Psalm 81

A Call to the Lord’s Feast

For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.*81: title Hebrew according to the gittith.

1Sing praises to God, our strength.

Sing to the God of Jacob.

2Sing! Beat the tambourine.

Play the sweet lyre and the harp.

3Blow the ram’s horn at new moon,

and again at full moon to call a festival!

4For this is required by the decrees of Israel;

it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.

5He made it a law for Israel*81:5 Hebrew for Joseph.

when he attacked Egypt to set us free.

I heard an unknown voice say,

6“Now I will take the load from your shoulders;

I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.

7You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;

I answered out of the thundercloud

and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah.

Interlude

8“Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.

O Israel, if you would only listen to me!

9You must never have a foreign god;

you must not bow down before a false god.

10For it was I, the Lord your God,

who rescued you from the land of Egypt.

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

11“But no, my people wouldn’t listen.

Israel did not want me around.

12So I let them follow their own stubborn desires,

living according to their own ideas.

13Oh, that my people would listen to me!

Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!

14How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!

How soon my hands would be upon their foes!

15Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him;

they would be doomed forever.

16But I would feed you with the finest wheat.

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

Psalm 80

A Plea for Revival and Restoration

For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be sung to the tune “Lilies of the Covenant.”

1Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock.

O God, enthroned above the cherubim,

display your radiant glory

2to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.

Show us your mighty power.

Come to rescue us!

3Turn us again to yourself, O God.

Make your face shine down upon us.

Only then will we be saved.

4O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,

how long will you be angry with our prayers?

5You have fed us with sorrow

and made us drink tears by the bucketful.

6You have made us the scorn*80:6 As in Syriac version; Hebrew reads the strife. of neighboring nations.

Our enemies treat us as a joke.

7Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven’s Armies.

Make your face shine down upon us.

Only then will we be saved.

8You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine;

you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land.

9You cleared the ground for us,

and we took root and filled the land.

10Our shade covered the mountains;

our branches covered the mighty cedars.

11We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea;

our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River.*80:11 Hebrew west to the sea, . . . east to the river.

12But now, why have you broken down our walls

so that all who pass by may steal our fruit?

13The wild boar from the forest devours it,

and the wild animals feed on it.

14Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven’s Armies.

Look down from heaven and see our plight.

Take care of this grapevine

15that you yourself have planted,

this son you have raised for yourself.

16For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies.

May they perish at the sight of your frown.

17Strengthen the man you love,

the son of your choice.

18Then we will never abandon you again.

Revive us so we can call on your name once more.

19Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.

Make your face shine down upon us.

Only then will we be saved.

Psalm 108

A Confident Prayer for Victory

A song. A psalm of David.

1My heart is confident in you, O God;

no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!

2Wake up, lyre and harp!

I will wake the dawn with my song.

3I will thank you, Lord, among all the people.

I will sing your praises among the nations.

4For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens.

Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

5Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens.

May your glory shine over all the earth.

6Now rescue your beloved people.

Answer and save us by your power.

7God has promised this by his holiness*108:7 Or in his sanctuary.:

“I will divide up Shechem with joy.

I will measure out the valley of Succoth.

8Gilead is mine,

and Manasseh, too.

Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors,

and Judah, my scepter, will produce my kings.

9But Moab, my washbasin, will become my servant,

and I will wipe my feet on Edom

and shout in triumph over Philistia.”

10Who will bring me into the fortified city?

Who will bring me victory over Edom?

11Have you rejected us, O God?

Will you no longer march with our armies?

12Oh, please help us against our enemies,

for all human help is useless.

13With God’s help we will do mighty things,

for he will trample down our foes.

12Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem!

Praise your God, O Zion!

13For he has strengthened the bars of your gates

and blessed your children within your walls.

14He sends peace across your nation

and satisfies your hunger with the finest wheat.

15He sends his orders to the world—

how swiftly his word flies!

16He sends the snow like white wool;

he scatters frost upon the ground like ashes.

17He hurls the hail like stones.*147:17 Hebrew like bread crumbs.

Who can stand against his freezing cold?

18Then, at his command, it all melts.

He sends his winds, and the ice thaws.

19He has revealed his words to Jacob,

his decrees and regulations to Israel.

20He has not done this for any other nation;

they do not know his regulations.

Praise the Lord!