Day 173 Psalm 80-82 Supplemental notes

Psalm Chapter 80
Although humans have rarely performed well as My Brother's Shepherd, The Lord has forever been a good shepherd of His flock. Even when they strayed, God's "sheep" have always found their way home by the sound of The Shepherd's Voice.

"To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony of Asaph. A Psalm. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou who leadest Joseph like a flock! Thou who art enthroned upon the cherubim [see The Ancient of Days], shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh! Stir up Thy might, and come to save us!
Restore us, O God; let Thy face shine [see also The Shining], that we may be saved! O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt Thou be angry with Thy people's prayers? Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure. Thou dost make us the scorn of our neighbors; and our enemies laugh among themselves.
Restore us, O God of hosts; let Thy face shine, that we may be saved! Thou didst bring a vine out of Egypt; Thou didst drive out the nations [see Strong Is He Who Has Come Down] and plant it. Thou didst clear the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.
Why then hast Thou broken down its walls [e.g. see Why Babylon?], so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock which Thy right hand planted [see also Grafting]. They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of Thy countenance!
But let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand [see The Lord's Plumb Line], the son of man whom Thou hast made strong for Thyself! Then we will never turn back from Thee; give us life, and we will call on Thy name! Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! let Thy face shine, that we may be saved!" (Psalm 80:1-19 RSV)

Psalm Chapter 81
Israel's troubles have always happened when they became unfaithful and disobedient to The Lord. "Hear, O My people, while I admonish you!" has systematically been The Lord's way of redirecting wayward sheep back to where it is safe (see Where Is It Safe?).

"To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph. Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! Raise a song, sound the timbrel, the sweet Lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon [see New Moon, New Month], at the full moon, on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known: "I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of Thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. [Selah]
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me! There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. I am The Lord [see YHVH, Adonai, Jehovah, LORD] your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt [to understand Who that was, see Why Did Christ Put Moses To Death?]. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. "But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would have none of me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their foes. Those who hate The Lord would cringe toward Him, and their fate would last for ever [see They Shall Be Ashes]. I would feed you with the finest of the wheat [see Corn], and with Honey from the rock I would satisfy you." (Psalm 81:1-16 RSV)

Psalm Chapter 82
"God has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods He holds judgment" is a plain statement of, what should be to everyone, obvious reality that only God is God. It is foolish to worship mere objects or creatures of creation rather than the Almighty Creator of all things.

"A Psalm of Asaph. God has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods He holds judgment: "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? [Selah]
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver [see Deliverance] 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. I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you shall die like men [see What Happens When You Die?], and fall like any prince." Arise, O God, judge the earth; for to Thee belong all the nations!" (Psalm 82:1-8 RSV)