A Case of Backward Bible Study – Psalms 80-85

Joy: You’re listening to Season 2 of the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  This is Episode #180 and today we’ll read Psalms 80-85 together.  In a case of backward Bible study, we’ll figure what this doesn’t mean.  

Welcome

Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast, Season 2!  I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me – from the beginning – simply reading God’s word together.  We built some spiritual muscles in 2020 with just the New Testament.  But this year we’re going all out, cover-to-cover, Old Testament and New.  So, whether with your first cup in the morning, your commute to work, or as the last thing on your mind before sleep, God’s Word will equip you for every good work.  I’m really glad you’re here!

Psalm 80

A Prayer for Restoration

For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.” A testimony of Asaph. A psalm.

Listen, Shepherd of Israel,

who leads Joseph like a flock;

you who sit enthroned between the cherubim,

shine on Ephraim,

Benjamin, and Manasseh.

Rally your power and come to save us.

Restore us, God;

make your face shine on us,

so that we may be saved.

Lord God of Armies,

how long will you be angry

with your people’s prayers?

You fed them the bread of tears

and gave them a full measure

of tears to drink.

You put us at odds with our neighbors;

our enemies mock us.

Restore us, God of Armies;

make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.

You dug up a vine from Egypt;

you drove out the nations and planted it.

You cleared a place for it;

it took root and filled the land.

Return, God of Armies

The mountains were covered by its shade,

and the mighty cedars with its branches.

It sent out sprouts toward the Sea

and shoots toward the River.

Why have you broken down its walls

so that all who pass by pick its fruit?

Boars from the forest tear at it

and creatures of the field feed on it.

Return, God of Armies.

Look down from heaven and see;

take care of this vine,

the root your right hand planted,

the son that you made strong for yourself.

It was cut down and burned;

they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.

Let your hand be with the man at your right hand,

with the son of man

you have made strong for yourself.

Then we will not turn away from you;

revive us, and we will call on your name.

Restore us, Lord, God of Armies;

make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.

Psalm 81

A Call to Obedience

For the choir director: on the Gittith. Of Asaph.

Sing for joy to God our strength;

shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.

Lift up a song — play the tambourine,

the melodious lyre, and the harp.

Blow the ram’s horn on the day of our feasts

during the new moon

and during the full moon.

For this is a statute for Israel,

an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

He set it up as a decree for Joseph

when he went throughout the land of Egypt.

I heard an unfamiliar language:

“I relieved his shoulder from the burden;

his hands were freed from carrying the basket.

You called out in distress, and I rescued you;

I answered you from the thundercloud.

I tested you at the Waters of Meribah.

Selah

Listen, my people, and I will admonish you.

Israel, if you would only listen to me!

There must not be a strange god among you;

you must not bow down to a foreign god.

I am the Lord your God,

who brought you up from the land of Egypt.

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

“But my people did not listen to my voice;

Israel did not obey me.

So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts

to follow their own plans.

If only my people would listen to me

and Israel would follow my ways,

I would quickly subdue their enemies

and turn my hand against their foes.”

Those who hate the Lord

would cower to him;

their doom would last forever.

But he would feed Israel with the best wheat.

“I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”

Psalm 82

A Plea for Righteous Judgment

A psalm of Asaph.

God stands in the divine assembly;

he pronounces judgment among the gods:

“How long will you judge unjustly

and show partiality to the wicked?

Selah

Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless;

uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.

Rescue the poor and needy;

save them from the power of the wicked.”

They do not know or understand;

they wander in darkness.

All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I said, “You are gods;

you are all sons of the Most High.

However, you will die like humans

and fall like any other ruler.”

Rise up, God, judge the earth,

for all the nations belong to you.

Psalm 83

Prayer against Enemies

A song. A psalm of Asaph.

God, do not keep silent.

Do not be deaf, God; do not be quiet.

See how your enemies make an uproar;

those who hate you have acted arrogantly.

They devise clever schemes against your people;

they conspire against your treasured ones.

They say, “Come, let’s wipe them out as a nation

so that Israel’s name will no longer be remembered.”

