Psalm 80–84

Psalm 80

A PRAYER FOR RESTORATION

For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.”^a A testimony of Asaph.^b A psalm.

¹Listen, Shepherd of Israel,

who leads Joseph like a flock;^c

you who sit enthroned between the cherubim,^d

shine^{e 2}on Ephraim,

Benjamin, and Manasseh.^f

Rally your power and come to save us.^g

³Restore us, God;

make your face shine on us,^h

so that we may be saved.ⁱ

⁴Lord God of Armies,

how long will you be angry

with your people’s prayers?^j

⁵You fed them the bread of tears

and gave them a full measure^B

of tears to drink.^k

⁶You put us at odds with our neighbors;

our enemies mock us.^l

⁷Restore us, God of Armies;

make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.^m

⁸You dug up a vine from Egypt;

you drove out the nations and planted it.ⁿ

⁹You cleared a place for it;

it took root and filled the land.^o

¹⁰The mountains were covered by its shade,

and the mighty cedars^C with its branches.^p

¹¹It sent out sprouts toward the Sea^D

and shoots toward the River.^Eq

¹²Why have you broken down its walls

so that all who pass by pick its fruit?^r

¹³Boars from the forest tear at it

and creatures of the field feed on it.^s

¹⁴Return, God of Armies.^t

Look down from heaven and see;

take care of this vine,

¹⁵the root^A your right hand planted,

the son^B that you made strong for yourself.^u

¹⁶It was cut down and burned;

they^C perish at the rebuke of your countenance.^v

¹⁷Let your hand be with the man at your right hand,

with the son of man

you have made strong for yourself.^w

¹⁸Then we will not turn away from you;

revive us, and we will call on your name.^x

¹⁹Restore us, Lord, God of Armies;^y

make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.^z

Psalm 81

A CALL TO OBEDIENCE

For the choir director: on the Gittith. Of Asaph.^aa

¹Sing for joy to God our strength;

shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.^ab

²Lift up a song—play the tambourine,

the melodious lyre, and the harp.^ac

³Blow the trumpet on the day of our feasts^D

during the new moon^ad

and during the full moon.

⁴For this is a statute for Israel,

an ordinance of the God of Jacob.^ae

⁵He set it up as a decree for Joseph

when he went throughout^E the land of Egypt.^af

I heard an unfamiliar language:

⁶“I relieved his shoulder from the burden;

his hands were freed from carrying the basket.^ag

⁷You called out in distress, and I rescued you;

I answered you from the thundercloud.^ah

I tested you at the Waters of Meribah.^ai

Selah

⁸Listen, my people, and I will admonish you.

Israel, if you would only listen to me!^aj

⁹There must not be a strange god among you;

you must not bow down to a foreign god.^ak

¹⁰I am the Lord your God,

who brought you up from the land of Egypt.^al

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.^am

¹¹“But my people did not listen to my voice;

Israel did not obey me.^a

¹²So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts

to follow their own plans.^b

¹³If only my people would listen to me

and Israel would follow my ways,^c

¹⁴I would quickly subdue their enemies

and turn my hand against their foes.”^d

¹⁵Those who hate the Lord

would cower to him;^e

their doom would last forever.^f

¹⁶But he would feed Israel^F with the best wheat.

“I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”^g

Psalm 82

A PLEA FOR RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT

A psalm of Asaph.^h

¹God stands in the divine assembly;

he pronounces judgment among the gods:^Ai

²“How long will you judge unjustly

and show partiality to the wicked?^j

Selah

³Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless;

uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.^k

⁴Rescue the poor and needy;

save them from the power of the wicked.”^l

⁵They do not know or understand;

they wander in darkness.^m

All the foundations of the earth are shaken.ⁿ

⁶I said, “You are gods;^o

you are all sons of the Most High.^p

⁷However, you will die like humans

and fall like any other ruler.”^q

⁸Rise up, God, judge the earth,

for all the nations belong to you.^r

Psalm 83

PRAYER AGAINST ENEMIES

A song. A psalm of Asaph.^s

¹God, do not keep silent.

Do not be deaf, God; do not be quiet.^t

²See how your enemies make an uproar;

those who hate you have acted arrogantly.^Bu

³They devise clever schemes against your people;

they conspire against your treasured ones.^v

⁴They say, “Come, lets wipe them out as a nation

so that Israel’s name will no longer be remembered.”^w

⁵For they have conspired with one mind;

they form an alliance^C against you^x—

⁶the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,^y

Moab and the Hagrites,^z

⁷Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,^aa

Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.^ab

⁸Even Assyria has joined them;

they lend support^D to the sons of Lot.^Eac

Selah

⁹Deal with them as you did with Midian,^ad

as you did with Sisera

and Jabin at the Kishon River.^ae

¹⁰They were destroyed at En-dor;

they became manure for the ground.^af

¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,^ag

and all their tribal leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna,^ah

¹²who said, “Lets seize God’s pastures for ourselves.”^ai

¹³Make them like tumbleweed, my God,

like straw before the wind.^aj

¹⁴As fire burns a forest,

as a flame blazes through mountains,^ak

¹⁵so pursue them with your tempest

and terrify them with your storm.^al

¹⁶Cover their faces with shame

so that they will seek your name, Lord.^am

¹⁷Let them be put to shame and terrified forever;

let them perish in disgrace.^an

¹⁸May they know that you alone—

whose name is the Lord—

are the Most High over the whole earth.^a

Psalm 84

LONGING FOR GOD’S HOUSE

For the choir director: on the Gittith.^b A psalm of the sons of Korah.

¹How lovely is your dwelling place,

Lord of Armies.^c

²I long and yearn

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and flesh cry out for^A the living God.^d

³Even a sparrow finds a home,

and a swallow, a nest for herself

where she places her young—

near your altars, Lord of Armies,

my King and my God.^e

⁴How happy are those who reside in your house,

who praise you continually.^f

Selah

⁵Happy are the people whose strength is in you,

whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.^g

⁶As they pass through the Valley of Baca,^B

they make it a source of spring water;

even the autumn rain will cover it with blessings.^Ch

⁷They go from strength to strength;

each appears before God in Zion.ⁱ

⁸Lord God of Armies, hear my prayer;

listen, God of Jacob.^j

Selah

⁹Consider our shield,^D God;^k

look on the face of your anointed one.^l

¹⁰Better a day in your courts

than a thousand anywhere else.

I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God

than live in the tents of wicked people.^m

¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and shield.ⁿ

The Lord grants favor and honor;

he does not withhold the good

from those who live with integrity.^o

¹²Happy is the person who trusts in you,

Lord of Armies!^p