In Jeremiah, chapter ten, verse twenty-five, “Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.” Jeremiah prays that the invaders who had so cruelly preyed upon the Israelites would themselves experience the full tide of God’s wrath, which they richly deserved, as in Psalms seventy-nine, verses six to seven, “Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.” This verse and the theme are almost identical. The words are identical, but it is more probable that the Psalmist borrowed from the Prophet.
This prayer, it must be observed, did not proceed from a spirit of malice or revenge in the prophet, nor was it intended to prescribe to God on whom he should execute his judgments, or in what order; but, first, It is an appeal to his justice; as if he had said, Lord, we are a provoking people, but are there not other nations that are more so? And shall we only be punished? Second, it is a prediction of God’s judgments upon all the impenitent enemies of his church and kingdom. If judgment begin at the house of God: what shall be the end of those that obey not his gospel? This is from First Peter four, verse seventeen.
The cause of this calamity is that the shepherds, the princes and leaders of the people, have become brutish, have not sought for wisdom and guidance from the Lord. And so they could not deal wisely, or rule the people with wisdom.