For they have conspired with one mind;

they form an alliance against you —

the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

Moab and the Hagrites,

Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,

Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.

Even Assyria has joined them;

they lend support to the sons of Lot.

Selah

Deal with them as you did with Midian,

as you did with Sisera

and Jabin at the Kishon River.

They were destroyed at En-dor;

they became manure for the ground.

Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,

and all their tribal leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna,

who said, “Let’s seize God’s pastures for ourselves.”

Make them like tumbleweed, my God,

like straw before the wind.

As fire burns a forest,

as a flame blazes through mountains,

so pursue them with your tempest

and terrify them with your storm.

Cover their faces with shame

so that they will seek your name, Lord.

Let them be put to shame and terrified forever;

let them perish in disgrace.

May they know that you alone —

whose name is the Lord —

are the Most High over the whole earth.

Psalm 84

Longing for God’s House

For the choir director: on the Gittith. A psalm of the sons of Korah.

Selah

Happy are the people whose strength is in you,

whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baca,

they make it a source of spring water;

even the autumn rain will cover it with blessings.

They go from strength to strength;

each appears before God in Zion.

Lord God of Armies, hear my prayer;

listen, God of Jacob.

Selah

Consider our shield, God;

look on the face of your anointed one.

Better a day in your courts

than a thousand anywhere else.

I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God

than live in the tents of wicked people.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield.

The Lord grants favor and honor;

he does not withhold the good

from those who live with integrity.

Happy is the person who trusts in you,

Lord of Armies!

Psalm 85

Restoration of Favor

For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah.

Lord, you showed favor to your land;

you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

You forgave your people’s guilt;

you covered all their sin.

Selah

You withdrew all your fury;

you turned from your burning anger.

Return to us, God of our salvation,

and abandon your displeasure with us.

Will you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger for all generations?

Will you not revive us again

so that your people may rejoice in you?

Show us your faithful love, Lord,

and give us your salvation.

I will listen to what God will say;

surely the Lord will declare peace

to his people, his faithful ones,

and not let them go back to foolish ways.

His salvation is very near those who fear him,

so that glory may dwell in our land.

Faithful love and truth will join together;

righteousness and peace will embrace.

Truth will spring up from the earth,

and righteousness will look down from heaven.

Also, the Lord will provide what is good,

and our land will yield its crops.

Righteousness will go before him

to prepare the way for his steps.

Close

You may be thinking that the 6th and 7th verses of Psalm 82 sound really familiar.  On the heels of that thought, you find yourself asking , “Didn’t Jesus say those words?”  And you would be correct.  He did indeed quote this scripture when responding to the accusation of blasphemy in John 10:34-36.  I also probably don’t have to point out to you that these are some of the most confusing verses in all of Scripture.  I am not going to go there today…I’ll leave John 10 to people who are much smarter than I am.  But this does remind me of something I read recently in regard to studying Scripture.  The article said that when wrestling with a particularly difficult passage, it is sometimes useful to establish what its not saying while on your way to discovering what it does.  

I think we can apply that wisdom here to Psalm 82.  Here’s what we know from a plethora of scripture:  There is only one God.  Only One.  And none of us are it.  I left off one verse from the Shema yesterday…that central Jewish prayer of so much importance.  That was Deuteronomy 6:4 and it says:  Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Now whether the writer – and Jesus, for that matter – is being sarcastic or there is a nuance in ancient Hebrew that we just don’t get, I don’t know.  But we can say with confidence that we know what it doesn’t mean.  

Now, don’t forget.  If you chase this rabbit whether by commentaries or your pastor, let me know what you find out at Lifting Her Voice.com, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

See You Tomorrow!

Thank you for joining me here today.  I pray that by spending time in His Word every day, you will by changed.  Visit me at Lifting Her Voice.com with your comments and questions.  And don’t forget to visit the Blog page while you’re there.  If you like the podcast, it would be great if you’d give it a five-star review and share it with everyone you know.  Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  See you tomorrow!

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible(r), Copyright (c) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible(r) and CSB(r) are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.