Psalm 83

By Asaph

O God, do not remain in silence;
Do not be still and quiet, O God.
Hear you not your enemies’ uproar;
See you not how those who hate you
Are raising themselves to oppose you?
Against your people they intrigue
And plot against those you cherish.
“Come,” they bid, “let us destroy them,
And wipe them out as a nation
So that the name of Israel
Will no longer be remembered."

Conspiring together with a single mind,
They are forming  an alliance against you.
The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
The people of Moab and the Hagarites,
Gebal, Ammon, and the Amalekites,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre;
Even Assyria has joined with them
To lend support to the descendants of Lot.

Deal with them as you delt with Midian,
As you delt with Sisera and Jabin
At the Kishon River, like those who perished
At Endor and became dung for the earth.
Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and
All their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
Who said, “Let us occupy God’s pastures.”
Make them like the swirling dust in the breeze,
O my God, make them like chaff before the wind,
As a conflagration burns down a forest,
As a flame sets ablaze the mountainsides,
Chase them down with the gales of your windstorm 
And so terrorize them with your tempest.
Cover their faces with shame, O Jehovah,
That they may forced to acknowledge your name.
May they be ashamed and discomfited
Forever, and perish in their disgrace.
Let them know that you, whose name is Jehovah,
Are alone most high over all the earth.

Psalm 82

By Asaph

God presides over the heavenly assembly
And among the divine beings renders judgment.

“How long will you judge unjustly
And show favor to the wicked? —
Defend the weak and the fatherless;
Uphold the rights of the destitute,
The afflicted and the oppressed.
Rescue the poor and the needy;
Save them from the hands of the wicked.”

They know nothing, nor do they understand;
 Ever do they wander about in darkness.
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I told them, “All of you are gods,
Sons of the Most High, all of you.
But like mere mortals will you die
And fall like any other ruler.

Arise, O God, judge of the earth,
For you possess all the nations!

Psalm 81

By Asaph

Sing out to the god who is our strength
Sing out to the god of Jacob.
Sing a song, bring the tambourine,
The sweet-sounding harp and psaltery.
Blow the ram’s horn at the new moon,
And again when the moon is full,
Upon the day of our festival.
This is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of Jacob’s god,
A decree he ordained for Joseph
When he went out against Egypt.

I heard a language I did not know:
“I took the burden off your shoulders
And freed your hands from the brick baskets.
In your troubles you called to me.
I answered and delivered you
From a thundercloud; I tested you
At the waters of Meribah.”

“Hear, O people, my admonition;
Heed my warning, O Israel.
If only you will listen to me!
There shall be no new god among you,
Nor shall you worship a foreign god,
For I am Jehovah, your god,
Who ushered you out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth; I will fill it.”

“But my people would not listen to me,
And Israel would not consent to me.
So I left them to their obstinate hearts,
To  conduct their lives by their own counsel.
If only my people would listen to me,
If only Israel would follow my ways,
How quickly would I thwart their enemies
And deploy my power against their foes.
Those who hate Jehovah cower before him
But their punishment will last forever.
You, though, I would feed with the finest wheat
And honey from the rock, till you be full.”

Psalm 80

By Asaph

Listen to us, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who led Joseph’s people like a flock,
You who is enthroned between the Cherubim,
To Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh
Shine forth, summon your power, come, rescue us.
Revive us, O God and let your face beam
Upon us with favor and we will be saved.
O Jehovah, God of armies, how long
Will you seethe at the prayers of your people?
You have fed them with tears instead of food
And made them drink their full measure of tears.
To our neighbors we are a source of strife
And our enemies view us with derision.
Revive us, O God of armies.  Let your face
Shine upon us so that we may be saved.

You dug up and brought a vine out of Egypt;
You expelled foreign peoples and planted it.
You cleared the ground, it took root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered by its shadow
And its boughs were like the cedars of God.
Its branches reached the sea, its shoots, the river.
Why then have you broken down its walls,
So that all who pass by may pluck its grapes?
The boar from the forest tramples it down,
And the wild beasts of the field feed on it.
Come back, O God of armies, we beseech you.
Look down from Heaven. See! Watch over this vine,
The root you planted with your own right hand,
The shoot you nourished and made strong for yourself.
Enemies have cut down and burned the vine.
Let them perish at your censorious glance.

