078:001 <<A contemplation by Asaph.>> Hear my teaching, my people.
Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.
078:002 I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark
sayings of old,
078:003 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
078:004 We will not hide them from their children, telling to
the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength,
and his wondrous works that he has done.
078:005 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed
a teaching in Israel, which he commanded our fathers,
that they should make them known to their children;
078:006 that the generation to come might know, even the children
who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,
078:007 that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works
of God, but keep his commandments,
078:008 and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious
generation, a generation that didn't make their hearts loyal,
whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
078:009 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
turned back in the day of battle.
078:010 They didn't keep God's covenant, and refused to walk in his law.
078:011 They forgot his doings, his wondrous works that he had shown them.
078:012 He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers,
in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
078:013 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through.
He made the waters stand as a heap.
078:014 In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, and all night
with a light of fire.
078:015 He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly
as out of the depths.
078:016 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters
to run down like rivers.
078:017 Yet they still went on to sin against him, to rebel against
the Most High in the desert.
078:018 They tempted God in their heart by asking food according
to their desire.
078:019 Yes, they spoke against God. They said, "Can God prepare
a table in the wilderness?
078:020 Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out,
and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also?
Will he provide flesh for his people?"
078:021 Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled
against Jacob, anger also went up against Israel,
078:022 because they didn't believe in God, and didn't trust
in his salvation.
078:023 Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven.
078:024 He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food
from the sky.
078:025 Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full.
078:026 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power
he guided the south wind.
078:027 He rained also flesh on them as the dust; winged birds
as the sand of the seas.
078:028 He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
around their habitations.
078:029 So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire.
078:030 They didn't turn from their cravings. Their food was yet
in their mouths,
078:031 when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of
the fattest of them, and struck down the young men of Israel.
078:032 For all this they still sinned, and didn't believe in
his wondrous works.
078:033 Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, and their
years in terror.
078:034 When he killed them, then they inquired after him.
They returned and sought God earnestly.
078:035 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God,
their redeemer.
078:036 But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied to him
with their tongue.
078:037 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they
faithful in his covenant.
078:038 But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn't destroy them.
Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn't stir up
all his wrath.
078:039 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away,
and doesn't come again.
078:040 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,
and grieved him in the desert!
078:041 They turned again and tempted God, and provoked the
Holy One of Israel.
078:042 They didn't remember his hand, nor the day when he redeemed
them from the adversary;
078:043 how he set his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the field of Zoan,
078:044 he turned their rivers into blood, and their streams,
so that they could not drink.
078:045 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;
and frogs, which destroyed them.
078:046 He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, and their labor
to the locust.
078:047 He destroyed their vines with hail, their sycamore fig
trees with frost.
078:048 He gave over their livestock also to the hail, and their flocks
to hot thunderbolts.
078:049 He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, indignation,
and trouble, and a band of angels of evil.
078:050 He made a path for his anger. He didn't spare their soul
from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence,
078:051 and struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their
strength in the tents of Ham.
078:052 But he led forth his own people like sheep, and guided them
in the wilderness like a flock.
078:053 He led them safely, so that they weren't afraid, but the sea
overwhelmed their enemies.
078:054 He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain,
which his right hand had taken.
078:055 He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them
for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel
to dwell in their tents.
078:056 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God,
and didn't keep his testimonies;
078:057 but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers.
They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
078:058 For they provoked him to anger with their high places,
and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.
078:059 When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel;
078:060 So that he forsook the tent of Shiloh, the tent which he
placed among men;
078:061 and delivered his strength into captivity, his glory into
the adversary's hand.
078:062 He also gave his people over to the sword, and was angry
with his inheritance.
078:063 Fire devoured their young men. Their virgins had no wedding song.
078:064 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows couldn't weep.
078:065 Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, like a mighty man
who shouts by reason of wine.
078:066 He struck his adversaries backward. He put them to
a perpetual reproach.
