(Worship leader: This Asaph psalm is best to the tune “The Flowers of Our Love.”)
Listen to us!
You’re Israel’s Shepherd.
So, lead us!
You sit on your cherubim-winged throne.
So, shine on us!
On Ephraim, on Benjamin, on Menasseh.
Get out of bed.
Stretch your muscles.
Get busy.
Save us!
Oh God, restore us.
May your delight with us
Brighten up your face.
For we need to be saved.
You’ve been angry with us for a long time,
Like coals of a fire that never goes out.
How long will that anger
Screen out our prayers, Yahweh our Great God?
You’ve given us tears for breakfast,
A bowlful of weeping for lunch,
Contempt from our neighbors for dinner.
But who gets full on such meals?
Oh Strong God, restore us.
May your delight with us
Brighten up your face.
For we need to be saved.
You transplanted us like a vine,
Taking us from Egyptian soil
And clearing a new patch to plant us in.
Once you’d weeded a new bed,
We took root and filled the whole garden.
Our leaves shaded the mountainsides of Israel,
Reaching north to Lebanon’s cedars,
Branching west to the Mediterranean,
Stretching south to the Nile.
So, why would you break down the walls
Protecting us,
Leaving us vulnerable to grape thieves?
Wild boars trample us.
Pests devour us.
Come back and take a look.
See what’s happened, Great God.
Your vine needs attention —
This root you cultivated,
This son your nurtured for yourself.
But your vine has been hacked down.
It’s been piled up and burned.
You spoke and we died.
But there’s hope yet.
The man you favor,
Give him all your authority,
Your strength.
Yes, let them rest on the Son of Man
You nurtured for yourself.
He will keep us from rejecting you again.
Give us new life —
Resurrect us! —
And we’re yours forever.
Oh Yahweh, Great God, restore us.
May your delight with us
Brighten up your face.
For we need to be saved.