Hashem, Kyrie, eleison
Tehillim 80 (Psalm 80) Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)
80 (For the one directing. Set to The Lilies of the Edut. Of Asaph. Mizmor.)
1 Give ear, O Ro’eh Yisroel, Thou that leadest Yosef like a tzon; Thou that art enthroned between the Keruvim, shine forth.
2 Before Ephrayim and Binyamin and Menasheh, Stir up Thy gevurah (might), and come and save us.
3 Turn us again, O Elohim, and cause Thy face to shine that we may be saved.
4 Hashem Elohim Tzva’os, ad mosai (how long) wilt Thou be angry against the tefillat amecha (prayer of Thy people)?
5 Thou feedest them with the lechem dimah (bread of tears); and givest them dima’ot (tears) to drink in great measure.
6 Thou makest us a madon (strife, contention) unto shcheneinu (our neighbors), and oyveinu (our enemies) mock us.
7 Turn us again, O Elohim Tzva’os, and cause Thy face to shine that we may be saved.
8 Thou hast brought a gefen (vine) out of Mitzrayim; Thou hast drove out Goyim, and planted it.
9 Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the eretz.
10 The harim were covered with the tzel (shadow) of it, and the branches thereof were like the mighty cedars.
11 It sent out its branches unto the yam (sea, i.e., Mediterranean Sea) and its shoots unto the Nahar (river, i.e., the Euphrates).
12 Lammah (why) hast Thou then broken down her walls, so that all they which pass by the derech do pluck her?
13 The chazir (wild boar) out of the forest doth lay it waste, and the beasts of the sadeh doth devour it.
14 Shuv nah (return now), we beseech Thee, O Elohim Tzva’os; look down from Shomayim, and behold, and visit gefen zot (this vine);
15 And the stock which Thy Yamin (Right Hand) hath planted, and the Ben that Thou madest strong for Thyself.
16 It is burned with eish, it is cut down; they perish at the ge’arah (rebuke) of Thy countenance.
17 Let Thy Yad be upon the Ish Yeminecha (the Man of your Right Hand), upon the Ben Adam (the Son of Man) whom Thou madest strong for Thyself.
18 So will we never turn back from Thee; revive us, and we will call upon Thy Shem.
19 Turn us again, Hashem Elohim Tzva’os; cause Thy face to shine that we may be saved.
Yikes! This is an odd psalm for Advent 4, when even in the Church we have slipped on past the ominous words and largely forgotten the apocalyptic sense of Advent, and are not fearing the Eschaton, but are eagerly looking forward to Christmas. It’s “Mary Sunday” and we do not expect to sing some ancient Jewish lament, but to celebrate with the Magnificat.
And so we shall. But there are two songs appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and Psalm 80 is the alternate. What’s all this? A lament so close to Christmas? What’s going on? What’s all this?
Dated perhaps with the fall of the Northern Kingdom, Israel, this may have been a psalm that was sung in a remnant congregation, maybe only a gathering of the tribes of Rachel, that is, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh, during the invasion and overthrow of Israel by the Assyrians. Those three tribes may be the only ones still left in what will soon no longer be Israel, the others already having been decimated. The congregation are terrified of what is coming down upon them and are singing for deliverance. The introduction indicates that the psalm is to be sung to some familiar tune named “the Lilies of the Edut,” which of course is lost to us.
The song is to יְהוָה Elohim Sabaoth, YHWH Lord God of Hosts, but they are forbidden to speak aloud יְהוָה Yahweh, so normally they might say “Adonai” in place of The Divine Name. But in this OJB translation they are singing to “Hashem” (The Name) instead of Adonai so as to make doubly sure that they do not slip up and violate the law against saying God’s Name.
For all the seeming inappropriateness of the psalm so close to Christmas, it turns out to be most timely this year in the raw horror of the Connecticut atrocity. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. The tears are just beneath the surface, and there are moments when I am very sure that my sadness will never go away.
Kyrie, eleison.
TW+