Psalm 79:12
Psalm 79:12 Pay back time! Firstly, what does the Psalm writer mean when he asks to Lord to “ pay back into the laps of our neighbours?” Obviously, it’s a phrase that was in common use and it probably means more than just dump something into the lap of a person who is sitting down! Look carefully and you will note that the noun is plural, so it encompasses all the neighbours, in fact the whole of Babylon is in view. It’s pay back time and the psalmist wants the Lord God to dump on the Babylonians seven times the contempt that they have hurled at Him! The word “lap” here more correctly means bosom or heart, so Asaph’s descendant is asking God to hit the Babylonians where it hurts the most, in the very core of their culture and their empire, and to hit them so hard, they will never recover. He did, and they didn’t! The significance of the number 7 is important here, it always signifies completeness, perfection, fulness. When 7 comes up, the job is done, nothing more can be added, it is f...