Beginning
A Prayer to Restore Israel
For the music director, according to The Lilies.
A testimony. Of Asaph. A psalm.[a]
80 Give ear, O shepherd of Israel,
who leads Joseph like a flock.
Shine forth, you who sits enthroned above the cherubim.
2 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
stir up your power
and come for our salvation.
3 O God, restore us,
and cause your face to shine that we may be saved.
4 O Yahweh God of hosts,
how long will you be angry[b]
against the prayer of your people?
5 You have fed them the bread of tears;
you have given them tears to drink in full measure.[c]
6 You have made us an object of strife to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock among themselves.
7 O God of hosts, restore us
and cause your face to shine that we may be saved.
8 You uprooted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You prepared a place before it,
and it took deep root[d] and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
and the mighty cedars with its boughs.
11 It spread its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the river.
12 Why have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass on the road pluck fruit from it?
13 Swine from the forests devour[e] it
and creatures of the field feed on it.
14 Please return, O God of hosts.
Observe from heaven and see,
and pay attention to this vine,
15 eventhe stalk that your right hand planted,
and concerning the shoot[f] you strengthened for yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, cut down.
They perish at the rebuke of your face.
17 Let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
on the son of humankind whom you made strong for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn back from you.
Restore us to life, and we will proclaim your name.
19 O Yahweh God of hosts, restore us;
cause your face to shine that we may be saved.
An Appeal from God to Israel
For the music director; on the Gittith. Of Asaph.[g]
81 Shout out to God our strength;
shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
2 Lift up a song and strike[h] the tambourine,
the pleasant lyre, together with the harp.
3 Blow the horn at new moon,
at full moon, for our feast day,
4 because it is a statute for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a statute[i] in Joseph
when he went out against the land of Egypt,
where I heard a language I did not know.[j]
6 “I removed his shoulder from a burden.
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 In this[k] trouble you called, and I rescued you.
Within the secret place of thunder I answered you;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, if you would but listen to me.
9 There shall be no strange god among you,
and you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am Yahweh your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 But my people did not listen to my voice,
and Israel did not yield to me.
12 So I let them[l] go in the stubbornness of their heart;
they walked in their counsels.
13 Oh that my people would listen to me;
that Israel would walk in my ways.
14 I would subdue their enemies quickly,
and turn my hand against their adversaries.
15 Those who hate Yahweh would cringe before him,
and their fate[m] would be forever.
16 But he would feed him[n] from the choicest wheat,[o]
and I would satisfy you with honey from a rock.”
God Commands Justice
A psalm of Asaph.[p]
82 God stands in the divine assembly;[q]
he administers judgment in the midst of the gods.[r]
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show favoritism to the wicked?[s] Selah
3 Judge on behalf of the helpless and the orphan;
provide justice to the afflicted and the poor.
4 Rescue the helpless and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They do not know or consider.[t]
They go about in the darkness,
so that all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I have said,[u] “You are gods,
and sons of the Most High, all of you.
7 However, you will die like men,[v]
and you will fall like one of the princes.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
because you shall inherit[w] all the nations.
A Request to Act against Israel’s Neighbors
A song. A psalm of Asaph.[x]
83 O God, do not rest silently.
Do not keep silent or be still, O God.
2 For look, your enemies roar,
and those who hate you have lifted their head.
3 They devise cunning schemes[y] against your people,
and consult together against your protected ones.[z]
4 They say, “Come, let us annihilate them from being a nation,
so that the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
5 For they have consulted together with a unified purpose.[aa]
They have made a covenant against you:
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Assyria also has joined with them.
They provide help[ab] to the children of Lot. Selah
9 Do to them as you did with Midian,
as with Sisera, as with Jabin at the wadi of Kishon.
10 They were destroyed at En-dor;
they became dung for the ground.
11 Make their leaders like Oreb and Zeeb,
and all their chiefs like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take as our possession
the pastures of God.”
13 O my God, make them like the tumbleweed,
like the chaff before wind.
14 As fire burns a forest,
and as a flame sets afire mountains,
15 so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O Yahweh.
17 Let them be ashamed and terrified forever,
and let them be humiliated and perish
18 that they may know that you,
whose name is Yahweh, you alone,
are the Most High over the whole earth.
The Joy of Worshiping in the Temple
For the music director; on the Gittith.
Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.[ac]
84 How lovely are your dwelling places,
O Yahweh of hosts!
2 My soul longs and even fails
for the courtyards of Yahweh.
My heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
near your altars, O Yahweh of hosts,
my king and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;[ad]
they can ever praise you. Selah
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in you;
in their heart are the highways to Zion.
6 Passing through the Valley of Baca,[ae]
they make it a spring.
The early rain covers it with blessings[af] as well.
7 They go from strength to strength,
until each appears before God in Zion.[ag]
8 O Yahweh, God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah
9 Look at our shield, O God,
and have regard for the face of your anointed one.
10 Because better is a day in your courtyards
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be at the threshold of the house[ah] of my God
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 Because Yahweh God is a sun and a shield;
Yahweh gives grace and honor.
He does not withhold good from those who walk blamelessly.
12 O Yahweh of hosts,
blessed is the man who trusts you.
Hope in God’s Future Help
For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.[ai]
85 O Yahweh, you favored your land.
You restored the fortunes[aj] of Jacob.
2 You took away the guilt[ak] of your people;
you covered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your burning anger.
4 Restore us, O God of our salvation,
and annul your vexation with us.
5 Will you be angry against us forever?
Will you prolong your anger generation after generation?
6 Will you not again revive us,
that your people might rejoice in you?
7 Show us, O Yahweh, your loyal love,
and grant us your salvation.
8 I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak,
because he will speak peace
to his people, even his faithful ones,[al]
but let them not return to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near for those who fear him,
that glory may abide in our land.
10 Loyal love and faithfulness[am] will meet one another;
righteousness and peace will kiss.
11 Faithfulness[an] will sprout from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from heaven.
12 Yes, Yahweh will give what is good,
and our land will give its produce.
13 Righteousness will go before him,
and it will make his steps a pathway.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software