078:067 Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, and didn't choose
the tribe of Ephraim,
078:068 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.
078:069 He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth
which he has established forever.
078:070 He also chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds;
078:071 from following the ewes that have their young, he brought him to be
the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.
078:072 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart,
and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
079:001 <<A Psalm by Asaph.>> God, the nations have come into
your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple.
They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
079:002 They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food
for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the animals
of the earth.
079:003 Their blood they have shed like water around Jerusalem.
There was no one to bury them.
079:004 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and
derision to those who are around us.
079:005 How long, Yahweh? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy
burn like fire?
079:006 Pour out your wrath on the nations that don't know you;
on the kingdoms that don't call on your name;
079:007 For they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland.
079:008 Don't hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us.
Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are
in desperate need.
079:009 Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name.
Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.
079:010 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let it
be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance
for your servants' blood is being poured out.
079:011 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you.
According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who
are sentenced to death.
079:012 Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom their
reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord.
079:013 So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you
thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.
080:001 <<For the Chief Musician. To the tune of "The Lilies of
the Covenant." A Psalm by Asaph.>> Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit above
the cherubim, shine forth.
080:002 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might!
Come to save us!
080:003 Turn us again, God. Cause your face to shine, and we
will be saved.
080:004 Yahweh God of Armies, How long will you be angry against
the prayer of your people?
080:005 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them
tears to drink in large measure.
080:006 You make us a source of contention to our neighbors.
Our enemies laugh among themselves.
080:007 Turn us again, God of Armies. Cause your face to shine,
and we will be saved.
080:008 You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations,
and planted it.
080:009 You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root,
and filled the land.
080:010 The mountains were covered with its shadow. Its boughs were
like God's cedars.
080:011 It sent out its branches to the sea, Its shoots to the River.
080:012 Why have you broken down its walls, so that all those who pass
by the way pluck it?
080:013 The boar out of the wood ravages it. The wild animals
of the field feed on it.
080:014 Turn again, we beg you, God of Armies. Look down from heaven,
and see, and visit this vine,
080:015 the stock which your right hand planted, the branch that you
made strong for yourself.
080:016 It's burned with fire. It's cut down. They perish at your rebuke.
080:017 Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, on the son
of man whom you made strong for yourself.
080:018 So we will not turn away from you. Revive us, and we will call
on your name.
080:019 Turn us again, Yahweh God of Armies. Cause your face to shine,
and we will be saved.
081:001 <<For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath.
By Asaph.>> Sing aloud to God, our strength! Make a joyful
shout to the God of Jacob!
081:002 Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine, the pleasant lyre
with the harp.
081:003 Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon,
on our feast day.
081:004 For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
081:005 He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out over
the land of Egypt, I heard a language that I didn't know.
081:006 "I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were freed
from the basket.
081:007 You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you
in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters
of Meribah." Selah.
081:008 "Hear, my people, and I will testify to you, Israel, if you
would listen to me!
081:009 There shall be no strange god in you, neither shall you worship
any foreign god.
081:010 I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
081:011 But my people didn't listen to my voice. Israel desired
none of me.
081:012 So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts,
that they might walk in their own counsels.
081:013 Oh that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk
in my ways!
081:014 I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn my hand
against their adversaries.
081:015 The haters of Yahweh would cringe before him, and their punishment
would last forever.
081:016 But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat.
I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock."
082:001 <<A Psalm by Asaph.>> God presides in the great assembly.
He judges among the gods.
082:002 "How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality
to the wicked?" Selah.
082:003 "Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless.
Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
082:004 Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand
of the wicked."
082:005 They don't know, neither do they understand.
They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations
of the earth are shaken.
082:006 I said, "You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High.
082:007 Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one
of the rulers."
082:008 Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations.
083:001 <<A song. A Psalm by Asaph.>> God, don't keep silent.
Don't keep silent, and don't be still, God.
083:002 For, behold, your enemies are stirred up. Those who hate you
have lifted up their heads.
083:003 They conspire with cunning against your people.