Support with your power your chosen people,
And their sons whom you have reared to be strong.
Then we will not turn away from you again.
Revive us, and we will call upon your name.
Restore us, O Jehovah, God of armies.
Smile down upon us and we will be saved.

Psalm 79

By Asaph

O God, foreign nations have invaded
The country that is your inheritance;
They have desecrated your holy temple;
They have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
They have left the corpses of your servants
As carrion for scavengers from the sky,
The flesh of your people, food for wild beasts.
Around Jerusalem blood flowed like water
And there was none left to bury the dead.
We are an object of scorn to our neighbors,
A mockery to those who live around us.

How long, O Jehovah, will you remain angry?
Forever?  Will your jealousy burn like a fire?
Vent your ire on nations that do not recognize you,
On the kingdoms that do not call upon your name,
For it they who have consumed Jacob’s people
And have made his homeland a scene of desolation.
Do not hold against us the sins of our forefathers.
Let your mercy quickly aid us, for we are laid low.
Help us, God, our savior, for the glory of your name;
Deliver us and forgive our sins in your name’s sake.

Why should foreign nations scoff, “Where is their god?”
Let the nations know and before our eyes
Avenge yourself on those who shed your servants’ blood.
May the groans of prisoners reach your ears.
With your great power save those condemned to die.

Pay back our neighbors sevenfold
For their taunts of you, Jehovah.
Then we, the sheep of your pasture,
Your people, will thank you forever
And praise you through the generations.

Psalm 78

By Asaph

O people, hear my instructions,
Listen to the words of my mouth.
I will speak in a parable,
And reveal ancient mysteries,
Stories we have heard and long known,
Passed down to us by our forebears.
From their children we will not hide them,
But to the coming generation,
Sing the praises of Jehovah,
The great deeds he has accomplished
And the miracles he has performed.

He issued decrees to Jacob
And established laws in Israel,
Commanding that our ancestors
Should explain them to their children,
So that the next generation
Even children unborn, should know them
And then teach them to their children,
So they will put their trust in God,
Not forget his wondrous deeds,
But always obey his commandments.
Then they will be not like their fathers,
A  generation rebellious
And stubborn: their hearts wavered
In loyalty, nor were their spirits
Steadfast in their devotion to God.

Ephraim’s army, pulling the bow,
Slackened on the day of battle.
They did not keep God’s covenant
And refused to live by his laws.
They had forgotten what he had done,
The miracles he had shown them,
The marvelous things he performed
In the sight of their ancestors
In Egypt, on the plain of Zoan.
He split the sea and let them pass;
He made the waters stand like a heap.
He led them in a cloud by day,
And with a fiery light by night.
In the desert he split the rocks
And gave them drink, as of from the depths.
From a stone he produced a stream
And made it to flow like a river.
Still did they sin against the Most High
And in the desert defied him.
In their minds they put God to the test
By demanding the food they craved.
They even spoke against God and asked
“Can God serve a meal in the desert?
He struck a rock and water gushed out
And it flowed like a torrent, sure,
But can he give us bread as well
And give his people meat to eat?”
Jehovah was full of anger
When he heard this. His wrath was kindled
Against the descendants of Jacob,
And indeed he vented his ire
Upon the nation of Israel,
For they had no belief in God
And had no faith in his salvation.
Yet he commanded the skies above
And opened the doors of heaven.
He rained down manna for them to eat
And gave them the food of Heaven,
So that mortal man might consume
The sustenance of the Mighty Ones.
(He sent them all the food they needed).
He stirred up an easterly wind
And with his power over the sky
Caused breezes from the south to blow.
He rained meat down on them like dust,
Fowls like the sands of the seashore.
He made them fall inside their camp,
All around their tabernacles.
They ate until they gorged themselves.
He had given them what they craved.
But before they had sated themselves,
While the food was still in their mouths,
The wrath of God was upon them:
He slew the hardiest among them
And cut down Israel’s young men.
Despite this, they keep on sinning
And did not believe his wondrous works.
And so he brought to an end their days,
Futile, their years full of terror.

