But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11I will remember the works of the LORD;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
13Your way, O God, is in 4the csanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?
14You are the God who does wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the peoples.
15You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16The waters saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were dafraid;
The depths also trembled.
17The clouds poured out water;
The skies sent out a sound;
Your arrows also flashed about.
18The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world;
The earth trembled and shook.
19Your way was in the sea,
Your path in the great waters,
And Your footsteps were not known.
20You led Your people like a flock
By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 78
God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel
A aContemplation1 of Asaph.
1Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2I will open my mouth in a bparable;
I will utter 2dark sayings of old,
3Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4cWe will not hide them from their children,
dTelling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5For eHe established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That fthey should make them known to their children;
6gThat the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
7That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
8And hmay not be like their fathers,
iA stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation jthat did not 3set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9The children of Ephraim, being armed and 4carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.
10kThey did not keep the covenant of God;
They refused to walk in His law,
11And lforgot His works
And His wonders that He had shown them.
12mMarvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, nin the field of Zoan.
13oHe divided the sea and caused them to pass through;
And pHe made the waters stand up like a heap.
14qIn the daytime also He led them with the cloud,
And all the night with a light of fire.
15rHe split the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
16He also brought sstreams out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
17But they sinned even more against Him
By trebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18And uthey tested God in their heart
By asking for the food of their fancy.
19vYes, they spoke against God:
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20wBehold, He struck the rock,
So that the waters gushed out,
And the streams overflowed.
Can He give bread also?
Can He provide meat for His people?”
21Therefore the LORD heard this and xwas furious;
So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also came up against Israel,
22Because they ydid not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
23Yet He had commanded the clouds above,
zAnd opened the doors of heaven,
24aHad rained down manna on them to eat,
And given them of the 5bread of bheaven.
25Men ate angels’ food;
He sent them food to 6the full.
26cHe caused an east wind to blow in the heavens;
And by His power He brought in the south wind.
27He also rained meat on them like the dust,
Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
28And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
All around their dwellings.
29dSo they ate and were well filled,
For He gave them their own desire.
30They were not 7deprived of their craving;
But ewhile their food was still in their mouths,
31The wrath of God came against them,
And slew the stoutest of them,
And struck down the choice men of Israel.
32In spite of this fthey still sinned,
And gdid not believe in His wondrous works.
33hTherefore their days He consumed in futility,
And their years in fear.
34iWhen He slew them, then they sought Him;
And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
35Then they remembered that jGod was their rock,
And the Most High God ktheir Redeemer.
36Nevertheless they lflattered Him with their mouth,
And they lied to Him with their tongue;
37For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38mBut He, being full of ncompassion, forgave their iniquity,
And did not destroy them.
Yes, many a time oHe turned His anger away,
And pdid not stir up all His wrath;
39For qHe remembered rthat they were but flesh,
sA breath that passes away and does not come again.
40How often they tprovoked8 Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!
41Yes, uagain and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.
42They did not remember His 9power:
The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
43When He worked His signs in Egypt,
And His wonders in the field of Zoan;
44vTurned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, that they could not drink.
45wHe sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them,
And xfrogs, which destroyed them.
46He also gave their crops to the caterpillar,
And their labor to the ylocust.
47zHe destroyed their vines with hail,
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48He also gave up their acattle to the hail,
And their flocks to fiery 10lightning.
49He cast on them the fierceness of His anger,
Wrath, indignation, and trouble,
By sending angels of destruction among them.
50He made a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But gave 11their life over to the plague,
51And destroyed all the bfirstborn in Egypt,
The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52But He cmade His own people go forth like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
53And He dled them on safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea eoverwhelmed their enemies.
54And He brought them to His fholy border,
This mountain gw
hich His right hand had acquired.
55hHe also drove out the nations before them,
iAllotted them an inheritance by 12survey,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56jYet they tested and provoked the Most High God,
And did not keep His testimonies,
57But kturned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were turned aside llike a deceitful bow.
58mFor they provoked Him to anger with their nhigh places,
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
59When God heard this, He was furious,
And greatly abhorred Israel,
60oSo that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
The tent He had placed among men,
61pAnd delivered His strength into captivity,
And His glory into the enemy’s hand.
62qHe also gave His people over to the sword,
And was furious with His inheritance.
63The fire consumed their young men,
And rtheir maidens were not given in marriage.
64sTheir priests fell by the sword,
And ttheir widows made no lamentation.