They plot against your cherished ones.
083:004 "Come," they say, "and let's destroy them as a nation,
that the name of Israel may be remembered no more."
083:005 For they have conspired together with one mind.
They form an alliance against you.
083:006 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites;
083:007 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
083:008 Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children
of Lot. Selah.
083:009 Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin,
at the river Kishon;
083:010 who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth.
083:011 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb; yes, all their princes
like Zebah and Zalmunna;
083:012 who said, "Let us take possession of God's pasturelands."
083:013 My God, make them like tumbleweed; like chaff before the wind.
083:014 As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets
the mountains on fire,
083:015 so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm.
083:016 Fill their faces with confusion, that they may seek
your name, Yahweh.
083:017 Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them
be confounded and perish;
083:018 that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh,
are the Most High over all the earth.
084:001 <<For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath.
A Psalm by the sons of Korah.>> How lovely are your dwellings,
Yahweh of Armies!
084:002 My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh.
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
084:003 Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest
for herself, where she may have her young, near your altars,
Yahweh of Armies, my King, and my God.
084:004 Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are always
praising you. Selah.
084:005 Blessed are those whose strength is in you; who have set
their hearts on a pilgrimage.
084:006 Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place
of springs. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings.
084:007 They go from strength to strength. Everyone of them appears
before God in Zion.
084:008 Yahweh, God of Armies, hear my prayer. Listen, God of Jacob. Selah.
084:009 Behold, God our shield, look at the face of your anointed.
084:010 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
084:011 For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield. Yahweh will give
grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those
who walk blamelessly.
084:012 Yahweh of Armies, blessed is the man who trusts in you.
085:001 <<For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.>> Yahweh,
you have been favorable to your land. You have restored
the fortunes of Jacob.
085:002 You have forgiven the iniquity of your people. You have covered
all their sin. Selah.
085:003 You have taken away all your wrath. You have turned from
the fierceness of your anger.
085:004 Turn us, God of our salvation, and cause your indignation
toward us to cease.
085:005 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger
to all generations?
085:006 Won't you revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
085:007 Show us your loving kindness, Yahweh. Grant us your salvation.
085:008 I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak, for he will speak
peace to his people, his saints; but let them not turn
again to folly.
085:009 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that glory
may dwell in our land.
085:010 Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other.
085:011 Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked
down from heaven.
085:012 Yes, Yahweh will give that which is good. Our land will
yield its increase.
085:013 Righteousness goes before him, And prepares the way for his steps.
086:001 <<A Prayer by David.>> Hear, Yahweh, and answer me, for I am
poor and needy.
086:002 Preserve my soul, for I am godly. You, my God, save your
servant who trusts in you.
086:003 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.
086:004 Bring joy to the soul of your servant, for to you, Lord, do I
lift up my soul.
086:005 For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive; abundant in loving
kindness to all those who call on you.
086:006 Hear, Yahweh, my prayer. Listen to the voice of my petitions.
086:007 In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you
will answer me.
086:008 There is no one like you among the gods, Lord, nor any deeds
like your deeds.
086:009 All nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord.
They shall glorify your name.
086:010 For you are great, and do wondrous things. You are God alone.
086:011 Teach me your way, Yahweh. I will walk in your truth.
Make my heart undivided to fear your name.
086:012 I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole heart.
I will glorify your name forevermore.
086:013 For your loving kindness is great toward me. You have delivered
my soul from the lowest Sheol.
086:014 God, the proud have risen up against me. A company of violent
men have sought after my soul, and they don't hold regard
for you before them.
086:015 But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger,
and abundant in loving kindness and truth.
086:016 Turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give your strength to
your servant. Save the son of your handmaid.
086:017 Show me a sign of your goodness, that those who hate me may
see it, and be shamed, because you, Yahweh, have helped me,
and comforted me.
087:001 <<A Psalm by the sons of Korah; a Song.>> His foundation
is in the holy mountains.