Whenever God slew them, they sought him.
Eagerly would they turn back to him.
They remembered God was their rock,
The God Most High, their deliverer.
But with their mouths they flattered him,
And with their tongues they lied to him.
Disloyal were their hearts to him,
Unfaithful, they, to his covenant.
But he, being full of mercy,
Forgave their sins and destroyed them not.
Often did he quell his anger
And did not vent all his fury.
He remembered they were but flesh,
A wind that blows but does not return.
How often did they provoke him
And distress him in the desert.
Again and again they tested God,
Vexing Israel’s Holy One.
They did not remember his power,
The day he saved them from their foe,
When he worked his wonders in Egypt,
His marvels on the plain of Zoan.
He turned their rivers into blood,
So they could not drink from their streams.
He sent flies to prey upon them
And frogs to wreak havoc on them.
He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
And their labor to the locust.
He destroyed their grapevines with hail
And their sycamore trees with downpours.
He left their cattle to the hail
And their herds to bolts of lightning.
He loosed upon them his fury,
The fiery rage of his wrath,
His indignation and rancor,
And dispatched against them a band,
The emissaries of destruction.
He gave full vent to his anger;
He did not spare their bodies from death,
But delivered their lives to the plague.
He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
The first issue of their manhood,
In the tabernacles of Ham.
He freed his people from bondage,
He led them like sheep, and like a flock
He guided them through the desert.
With safety he conducted them
So that they would not be afraid,
But the sea engulfed their enemies.
To the border of his holy land
He brought them, to the hill country
That by his might he had secured.
He expelled nations before them
And by lot apportioned their lands
As an inheritance, settling
The tribes of Israel in their homes.
Yet the people disputed with him,
Rebelling against the God Most High.
Nor would they obey his commandments.
They turned away with treachery
And proved as faithless as their fathers,
Like arrows shot from a crooked bow.
They made him angry with their shrines
And made him jealous with their idols.
God heard and he was furious,
Utterly rejecting Israel.
The tabernacle of Shiloh,
His sanctuary where he lived
Among mortal men, he forsook.
The sacred symbols of his power
He sent into captivity,
His glory, into the hands of the foe.
He gave up his people to the sword,
Despising his inheritance.
The young men were consumed by fire;
The young women heard no wedding songs.
The priests had fallen by the sword
And their widows could not mourn them.
Jehovah awakened from his sleep,
Like a warrior who shouts out
When aroused from a drunken stupor.
Then he put his enemies to rout
And made them a disgrace forever.

He rejected the clan of Joseph
And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
Instead he chose the tribe of Judah
And the Mount of Zion, which he loved.
And he built his sanctuary,
Sky high and solid as the earth
That he established forever.
He chose as his servant David,
Taking him out of the sheep pens.
From tending lambs and nursing ewes
He brought him in to be the shepherd
Of his people, the sons of Jacob,
His inheritance, Israel.
And David ruled them faithfully
And with his skillful hands he led them.

Psalm 77

By Asaph

With my voice I called out to God;
With my voice I cried out to him
And he has given his ear to me.

In a time of trouble I sought Jehovah.
All night long I lifted my arms in prayer,
Never slacking, but my soul found no solace.
I remember God and emit a groan;
I meditate and my spirit grows weak.
You have kept open my sleepy eyelids;
I am troubled and cannot even speak.
I think of the olden days, long since past.
I remember my music in the night.
I search my soul and my spirit ponders.
Will Jehovah forever reject me?
Will he ever look upon me with favor?
Has his devotion vanished forever?
Are his promises annulled for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has his anger suppressed his compassion?

Thus I say: “This is my grievance:
The might of the Most High has altered.”
Then I recall Jehovah’s acts,
Your miracles of long ago.
I will reflect upon all you’ve done
And give thought to your mighty deeds.
O God, your ways are of holiness;
No other god is as great as you.
You are the god who works wonders;
You have shown your strength to the world.
Your power has redeemed your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph.

