PSALM 85

You, Lord, showed favor to your land;
    you restored the fortunes of Jacob. 
 You forgave the iniquity of your people
    and covered all their sins.
 You set aside all your wrath
    and turned from your fierce anger.

 Restore us again, God our Savior,
    and put away your displeasure toward us. 

 Will you be angry with us forever?
    Will you prolong your anger through all generations? 

 Will you not revive us again,
    that your people may rejoice in you? 

 Show us your unfailing love, Lord,
    and grant us your salvation.

 I will listen to what God the Lord says;
    he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—
    but let them not turn to folly. 

 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
    that his glory may dwell in our land.

 Love and faithfulness meet together;
    righteousness and peace kiss each other. 

 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
    and righteousness looks down from heaven. 

 The Lord will indeed give what is good,
    and our land will yield its harvest. 

 Righteousness goes before him
    and prepares the way for his steps.

PSALM 84

How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty! 
 My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God. 
 Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God. 
 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.

 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. 

 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 

 They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.

 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
    listen to me, God of Jacob. 

 Look on our shield,  O God;
    look with favor on your anointed one.

 Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 

 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose walk is blameless.

 Lord Almighty,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you.

PSALM 83

O God, do not remain silent;
    do not turn a deaf ear,
    do not stand aloof, O God. 
 See how your enemies growl,
    how your foes rear their heads. 
 With cunning they conspire against your people;
    they plot against those you cherish. 
 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
    so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”

 With one mind they plot together;
    they form an alliance against you— 

 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
    of Moab and the Hagrites, 

 Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,
    Philistia, with the people of Tyre. 

 Even Assyria has joined them
    to reinforce Lot’s descendants.

 Do to them as you did to Midian,
    as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, 

 who perished at Endor
    and became like dung on the ground. 

 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
    all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, 

 who said, “Let us take possession
    of the pasturelands of God.”

 Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
    like chaff before the wind. 

 As fire consumes the forest
    or a flame sets the mountains ablaze, 

 so pursue them with your tempest
    and terrify them with your storm. 

 Cover their faces with shame, Lord,
    so that they will seek your name.

May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;
    may they perish in disgrace. 

 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—
    that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

PSALM 82

God has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: 

“How long will you judge unjustly
    and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 

Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
    maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. 

Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
    they walk around in darkness;
    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I say, “You are gods,
    children of the Most High, all of you; 
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,
    and fall like any prince.”

Rise up, O God, judge the earth;
    for all the nations belong to you!

PSALM 81

Sing for joy to God our strength;
    shout aloud to the God of Jacob! 
 Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
    play the melodious harp and lyre.

 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
    and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival; 

 this is a decree for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob. 

 When God went out against Egypt,
    he established it as a statute for Joseph.

I heard an unknown voice say:

 “I removed the burden from their shoulders;
    their hands were set free from the basket. 

 In your distress you called and I rescued you,
    I answered you out of a thundercloud;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—
    if you would only listen to me, Israel! 

 You shall have no foreign god among you;
    you shall not worship any god other than me. 

 I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

 “But my people would not listen to me;
    Israel would not submit to me. 

 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
    to follow their own devices.

 “If my people would only listen to me,
    if Israel would only follow my ways, 

 how quickly I would subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes! 

 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
    and their punishment would last forever. 

But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

PSALM 80

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
    before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
    and come to save us!

Restore us, O God;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved.

O Lord God of hosts,
    how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
    and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us the scorn of our neighbors;
    our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved.

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
    you drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
    it took deep root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches;
it sent out its branches to the sea,
    and its shoots to the River.
Why then have you broken down its walls,
    so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
The boar from the forest ravages it,
    and all that move in the field feed on it.

Turn again, O God of hosts;
    look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
     the stock that your right hand planted.
They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;
    may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
    the one whom you made strong for yourself.
Then we will never turn back from you;
    give us life, and we will call on your name.

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved.

PSALM 79

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
 they have defiled your holy temple,
 they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
They have left the dead bodies of your servants
    as food for the birds of the sky,
    the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
They have poured out blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there is no one to bury the dead.
We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
    of scorn and derision to those around us.

How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
    How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out your wrath on the nations
    that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
    that do not call on your name;
for they have devoured Jacob
    and devastated his homeland.

Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
    may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
    for we are in desperate need.
Help us, God our Savior,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
    for your name’s sake.
Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”

Before our eyes, make known among the nations
    that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times
    the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
    will praise you forever;
from generation to generation
    we will proclaim your praise.

PSALM 78

Listen, O my people, to my instruction;

Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

For He established a testimony in Jacob
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach them to their children,
That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and tell them to their children,
That they should put their confidence in God
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
And not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows,
Yet they turned back in the day of battle.
They did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to walk in His law;
They forgot His deeds
And His miracles that He had shown them.
He wrought wonders before their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He divided the sea and caused them to pass through,
And He made the waters stand up like a heap.
Then He led them with the cloud by day
And all the night with a light of fire.
He split the rocks in the wilderness
And gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths.
He brought forth streams also from the rock
And caused waters to run down like rivers.

Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
To rebel against the Most High in the desert.
And in their heart they put God to the test
By asking food according to their desire.
Then they spoke against God;
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
“Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out,
And streams were overflowing;
Can He give bread also?
Will He provide meat for His people?”

Therefore the Lord heard and was full of wrath;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob
And anger also mounted against Israel,
Because they did not believe in God
And did not trust in His salvation.
Yet He commanded the clouds above
And opened the doors of heaven;
He rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them food from heaven.
Man did eat the bread of angels;
He sent them food in abundance.
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens
And by His power He directed the south wind.
When He rained meat upon them like the dust,
Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas,
Then He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
Round about their dwellings.
So they ate and were well filled,
And their desire He gave to them.
Before they had satisfied their desire,
While their food was in their mouths,
The anger of God rose against them
And killed some of their stoutest ones,
And subdued the choice men of Israel.
In spite of all this they still sinned
And did not believe in His wonderful works.
So He brought their days to an end in futility
And their years in sudden terror.

When He killed them, then they sought Him,
And returned and searched diligently for God;
And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
But they deceived Him with their mouth
And lied to Him with their tongue.
For their heart was not steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them;
And often He restrained His anger
And did not arouse all His wrath.
Thus He remembered that they were but flesh,
A wind that passes and does not return.

How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And grieved Him in the desert!
Again and again they tempted God,
And pained the Holy One of Israel.
They did not remember His power,
The day when He redeemed them from the adversary,
When He performed His signs in Egypt
And His marvels in the field of Zoan,
And turned their rivers to blood,
And their streams, they could not drink.
He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them,
And frogs which destroyed them.
He gave also their crops to the grasshopper
And the product of their labor to the locust.
He destroyed their vines with hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones
And their herds to bolts of lightning.
He sent upon them His burning anger,
Fury and indignation and trouble,
A band of destroying angels.
He leveled a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But gave over their life to the plague,
And smote all the firstborn in Egypt,
The first issue of their virility in the tents of Ham.
But He led forth His own people like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
He led them safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea engulfed their enemies.

So He brought them to His holy land,
To this hill country which His right hand had gained.
He also drove out the nations before them
And apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies,
But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers;
They turned aside like a treacherous bow.
For they provoked Him with their high places
And aroused His jealousy with their graven images.
When God heard, He was filled with wrath
And greatly abhorred Israel;
So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent which He had pitched among men,
And gave up His strength to captivity
And His glory into the hand of the adversary.
He also delivered His people to the sword,
And was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
Fire devoured His young men,
And His virgins had no wedding songs.
His priests fell by the sword,
And His widows could not weep.

Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep,
Like a warrior overcome by wine.
He drove His adversaries backward;
He put on them an everlasting reproach.
He also rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which He loved.
And He built His sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has founded forever.
He also chose David His servant
And took him from the sheepfolds;
From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,
And guided them with his skillful hands.

PSALM 77

I cried out to God with my voice—
To God with my voice;
And He gave ear to me.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;
My soul refused to be comforted.
I remembered God, and was troubled;
I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah

You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
I have considered the days of old,
The years of ancient times.
I call to remembrance my song in the night;
I meditate within my heart,
And my spirit makes diligent search.

Will the Lord cast off forever?
And will He be favorable no more?
Has His mercy ceased forever?
Has His promise failed forevermore?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah

And I said, “This is my anguish;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
I will remember the works of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?
You are the God who does wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the peoples.
You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

The waters saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were afraid;
The depths also trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
The skies sent out a sound;
Your arrows also flashed about.
The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world;
The earth trembled and shook.
Your way was in the sea,
Your path in the great waters,
And Your footsteps were not known.
You led Your people like a flock
By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

PSALM 76

God is known in Judah;

His name is great in Israel.
His tabernacle is in Salem;
His dwelling place also is in Zion.
There He broke the flaming arrows,
The shield and the sword and the weapons of war. Selah.

You are resplendent,
More majestic than the mountains of prey.
The stouthearted were plundered,
They sank into sleep;
And none of the warriors could use his hands.
At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
Both rider and horse were cast into a dead sleep.
You, even You, are to be feared;
And who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?

You caused judgment to be heard from heaven;
The earth feared and was still
When God arose to judgment,
To save all the humble of the earth. Selah.
For the wrath of man shall praise You;
With a remnant of wrath You will gird Yourself.

Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;
Let all who are around Him bring gifts to Him who is to be feared.
He will cut off the spirit of princes;
He is feared by the kings of the earth.