Psalm 81–83

PSALM 81

God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.

For the choir director; ^†on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.

^1aSing for joy to God our ^bstrength;

Shout ^cjoyfully to the ^dGod of Jacob.

²Raise a song, strike ^athe timbrel,

The sweet sounding ^blyre with the ^charp.

³Blow the trumpet at the ^anew moon,

At the full moon, on our ^bfeast day.

⁴For it is a statute for Israel,

An ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵He established it for a testimony in Joseph

When he ^1awent throughout the land of Egypt.

I heard a ^blanguage that I did not know:

⁶“I ^1arelieved his shoulder of the burden,

His hands were freed from the ²basket.

⁷“You ^acalled in trouble and I rescued you;

I ^banswered you in the hiding place of thunder;

I proved you at the ^cwaters of Meribah.

¹Selah.

⁸“^aHear, O My people, and I will ¹admonish you;

O Israel, if you ^bwould listen to Me!

⁹“Let there be no ^astrange god among you;

Nor shall you worship any foreign god.

¹⁰“^aI, the Lord, am your God,

Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;

^bOpen your mouth wide and I will ^cfill it.

¹¹“But My people ^adid not listen to My voice,

And Israel did not ¹obey Me.

¹²“So I ^agave ¹them over to the stubbornness of their heart,

To walk in their own devices.

¹³“Oh that My people ^awould listen to Me,

That Israel would ^bwalk in My ways!

¹⁴“I would quickly ^asubdue their enemies

And ^bturn My hand against their adversaries.

¹⁵“^aThose who hate the Lord would ^bpretend obedience to Him,

And their time of punishment would be forever.

¹⁶“¹But I would feed you with the ^2afinest of the wheat,

And with ^bhoney from the rock I would satisfy you.”

PSALM 82

Unjust Judgments Rebuked.

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹God takes His ^astand in ¹His own congregation;

He ^bjudges in the midst of the ^2crulers.

²How long will you ^ajudge unjustly

And ^bshow partiality to the wicked?

¹Selah.

^3aVindicate the weak and fatherless;

Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.

^4aRescue the weak and needy;

Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.

⁵They ^ado not know nor do they understand;

They ^bwalk about in darkness;

All the ^cfoundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶¹I ^asaid, “You are gods,

And all of you are ^bsons of the Most High.

⁷“Nevertheless ^ayou will die like men

And fall like any ^bone of the princes.”

^8aArise, O God, ^bjudge the earth!

For it is You who ^cpossesses all the nations.

PSALM 83

God Implored to Confound His Enemies.

A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.

¹O God, ^ado not remain quiet;

^bDo not be silent and, O God, do not be still.

²For behold, Your enemies ^amake an uproar,

And ^bthose who hate You have ^1cexalted themselves.

³They ^amake shrewd plans against Your people,

And ¹conspire together against ^bYour ²treasured ones.

⁴They have said, “Come, and ^alet us wipe them out ¹as a nation,

That the ^bname of Israel be remembered no more.”

⁵For they have ^1aconspired together with one mind;

Against You they make a covenant:

⁶The tents of ^aEdom and the ^bIshmaelites,

^cMoab and the ^dHagrites;

^7aGebal and ^bAmmon and ^cAmalek,

^dPhilistia with the inhabitants of ^eTyre;

^8aAssyria also has joined with them;

They have become ¹a help to the ^bchildren of Lot.

²Selah.

⁹Deal with them ^aas with Midian,

As ^bwith Sisera and Jabin at the torrent of Kishon,

¹⁰Who were destroyed at En-dor,

Who ^abecame as dung for the ground.

¹¹Make their nobles like ^aOreb and Zeeb

And all their princes like ^bZebah and Zalmunna,

¹²Who said, “^aLet us possess for ourselves

The ^bpastures of God.”

¹³O my God, make them like the ^1awhirling dust,

Like ^bchaff before the wind.

¹⁴Like ^afire that burns the forest

And like a flame that ^bsets the mountains on fire,

¹⁵So pursue them ^awith Your tempest

And terrify them with Your storm.

^16aFill their faces with dishonor,

That they may seek Your name, O Lord.

¹⁷Let them be ^aashamed and dismayed forever,

And let them be humiliated and perish,

¹⁸That they may ^aknow that ^bYou alone, whose name is the Lord,

Are the ^cMost High over all the earth.