Psalms 81–85 — Better Is One Day

¹Sing aloud to God, our strength! Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob!

²Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine, the pleasant lyre with the harp.

³Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.

⁴For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵He appointed it in Joseph for a covenant, when he went out over the land of Egypt, I heard a language that I didn’t know.

⁶“I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were freed from the basket.

⁷You 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.

⁸“Hear, my people, and I will testify to you, Israel, if you would listen to me!

⁹There shall be no strange god in you, neither shall you worship any foreign god.

¹⁰I am the LORD, your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹¹But my people didn’t listen to my voice. Israel desired none of me.

¹²So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts, that they might walk in their own counsels.

¹³Oh 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.

¹⁵The haters of the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.

¹⁶But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat. I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock.”

¹God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods.

²“How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” Selah.

³“Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.

⁴Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.”

⁵They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶I said, “You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High.

⁷Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.”

⁸Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations.

¹God, don’t keep silent. Don’t keep silent, and don’t be still, God.

²For, behold, your enemies are stirred up. Those who hate you have lifted up their heads.

³They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones.

⁴“Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”

⁵For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance against you.

⁶The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites;

⁷Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

⁸Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot. Selah.

⁹Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;

¹⁰who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth.

¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

¹²who said, “Let’s take possession of God’s pasture lands.”

¹³My God, make them like tumbleweed, like chaff before the wind.

¹⁴As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets the mountains on fire,

¹⁵so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm.

¹⁶Fill their faces with confusion, that they may seek your name, LORD.

¹⁷Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish;

¹⁸that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.

¹How lovely are your dwellings, LORD of Armies!

²My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of the LORD. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

³Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, near your altars, LORD of Armies, my King, and my God.

⁴Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are always praising you. Selah.

⁵Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage.

⁶Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings.

⁷They go from strength to strength. Every one of them appears before God in Zion.

⁸LORD, God of Armies, hear my prayer. Listen, God of Jacob. Selah.

⁹Behold, God our shield, look at the face of your anointed.

¹⁰For 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.

¹¹For the LORD God is a sun and a shield. The LORD will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.

¹²LORD of Armies, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

¹LORD, you have been favorable to your land. You have restored the fortunes of Jacob.

²You have forgiven the iniquity of your people. You have covered all their sin. Selah.

³You have taken away all your wrath. You have turned from the fierceness of your anger.

⁴Turn us, God of our salvation, and cause your indignation toward us to cease.

⁵Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations?

⁶Won’t you revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

⁷Show us your loving kindness, LORD. Grant us your salvation.

⁸I will hear what God, the LORD, will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, his saints; but let them not turn again to folly.

⁹Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

¹¹Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven.

¹²Yes, the LORD will give that which is good. Our land will yield its increase.

¹³Righteousness goes before him, and prepares the way for his steps.