Psalm 82
Rescue the Weak and Needy
A PSALM OF ASAPH.
*A word of judgement on unjust rulers and judges. The Levitial author of this psalm evokes a vision of God presiding over his heavenly court–analogues to the experiences of the prophets. As the Great King (see introduction to Psalm 47) and the Judge of all the earth who “loves justice” and judges the nations in righteousness, he is seen calling to account those responsible for defending the weak and oppressed on earth.
God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgement:
“How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted 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 about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
-82:1-5
Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations!
-82:8
Psalm 83
O God, Do Not Keep Silence
A SONG. A PSALM OF ASAPH.
*Israel’s prayer for God to crush his enemies when the whole world–or so it seemed–was arrayed against his people. Neither Kings nor Chronicles tells of a confederacy as extensive as that described here. Perhaps only some of the nations mentioned were actually attacking, while the rest of Israel’s historic enemies were more passively supporting the campaign. If so, the occasion may have been that reported in 2 Chronicles 20, when Moab, Ammon, Edom, and their allies were invading Judah.
In any event, the psalm must date from sometime after the reign of Solomon and before the great thrust of Assyria in the time of King Menahem (see 2 Kings 15:19).
O God, do not keep silence;
do not hold your peace or be still,
O God!
For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate you have raised their heads.
They lay crafty plans against your people;
they consult together against your treasured ones.
-83:1-3
O my God, make them like whirling dust,
like chaff before the wind.
As fire consumes the forest,
as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
so may you pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your hurricane!
Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name,
O Lord.
Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
let them perish in disgrace,
that they may know that you alone,
whose name is the Lord,
are the Most High over all the earth.
-83:13-18
Psalm 84
My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord
TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO THE GITTITH. A PSALM OF THE SONS OF KORAH.
*A prayer of longing for the house of the Lord. In tone and perspective it stands close to Psalm 42 and may reflect similar circumstances. If so, the author (presumably a Levite who normally functioned in the temple service), now barred from access to God’s house (perhaps when Sennacherib was ravaging Judah; see 2 Kings 18:13-16), gives voice to his longing for the sweet nearness to God in his temple that he had known in the past. Reference to God and his temple and to the “blessedness” of those having free access to both dominates the psalm and highlights its central themes.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise!
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
-84:1-5
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!
Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!
For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
-84:8-12
Psalm 85
Revive Us Again
TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF THE SONS OF KORAH.
*A communal prayer for the renewal of God’s mercies to his people at a time when they are once more suffering distress. Many believe that verses 1-3 refer to the return from exile and that the troubles experienced are those alluded to by Nehemiah and Malachi. Verse 12 suggests that a drought has ravaged the land and may reflect the drought with which the Lord chastened his people in the time of Haggai (see Haggai 1:5-11). Christian liturgical usage has often employed this psalm in the Christmas season.
Lord, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you covered all their sin.
You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.
Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
-85:1-7
Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
Yes, the Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way.
-85:9-13
Psalm 86
Great Is Your Steadfast Love
A PRAYER OF DAVID.
*A prayer for God’s help when attacked by enemies, whose fierce onslaughts betray their disdain for the Lord. Whether or not David was the author, the psalmist’s identification of himself as God’s “servant” suggests his royal status and this his special relationship with the Lord (see 2 Samuel 7:5-8 and Psalm 18). The enemies may then be either those within the kingdom who refuse to acknowledge him as the Lord’s anointed, or foreign powers that are attempting to remove him from the international scene.
Incline your ear, O Lord,
and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you–
you are my God.
Be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord,
do I lift up my soul.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love
to all who call upon you.
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me.
There is none like you among the gods,
O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours.
All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
I give thanks to you,
O Lord my God,
with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths.
-86:1-13
But you, O Lord,
are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding
in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant.
-86:15-16
Psalm 87
Glorious Things of You Are Spoken
A PSALM OF THE SONS OF KORAH. A SONG.
*A celebration of Zion as the “city of God,” the special object of his love and the royal city of his kingdom (see introductions to Psalm 46, Psalm 48, and Psalm 76). According to the ancient and consistent interpretation of Jewish and Christian scholars alike, this psalm stands in lonely isolation in the Psalter in that is foresees the ingathering of the nations into Zion as fellow citizens with Israel in the kingdom of God–after the manner of such prophetic visions as Isaiah 2:2-4; 19:19-25; 25:6; 45:14, 22-24; 56:6-8; 60:3; 66:23; Daniel 7:14; Micah 4:1-3; Zechariah 8:23; 14:16. (Accordingly, some have assigned it to the time of Isaiah and Micah, while others have thought it to be postexilic.)
So interpreted, this psalm stands in sharpest possible contrast with the other Zion songs of the Psalter (see Psalm 46; Psalm 48; Psalm 76; Psalm 129; Psalm 137).
Psalm 88
I Cry Out Day and Night Before You
A SONG. A PSALM OF THE SONS OF KORAH. TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO MAHALATH LEANNOTH. A MASKIL OF HEMAN THE EZRAHITE.
*A cry out of the depths, the prayer of one on the edge of death, whose whole life has been lived, as it were, in the near vicinity of the grave. So troubled have been his year’s that he seems to have known only the back of God’s hand (God’s “wrath”), and even those nearest him have withdrawn themselves as from one with an infectious skin disease.
No expressions of hopeful expectation (as in most prayers of the Psalter) burst from these lips; the last word speaks of darkness as “my closest friend.” And yet the prayer begins, “O Lord, the God who saves me.” The psalm recalls the fact that although sometimes godly persons live lives of unremitting trouble, they can still grasp the hope that God is Savior.
O Lord, God of my salvation;
I cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!
-88:1-2
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
I spread out my hands to you.
-88:9
But I, O Lord, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
-88:13
Psalm 89
I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord
A MASKIL OF ETHAN THE EZRAHITE.
*A prayer that mourns the downfall of the Davidic dynasty and pleads for its restoration. The bitter shock of that event is almost unbearable–that God, the faithful and almighty One, has abandoned his anointed and made him the mockery of the nations, in seeming violation of his firm covenant with David–and it evokes from the psalmist a lament that borders on reproach.
The event may have been the attack on Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the exile of King Jehoiachin (see 2 Kings 24:8-17). As with Psalm 44, a massive foundation is laid for the prayer with which the psalm concludes.
A will sing of the steadfast love
of the Lord, forever;
with my mouth I will make known
your faithfulness to all generations.
For I said, “Steadfast love
will be built up forever;
in the heavens you will establish
your faithfulness.”
-89:1-2
Let the heavens praise your wonders,
O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly
of the holy ones!
For who in the skies can be compared
to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings
is like the Lord,
a God greatly to be feared in the
council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all
who are around him?
O Lord God of hosts,
who is mighty as you are, O Lord,
with your faithfulness all around you?
You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you still them.
-89:5-9
The heavens are yours;
the earth also is yours;
the world and all that is in it,
you have founded them.
The north and the south,
you have created them.
-89:11-12
You have a mighty arm;
strong is your hand,
high your right hand.
Righteousness and justice
are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness
go before you.
Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
who exult in your name all the day
and in your righteousness are exalted.
For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted.
For our shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.
-89:13-18
He shall cry to me,
‘You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
-89:26
Remember, O Lord,
how your servants are mocked,
and how I bear in my heart
the insults of all the many nations,
with which your enemies mock,
O Lord,
with which they mock the footsteps
of your anointed.
Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
-89:50-52