Psalm 80

1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit above the cherubim, shine out.

2 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up your might! Come to save us!

3 Turn us again, God. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

4 LORD God of Armies, how long will you be angry against the prayer of your people?

5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in large measure.

6 You make us a source of contention to our neighbors. Our enemies laugh among themselves.

7 Turn us again, God of Armies. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

8 You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and planted it.

9 You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root, and filled the land.

10 The mountains were covered with its shadow. Its boughs were like God’s cedars.

11 It sent out its branches to the sea, its shoots to the River.

12 Why have you broken down its walls, so that all those who pass by the way pluck it?

13 The boar out of the wood ravages it. The wild animals of the field feed on it.

14 Turn again, we beg you, God of Armies. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vine,

15 the stock which your right hand planted, the branch that you made strong for yourself.

16 It’s burned with fire. It’s cut down. They perish at your rebuke.

17 Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, on the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.

18 So we will not turn away from you. Revive us, and we will call on your name.

19 Turn us again, LORD God of Armies. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

Around Psalm 80

Book context

PsalmsEditorial draft

Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers used in Israel’s worship, written by several people over a long period. Headings name David most often, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah and others. The collection falls into five books, each ending with a short blessing of the LORD (41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48), and it closes with a call for everything that has breath to praise the LORD (150:6). The psalms hold praise, lament, thanksgiving, confession and trust, so readers find words for nearly every season of life.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · broad consensus · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

About Psalms as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

“How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?” A prayer can begin like that, and in the Psalms it does. Four times the poet asks how long, and then, in the same short song, comes the turn: “But I trust in your loving kindness.”

That honesty runs through the whole book. Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers, and it holds praise, thanksgiving, lament, confession, songs for the king, and reflections on wisdom and on God's law. It is arranged in five books and moves, on the whole, from many laments at the start to pure praise at the end.

Joy, fear, anger, guilt and doubt are all spoken to God directly.

Background

The psalms were written and gathered over several centuries. Their headings link about half of them with David and others with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon and Moses. They were sung in the worship of the temple and later in synagogues and churches.

How Christians read it

Jews and Christians have prayed the Psalms daily for well over two thousand years. The New Testament quotes them more than any other book and reads many as speaking of Christ, among them Psalms 2, 22 and 110. The psalms that call for judgment on enemies are hard to read. Many understand them as handing vengeance over to God instead of taking it oneself.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes