare Eph 1:7).

79:6-13 Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had no hopes but from God's mercies, his tender mercies. They plead no merit, they pretend to none, but, Help us for the glory of thy name; pardon us for thy name's sake. The Christian forgets not that he is often bound in the chain of his sins. The world to him is a prison; sentence of death is passed upon him, and he knows not how soon it may be executed. How fervently should he at all times pray, O let the sighing of a prisoner come before thee, according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die! How glorious will the day be, when, triumphant over sin and sorrow, the church beholds the adversary disarmed for ever! while that church shall, from age to age, sing the praises of her great Shepherd and Bishop, her King and her God.