The waters saw you, O God, they saw you.
They trembled and even their depths were troubled.
Torrential rain poured down from the thick clouds,
The sky rumbled with the roar of thunder
And your bolts of lightning shot up and down.
Thunder crashes were heard in the whirlwind
The lightning illuminated the world,
And all the earth convulsed, indeed it shook.
Your road led through the midst of the ocean,
A pathway you made through the great waters,
Yet your own footprints were never to be seen.
You led your people like a flock of sheep
With Moses and Aaron as its shepherds.

Psalm 76

By Asaph

God is of renown in Judah;
Great is his name in Israel.
He pitches his tent in Salem;
Zion is his habitation.
There he deflected the arrows,
The shield and the sword of battle.

You are glorious and more majestic
Than mountainsides ever teeming with game!

The valiant have been plundered in their sleep;
No warrior was able to raise a hand.
At your admonishment, O God of Jacob,
Both horse and rider are stopped in their tracks.
It is you alone who is to be feared.
Who can stand before you in your anger?
From Heaven we hear you pronounce judgment.
The earth is afraid and is struck silent
When God rises up to establish justice
And to save all the earth’s afflicted and oppressed.
Surely your wrath against man will earn you praise
And those who escape it will be relieved.

Make vows to Jehovah your god and keep them;
Let all the people from neighboring nations
Bring tribute to the one who should be revered.
He will humble the spirit of princes
And will be feared by the kings of the earth.

Psalm 75

By Asaph

We give our thanks to you, O God, we give our thanks.
Your name is near when men recount your wondrous deeds.

“At the time I choose, I will judge with equity.
When the earth will quake and all its inhabitants
Shake with fear, it is I who holds its pillars firm.
To the arrogant I say, ‘Leave off your boasting’
And to the wicked I say, ‘Do not vaunt your pride,
Flaunt it to the heavens, or speak so defiantly.’”

For neither from the east nor from the west,
Nor from the desert lands comes exaltation.
For it is God alone who is the judge;
He puts down one and raises up another.
For Jehovah holds in his hand a cup,
Full of foaming wine, well mixed with spices.
Out of it does he pour and they shall drink,
All the wicked of the earth, down to the dregs.

As for me, I will proclaim this forever,
And sing my praises to the God of Jacob,
“I will break the power of the wicked
And strengthen the power of the righteous.”

Psalm 74

By Asaph

O God, why have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger rage against your pasture’s flock?
Remember the congregation you chose long ago,
The tribe your liberated to be your possession,
And remember where you had made your home, Mount Zion.
Make your way through the everlasting desolation,
The enemy’s total destruction of the Temple.
There, in your meeting place, your adversaries roared
And replaced our banners with their battle standards.
It is well known they came down upon us like woodsmen
Wielding their axes upon a forest of trees.
They smashed the wood carvings with their hatchets and hammers.
They set aflame and profaned your sanctuary,
Burning to the ground the Temple that bears your name.
They vowed to themselves, “Let us crush them completely!”
Throughout the land they razed all your places of worship.

No longer are we given portents from our God;
No more are there among us here any prophets
Or anyone who has a knowledge of the future.
How long, O God, will your enemies revile you?
Will your adversaries profane your name forever?
Why do you withdraw your hand, even your right hand?
Take it from out your bosom and destroy them!

For God is our king of ancient times
Working salvation throughout the world.
You divided the sea with your might
And smashed the heads of sea serpents.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan
And made it food for desert dwellers.
You opened the fountain and the spring,
Drying up ever-flowing rivers.

The day is yours and also is the night;
You made the light and set the sun in its place.
You established the borders of the earth
And created the summer and the winter.

Remember how an enemy mocked you, Jehovah;
How a degenerate people disparaged your name.
Do not deliver the life of your dove to wild beasts,
Or forever forget the souls of your afflicted ones.

Remember the contract you made with us,
For there are dark places upon the earth
That are habitations of the violent.
Let not the oppressed retreat in disgrace.
Let the weak and the needy praise your name.