65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
uLike a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
66And vHe beat back His enemies;
He put them to a perpetual reproach.
67Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion wwhich He loved.
69And He built His xsanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has established forever.
70yHe also chose David His servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71From following zthe ewes that had young He brought him,
aTo shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
72So he shepherded them according to the bintegrity of his heart,
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Psalm 79
A Dirge and a Prayer for Israel, Destroyed by Enemies
A Psalm of Asaph.
1O GOD, the 1nations have come into aYour inheritance;
Your holy temple they have defiled;
bThey have laid Jerusalem 2in heaps.
2cThe dead bodies of Your servants
They have given as food for the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
3Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem,
And there was no one to bury them.
4We have become a reproach to our dneighbors,
A scorn and derision to those who are around us.
5eHow long, LORD?
Will You be angry forever?
Will Your fjealousy burn like fire?
6gPour out Your wrath on the 3nations that hdo not know You,
And on the kingdoms that ido not call on Your name.
7For they have devoured Jacob,
And laid waste his dwelling place.
8jOh, do not remember 4former iniquities against us!
Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us,
For we have been brought very low.
9Help us, O God of our salvation,
For the glory of Your name;
And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins,
kFor Your name’s sake!
10lWhy should the 5nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let there be known among the nations in our sight
The avenging of the blood of Your servants which has been shed.
11Let mthe groaning of the prisoner come before You;
According to the greatness of Your 6power
Preserve those who are appointed to die;
12And return to our neighbors nsevenfold into their bosom
oTheir reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.
13So pwe, Your people and sheep of Your pasture,
Will give You thanks forever;
qWe will show forth Your praise to all generations.
Psalm 80
Prayer for Israel’s Restoration
To the Chief Musician. aSet to 1“The Lilies.” A 2Testimony of Asaph. A Psalm.
1Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
bYou who lead Joseph clike a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim, dshine forth!
2Before eEphraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
Stir up Your strength,
And come and save us!
3fRestore us, O God;
gCause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
4O LORD God of hosts,
hHow long will You be angry
Against the prayer of Your people?
5iYou have fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in great measure.
6You have made us a strife to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7Restore us, O God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
8You have brought ja vine out of Egypt;
kYou have cast out the 3nations, and planted it.
9You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
10The hills were covered with its shadow,
And the 4mighty cedars with its lboughs.
11She sent out her boughs to 5the Sea,
And her branches to 6the River.
12Why have You mbroken down her 7hedges,
So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
13The boar out of the woods uproots it,
And the wild beast of the field devours it.
14Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
nLook down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
15And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong ofor Yourself.
16It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
pThey perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
17qLet Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18Then we will not turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19Restore us, O LORD God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
Psalm 81
An Appeal for Israel’s Repentance
To the Chief Musician. aOn1 an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of Asaph.
1Sing aloud to God our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
2Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the lute.
3Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
4For bthis is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob.
5This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
cWhere I heard a language I did not understand.
6“I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the baskets.
7dYou called in trouble, and I delivered you;
eI answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I ftested you at the waters of 2Meribah. Selah
8“Hear,g O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
9There shall be no hforeign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10iI am the LORD your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
jO
pen your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11“But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have knone of Me.
12lSo I gave them over to 3their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.
13“Oh,m that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
15nThe haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him,
But their 4fate would endure forever.
16He would ohave fed them also with 5the finest of wheat;
And with honey pfrom the rock I would have satisfied you.”
Psalm 82
A Plea for Justice
A Psalm of Asaph.
1God astands in the congregation of 1the mighty;
He judges among bthe 2gods.
2How long will you judge unjustly,
And cshow partiality to the wicked? Selah
33Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and dneedy.
4Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.
5They do not know, nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the efoundations of the earth are 4unstable.
6I said, f“You are 5gods,
And all of you are children of the Most High.
7But you shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.”
8Arise, O God, judge the earth;
gFor You shall inherit all nations.
Psalm 83
Prayer to Frustrate Conspiracy Against Israel
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
1Doa not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!
2For behold, bYour enemies make a 1tumult;
And those who hate You have 2lifted up their head.
3They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together cagainst Your sheltered ones.
4They have said, “Come, and dlet us cut them off from being a nation,
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
5For they have consulted together with one 3consent;
They 4form a confederacy against You:
6eThe tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab and the Hagrites;
7Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot. Selah
9Deal with them as with fMidian,
As with gSisera,
As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
10Who perished at En Dor,
hWho became as refuse on the earth.
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 263