Oh that My People Would Listen to Me

For the choir director. According to the Gittith. Of Asaph.

1Sing for joy to God our strength;

Make a loud shout to the God of Jacob.

2Lift up a song of praise, strike the tambourine,

The sweet sounding 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,

A judgment of the God of Jacob.

5He established it for a testimony in Joseph

When he went forth over the land of Egypt.

I heard a language that I did not know:

6“I [†]relieved his shoulder of the burden,

His hands were freed from the [†]basket.

7You called in distress and I rescued you;

I answered you in the hiding place of thunder;

I tested you at the waters of Meribah. [†]Selah.

8Hear, O My people, and I will testify against you;

O Israel, if you would listen to Me!

9Let there be no strange god among you;

And you shall not worship a foreign god.

10I am Yahweh your God,

Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;

Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

11“But My people did not listen to My voice,

And Israel was not willing to obey Me.

12So I released [†]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,

That they would walk in their own devices.

13Oh that My people would listen to Me,

That Israel would walk in My ways!

14I would quickly subdue their enemies

And I would turn My hand against their adversaries.

15Those who hate Yahweh would cower before Him,

And their time of punishment would be forever.

16[†]But I would feed you with the [†]finest of the wheat,

And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”