Grieving over the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Prayer for Help.

A Psalm of Asaph.

79 God, the (A)nations have [a]invaded (B)Your inheritance;
They have defiled Your (C)holy temple;
They have (D)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
They have given the (E)dead bodies of Your servants to the birds of the sky as food,
The flesh of Your godly ones to the animals of the earth.
They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem;
And there was (F)no one to bury them.
We have become a (G)disgrace before our neighbors,
An object of derision and ridicule to those around us.
(H)How long, Lord? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your (I)jealousy (J)burn like fire?
(K)Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which (L)do not know You,
And upon the kingdoms which (M)do not call upon Your name.
For they have (N)devoured Jacob
And (O)laid waste his [b]settlement.

(P)Do not [c]hold us responsible for [d]the guilty deeds of our forefathers;
Let Your compassion come quickly to (Q)meet us,
For we have (R)become very low.
(S)Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of (T)Your name;
And save us and [e](U)forgive our sins (V)for the sake of Your name.
10 (W)Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Let (X)vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been shed
Be known among the nations in our sight.
11 Let (Y)the groaning of the prisoner come before You;
According to the greatness of Your [f]power, let [g]those who are (Z)doomed to die remain.
12 And return to our neighbors (AA)seven times as much (AB)into their lap
Their (AC)taunts with which they have taunted You, Lord.
13 So we Your people and the (AD)sheep of Your [h]pasture
Will (AE)give thanks to You forever;
To all generations we will (AF)tell of Your praise.

God Implored to Rescue His People from Their Calamities.

For the music director; set to [i]El Shoshannim; [j]Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph.

80 Listen, (AG)Shepherd of Israel,
Who leads (AH)Joseph like a flock;
You who (AI)are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!
Before (AJ)Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, (AK)awaken Your power,
And come to save us!
God, (AL)restore us
And (AM)make Your face shine upon us, [k]and we will be saved.

(AN)Lord God of armies,
(AO)How long will You [l]be angry with the prayer of Your people?
You have fed them with the (AP)bread of tears,
And You have made them drink tears in [m]large measure.
You make us [n]an object of contention (AQ)to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
God of armies, restore us
And make Your face shine upon us, [o]and we will be saved.

You removed a (AR)vine from Egypt;
You (AS)drove out the [p]nations and (AT)planted it.
You (AU)cleared the ground before it,
And it (AV)took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shadow,
And [q]the cedars of God with its (AW)branches.
11 It was sending out its branches (AX)to the sea
And its shoots to the Euphrates River.
12 Why have You (AY)broken down its [r]hedges,
So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?
13 A boar from the forest (AZ)eats it away,
And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.

14 God of armies, do (BA)turn back;
(BB)Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,
15 The [s](BC)shoot which Your right hand has planted,
And of the [t]son whom You have [u]strengthened for Yourself.
16 It is (BD)burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish from the (BE)rebuke of Your face.
17 Let (BF)Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You (BG)made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we will not (BH)turn back from You;
(BI)Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Lord God of armies, (BJ)restore us;
Make Your face shine upon us, [v]and we will be saved.

God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.

For the music director; [w]on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.

81 (BK)Sing for joy to God our (BL)strength;
Shout (BM)joyfully to the (BN)God of Jacob.
Raise a song, strike (BO)the tambourine,
The sweet sounding (BP)lyre with the (BQ)harp.
Blow the trumpet at the (BR)new moon,
At the full moon, on our (BS)feast day.
For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
He established it as a testimony in Joseph
When he [x](BT)went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard a (BU)language I did not know:

“I [y](BV)relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the [z]basket.
You (BW)called in trouble and I rescued you;
I (BX)answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I put you to the test at the (BY)waters of Meribah. Selah
(BZ)Hear, My people, and I will admonish you;
Israel, if you (CA)would listen to Me!
There shall be no (CB)strange god among you;
Nor shall you worship a foreign god.
10 (CC)I, the Lord, am your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
(CD)Open your mouth wide and I will (CE)fill it.

11 “But My people (CF)did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not [aa]obey Me.
12 So I (CG)gave [ab]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk by their own plans.
13 Oh that My people (CH)would listen to Me,
That Israel would (CI)walk in My ways!
14 I would quickly (CJ)subdue their enemies
And (CK)turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 (CL)Those who hate the Lord would (CM)pretend to obey Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16 [ac]But I would feed you with the [ad](CN)finest of the wheat,
And with (CO)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 79:1 Lit come into
  2. Psalm 79:7 Lit pasture
  3. Psalm 79:8 Lit remember against us
  4. Psalm 79:8 Or our former sins
  5. Psalm 79:9 Lit cover over, atone for
  6. Psalm 79:11 Lit arm
  7. Psalm 79:11 Lit the sons of death
  8. Psalm 79:13 Or pasturing
  9. Psalm 80 Title Possibly, to the Lilies
  10. Psalm 80 Title Lit A testimony
  11. Psalm 80:3 Or that we may
  12. Psalm 80:4 Lit smoke against
  13. Psalm 80:5 Lit a third part of a
  14. Psalm 80:6 Lit strife to
  15. Psalm 80:7 Or that we may
  16. Psalm 80:8 Or Gentiles
  17. Psalm 80:10 Or its boughs are like the cedars of God
  18. Psalm 80:12 Or walls, fences
  19. Psalm 80:15 Or root
  20. Psalm 80:15 Or figuratively: branch
  21. Psalm 80:15 Or secured
  22. Psalm 80:19 Or that we may
  23. Psalm 81 Title Or according to
  24. Psalm 81:5 Lit went out over
  25. Psalm 81:6 Lit removed his shoulder from
  26. Psalm 81:6 Or brick load
  27. Psalm 81:11 Lit yield to
  28. Psalm 81:12 Lit him
  29. Psalm 81:16 Lit He would feed him
  30. Psalm 81:16 Lit fat

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