PSALM 79

A Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Prayer for Help.

A Psalm of Asaph.

1O God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance;

They have defiled Your holy temple;

They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

2They have given the dead bodies of Your servants for food to the birds of the heavens,

The flesh of Your godly ones to the beasts of the earth.

3They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem;

And there was no one to bury them.

4We have become a reproach to our neighbors,

A scoffing and derision to those around us.

5How long, O Lord? Will You be angry forever?

Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

6Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not know You,

And upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Your name.

7For they have devoured Jacob

And laid waste his habitation.

8Do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us;

Let Your compassion come quickly to meet us,

For we are brought very low.

9Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name;

And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name’s sake.

10Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

Let there be known among the nations in our sight,

Vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been shed.

11Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You;

According to the greatness of Your power preserve those who are doomed to die.

12And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom

The reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.

13So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture

Will give thanks to You forever;

To all generations we will tell of Your praise.

PSALM 80

God Implored to Rescue His People from Their Calamities.

For the choir director; set to El Shoshannim; Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph.

1Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel,

You who lead Joseph like a flock;

You who are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!

2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your power

And come to save us!

3O God, restore us

And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

4O Lord God of hosts,

How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your people?

5You have fed them with the bread of tears,

And You have made them to drink tears in large measure.

6You make us an object of contention to our neighbors,

And our enemies laugh among themselves.

7O God of hosts, restore us

And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

8You removed a vine from Egypt;

You drove out the nations and planted it.

9You cleared the ground before it,

And it took deep root and filled the land.

10The mountains were covered with its shadow,

And the cedars of God with its boughs.

11It was sending out its branches to the sea

And its shoots to the River.

12Why have You broken down its hedges,

So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?

13A boar from the forest eats it away

And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.

14O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech You;

Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,

15Even the shoot which Your right hand has planted,

And on the son whom You have strengthened for Yourself.

16It is burned with fire, it is cut down;

They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

17Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,

Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.

18Then we shall not turn back from You;

Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.

19O Lord God of hosts, restore us;

Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

PSALM 81

God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.

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

1Sing for joy to God our strength;

Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.

2Raise a song, strike the timbrel,

The sweet sounding lyre with the harp.

3Blow the trumpet at the new moon,

At the full moon, on our feast 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 went throughout the land of Egypt.

I heard a language that I did not know:

6“I relieved his shoulder of the burden,

His hands were freed from the basket.

7You called in trouble and I rescued you;

I answered you in the hiding place of thunder;

I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

8Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you;

O Israel, if you would listen to Me!

9Let there be no strange god among you;

Nor shall you worship any foreign god.

10I, the Lord, am your God,

Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;

Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

11“But My people did not listen to My voice,

And Israel did not obey Me.

12So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart,

To walk in their own devices.

13Oh that My people would listen to Me,

That Israel would walk in My ways!

14I would quickly subdue their enemies

And turn My hand against their adversaries.

15Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him,

And their time of punishment would be forever.

16But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,

And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

PSALM 82

Unjust Judgments Rebuked.

A Psalm of Asaph.

1God takes His stand in His own congregation;

He judges in the midst of the rulers.

2How long will you judge unjustly

And show partiality to the wicked? Selah.

3Vindicate the weak and fatherless;

Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.

4Rescue the weak and needy;

Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.

5They do not know nor do they understand;

They walk about in darkness;

All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6I said, “You are gods,

And all of you are sons of the Most High.

7Nevertheless you will die like men

And fall like any one of the princes.”

8Arise, O God, judge the earth!

For it is You who possesses all the nations.

PSALM 83

God Implored to Confound His Enemies.

A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.

1O God, do not remain quiet;

Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.

2For behold, Your enemies make an uproar,

And those who hate You have exalted themselves.

3They make shrewd plans against Your people,

And conspire together against Your treasured ones.

4They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation,

That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

5For they have conspired together with one mind;

Against You they make a covenant:

6The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

Moab and the Hagrites;

7Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,

Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

8Assyria also has joined with them;

They have become a help to the children of Lot. Selah.

9Deal with them as with Midian,

As with Sisera and Jabin at the torrent of Kishon,

10Who were destroyed at En-dor,

Who became as dung for the ground.

11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb

And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

12Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves

The pastures of God.”

13O my God, make them like the whirling dust,

Like chaff before the wind.

14Like fire that burns the forest

And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire,

15So pursue them with Your tempest

And terrify them with Your storm.

16Fill their faces with dishonor,

That they may seek Your name, O Lord.

17Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever,

And let them be humiliated and perish,

18That they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord,

Are the Most High over all the earth.