087:002 Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
087:003 Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah.
087:004 I will record Rahab{Rahab is a reference to Egypt.} and Babylon
among those who acknowledge me. Behold, Philistia, Tyre,
and also Ethiopia: "This one was born there."
087:005 Yes, of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one was born
in her;" the Most High himself will establish her.
087:006 Yahweh will count, when he writes up the peoples, "This one
was born there." Selah.
087:007 Those who sing as well as those who dance say, "All my springs
are in you."
088:001 <<A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. For the Chief Musician.
To the tune of "The Suffering of Affliction." A contemplation
by Heman, the Ezrahite.>> Yahweh, the God of my salvation,
I have cried day and night before you.
088:002 Let my prayer enter into your presence. Turn your ear to my cry.
088:003 For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol.
088:004 I am counted among those who go down into the pit.
I am like a man who has no help,
088:005 set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand.
088:006 You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
088:007 Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all
your waves. Selah.
088:008 You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination
to them. I am confined, and I can't escape.
088:009 My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh.
I have spread out my hands to you.
088:010 Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the dead rise up and
praise you? Selah.
088:011 Is your loving kindness declared in the grave?
Or your faithfulness in Destruction?
088:012 Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness
in the land of forgetfulness?
088:013 But to you, Yahweh, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer
comes before you.
088:014 Yahweh, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your
face from me?
088:015 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up.
While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.
088:016 Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off.
088:017 They came around me like water all day long.
They completely engulfed me.
088:018 You have put lover and friend far from me, and my
friends into darkness.
089:001 <<A contemplation by Ethan, the Ezrahite.>> I will sing
of the loving kindness of Yahweh forever. With my mouth,
I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
089:002 I indeed declare, "Love stands firm forever. You established
the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them."
089:003 "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn
to David, my servant,
089:004 'I will establish your seed forever, and build up your throne
to all generations.'" Selah.
089:005 The heavens will praise your wonders, Yahweh; your faithfulness
also in the assembly of the holy ones.
089:006 For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among
the sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh,
089:007 a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones, to be feared
above all those who are around him?
089:008 Yahweh, God of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you?
Yah, your faithfulness is around you.
089:009 You rule the pride of the sea. When its waves rise up,
you calm them.
089:010 You have broken Rahab in pieces, like one of the slain.
You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
089:011 The heavens are yours. The earth also is yours; the world
and its fullness. You have founded them.
089:012 The north and the south, you have created them.
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.
089:013 You have a mighty arm. Your hand is strong, and your right
hand is exalted.
089:014 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Loving kindness and truth go before your face.
089:015 Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you.
They walk in the light of your presence, Yahweh.
089:016 In your name they rejoice all day. In your righteousness,
they are exalted.
089:017 For you are the glory of their strength. In your favor,
our horn will be exalted.
089:018 For our shield belongs to Yahweh; our king to the Holy One of Israel.
089:019 Then you spoke in vision to your saints, and said, "I have
bestowed strength on the warrior. I have exalted a young
man from the people.
089:020 I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with
my holy oil,
089:021 with whom my hand shall be established. My arm will
also strengthen him.
089:022 No enemy will tax him. No wicked man will oppress him.
089:023 I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike
those who hate him.
089:024 But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him.
In my name, his horn will be exalted.
089:025 I will set his hand also on the sea, and his right hand
on the rivers.
089:026 He will call to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the rock
of my salvation!'
089:027 I will also appoint him my firstborn, the highest of the kings
of the earth.
089:028 I will keep my loving kindness for him forevermore.
My covenant will stand firm with him.
089:029 I will also make his seed endure forever, and his throne
as the days of heaven.
089:030 If his children forsake my law, and don't walk in my ordinances;
089:031 if they break my statutes, and don't keep my commandments;
089:032 then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their
iniquity with stripes.
089:033 But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him,
nor allow my faithfulness to fail.
089:034 I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered.
089:035 Once have I sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David.
089:036 His seed will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me.