Rise up, O God, and defend your cause!
Remember how the godless fool
Is reproaching you all the day.

Do not ignore the clamor of your foes,
The constant uproar from those that defy you.

Psalm 73

By Asaph

Truly God has been good to Israel,
Especially those who are pure of heart.
But as for me, my feet did almost slip;
I nearly stumbled and lost my footing,
For I came to envy the arrogant,
When I did see how much such sinners prosper.
They do not seem to struggle against death,
And their bodies are healthy and well fed.
Free of the vexations of other men,
They are not plagued by the ills of mortals.
Conceit is the chain they wear around their neck;
Violence is the garment that clothes them.
Their eyes bulge out from their obesity,
And they possess more than their hearts desire.
They scoff and sneer and speak maliciously;
Arrogantly do they pontificate;
With their talk they even challenge the heavens,
And spread their boastful words across the earth.

So it is that God’s people may turn to them,
Swallowing all the words that are spoken.
Thus they pose the questions, “How does God know?”
And “Does the Most High know what’s going on?”
Behold, this is what the wicked are like,
Ever free from care as their riches increase.

Surely I have kept my heart pure in vain,
And in vain have washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day am I made to suffer
And every morning am I punished.
(If I had deigned to speak out in this way
I would have offended your followers).
When I tried to understand all of this,
I found it a grievous and painful task,
Until I entered the Temple of God;
Then, I understood what their fate will be.

Surely you will set them on a slippery slope
And push them over the cliff to their destruction.
How quickly will they come to their utter ruin!
How completely will they be consumed by disaster!
Like a dream when one awakens, O Jehovah,
At the dawn you will dismiss them as mere phantoms.

Bitter and all torn up inside,
I was senseless and ignorant,
Like a brutish beast before you.
Yet, I always remain with you
And you hold me by the right hand.
You direct me with your counsel
And, later, receive me in glory.

Whom have I in Heaven, but you?
On earth I desire no one else.
My health and spirit may fail me,
But God is the strength of my heart
And a part of me forever.

Behold, those who pull away from you will perish,
For you bring destruction on all unfaithful to you.
But how good it is for me to draw near to God,
To make my refuge in the Master Jehovah
So that I may tell of all the works he has done.
 

Psalm 50

(A psalm by Asaph)

Jehovah, who is the Almighty God, has spoken
He summons from east to west the people of the earth.
God shines from Zion, the paragon of beauty.
Our god comes to us and it is not quietly:
A consuming conflagration rages before him,
And a turbulent tempest swirls all about him.
He calls to the heavens above and the earth below
That all may witness the judgment of his people.

“Gather together all my faithful followers,
Who have pledged themselves to me with a sacrifice.”

The heavens proclaim his justice, for God himself is judge.

“Listen, O my people, and I will speak.
I lay charges against you, O Israel.
I am God, your god.

“I do not reprove you for your sacrifices,
The burnt offerings continually made to me.
I need no bull from your pen, or goat from your fold,
For all the animals of the forest are mine,
Even the cattle that graze on a thousand hills.
I know every bird that flies above the mountain slopes,
And all the creatures that creep in the field are mine.
Should I be hungry, I have no need to tell you,
For the earth and all it contains belongs to me.
Need I eat the meat of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

“Make to God sacrifices of thanksgiving
And fulfill the vows you made to the Most High.
Call upon me when you are in distress.
I will save you and you will honor me.”

But to the wicked, God will say,
“What right have you to quote my laws
Or recite aloud my covenant?
You have refused my instruction
And have turned your back on my words.
If you see a thief, you join with him
And take the part of adulterers.
Your mouth gives vent to words of evil
And your tongue practices deceit.
You sit and speak against your brother
And slander your own mother’s son.

“When you did these things I held my peace,
And you assumed I was just like you.
But I will admonish you now
And lay my charges before you.
You who forget God, ponder these things,
Or else I may tear you apart --
And there will been none to save you.

“Whoever makes a sacrifice to me,
An offering of thanksgiving, honors me.
Whoever orders his conduct aright,
To him I will reveal God’s salvation.”